Adam Akin
Director of Scouting


The 2016 Knights Baseball PBR Day took place on Sunday, September 25 at Dave Hall Field on the campus of Columbia State Community College and included a position player workout, followed by bullpens for the pitchers. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every pitcher from the 2017 graduating class that participated in the action.

 

Rob Patterson, RHP, East Robertson, 2017
Max FB: 85, FB: 82-85, CB: 72-73, CH: 76-78
5-foot-9, 180-pound, RHP uses a pretty fluid motion that stays controlled with good tempo and is able to build up until his release of the ball, hands go down with rocker step but come back up with a higher leg lift that gets his front side well loaded, leads with his front side and unloads everything at once toward the plate, falls off only slightly toward 1B side, long arm action stays loose and comes through a high ¾ to over-the-top slot.  Fastball was mostly straight but seemed very heavy through the zone, curveball was sharp and powerful with late 12/6 shape, changeup showed some late fade.

Edgar Parker, RHP, Clarkrange, 2017
Max FB: 83, FB: 81-83, CB: 67-69, CH: 68-72, KN: 70-71
6-foot-3, 175-pound, RHP uses a smooth and rhythmic motion to create timing and momentum throughout his delivery, good size and makes athletic movements, hands stay together and just below his chest until separation, fluid leg left gets his front side closed and helps lead with his front hip toward the plate, reaches back and gets some good shoulder tilt at the top,  long and loose arm action comes through an over-the-top slot, finishes mostly balanced with a slight fade toward 1B.  Fastball was mostly straight but showed some late run a couple of times, good curveball with 11/5 shape combined with a fading changeup to make for some solid offspeed, also threw a knuckleball with some serious movement.

Wiley Barton, LHP / OF, Trousdale, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 78-82, CB: 68-71, CH: 75-76,
5-foot-7, 165-pound, LHP showed very much the same as he had the previous weekend at our Unsigned Senior Games but with a little more velocity, Wiley topped out at 79 on 9/18, only to come back and get as high as 82 the following weekend,  same compact and repeatable delivery we have seen from him in the past, uses a shorter arm action that comes through a high ¾ slot to deliver.  Fastball has some slight run, curveball showed some late and sharp 1/7 shape through the zone, changeup was mostly just a change of pace. 

Bryce Alcorn, RHP, Cookville, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 77-82, CB: 65-68, CH: 71-73,
6-foot-0, 175-pound, RHP has a lot going on throughout his high effort delivery that uses a lot of moving parts, begins his motion a little slower and picks up the pace as he builds toward release, uses a fairly high leg lift and hand raise to get loaded at the top, front side gets closed and leads toward the plate with some explosiveness, strides only slightly closed and uses a long arm action through a high ¾ slot to deliver pitches, finishes with high effort but generally well-balanced.  Fastball seemed heavy and showed some slight run, curveball had 11/5 shape through the zone, changeup was mostly just a change of pace. 

Corey Mason, LHP/1B, Buckhorn (AL), 2017
Max FB: 81, FB: 77-81, CB: 68-70, CH: 72-76,
6-foot-0, 175-pound, LHP uses a simple and compact motion that fist his build and movements very well, body shifts a little bit with his rocker step and hands move up with his leg lift, gets loaded at the top but doesn’t quite get his front side all the way loaded, doesn’t stride out too far on his way toward the plate, uses a shorter and quicker arm action to deliver pitches through a high ¾ release point, finishes loose and well-balanced.  Fastball stayed mostly straight, solid breaking ball some good 1/7 shape, changeup showed consistent fade through the zone.

Wyatt Blessing, RHP, Goodpasture, 2017
Max FB: 80, FB: 78-80, CB: 69-70, CH: 69-72,
6-foot-1, 175-pound, RHP uses some quicker and less involved motion to get his delivery started, hands stay together and high throughout and uses an average leg lift to get loaded at the top, doesn’t quite get his front hip fully loaded and bends down almost like he’s going to utilize a sidearm slot before getting tall again and delivering pitches through a high ¾ to over-the-top slot, shorter arm action was pretty consistent.  Fastball was mostly straight, curveball showed some 11/5 shape, changeup was a good pitch with some occasional hard sink through the zone.