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Central Valley Preseason ID Catcher Analysis

January 17, 2020
Ryan Ozella
NorCal Area Scout

                          

At The Yard Podcast

Fresno, CA - The Road to the California State Games continued its early season trek into the Central Valley with a stop at Fresno Pacific University where players came to show their fall/winter development as their high school seasons are just a few weeks away. The open event roster saw 52 players kicking off our second Central Valley Preseason ID. 

Players were put through a customary pro-style workout that included a laser-time 60-yard sprint, a round of batting practice, a defensive workout, and concluded with bullpen sessions for pitchers. We purposely did not include games because we didn’t want to put pitchers who aren’t ready to face live hitters in that situation.

Many players were attending their first ever PBR California event giving us a first look at these players in a showcase setting after having seen most with their high school or club teams. In some cases we saw players for the first time with several leaving a lasting impression and quickly getting added to the spring follow list. 

As we dive deeper into our notes and videos we will release more post-event content. Earlier we released our Quick Hits, our Statistical Analysis and today we break down the Catchers. 

Catchers

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: 6-0 160 long, lean frame with wiry build. High, wide hands, crouched stance, slight footlift as hands pull back hard. Direct hands pushing barrel flat into zone, pulling balls and flashing some line drive ability; can keep working on preventing barrel dump on initiation of swing. Behind the dish, narrow, high stance with compact arm; arm kept ball in bags vicinity. Glove works from top of the zone down when receiving. During INF work plays with a high glove/hips and slingy arm that could keep the ball on the bag.

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: 5-8 150 good athletic build with higher waist and some growing strength. Opened stance with high hands pulling down on toe tap. Hands have some quickness keeping level through the zone and lifting on contact staying in the middle of the field with hard line drives.  Wider stance behind the plate having stride more towards 3rd and throws bouncing accurately toward the bag. Blocking flashed some agility and ability to keep balls in front of him.

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: 5-11 155 long and lean frame with space for added strength. Opened, very-high hand stance striding closed with controlled effort and keeping head behind the baseball. Barrel works upwards through the zone flashing bat speed and ability to pull the ball into the gap. Low stance showing flexibility and bounce out of his crouch; exchange is clean and has tempo for throws keeping them on the bag. Glove turn to block is quick and able to utilize his feet to push for lateral blocks. Also flashed good footwork and glove actions in the middle of the field with better arm strength which could translate behind the plate in near future.

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: 5-11 184 with strength in chest and upper half. Crouched, balanced stance with hands on back shoulder. Rocks into back hip with hands lifting on slight foot lift stride allowing hands to lift off shoulder and stick with quick body turns; full swing with high one-handed finish. Better contact when getting to the ball out front where he was able to show his strength to the pull gap. Good direction and footwork showing quickness in his transfer and ability to have throws straight and accurate; arm strength is there and can keep adding to it in near future. Wide stance with low glove showing limited wasted movements; ability to bring ball back into zone and steal pitches. Blocking was quick, consistent and kept the ball in close spot for recovery. Projectable skills.

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: 5-10 155 younger body with rolled strength in the shoulders. Balanced stance with even hands lifting on load. Shoulders and body tend to lead the swing with a steeper hand path; when he was on time showed more ability to work level. Feet stay underneath him well on pop time allowing the glove to transfer the ball well and having more compact arm action getting the ball to the front of the bag. Quiet body behind the plate flashing ability to stick high pitch and can keep the ball in front when blocking. In the OF used good direction and higher hop with full swing of arm to higher, over the top release

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID:  Bray was at last season’ NorCal Preseason All-State and has made strong growth over the last year with a more stout build utilizing the added strength to improve his measurables. Slightly opened and tall with a high back elbow and hands away from the body, Bray’s hands work deep into the back shoulder with a toe-to-heel timing mechanism on the front leg as the barrel works like a windmill up through the zone. The backside drives through contact and there’s time the swing looks like a golf swing with a very high finish. The strength in the frame regularly came out as balls were easily lifted deep into the gaps with carry and life coming off the bat (90 EV). Behind the dish, the transfer on pop times was consistently quick pulling the glove to his strong throwing arm (76 C, 2.0-2.05) and keeping throws on the arm side of the bag. I liked his flexibility and low stance while receiving presenting a strong target for his pitchers with limited wasted movement on the glove hand and the explosiveness to get to blocks laterally. A name to watch during the Spring. 

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID:  Recently committed to Fresno State, we’ve seen Davis showcase strong skills multiple times last season and he came out showing he was ready for a big senior season. Davis shows the versatility to play behind the plate or in the infield at the next level with athleticism in the hips and strength in the shoulders. At the plate he stays tall with the hands away from the back shoulder showing a controlled gather as the hands pull back and down towards the catcher putting him in a strong fire position. The barrel is quick into the zone producing easy carry and lift with strength to the middle of the field; he doesn’t force anything in the swing and this allows him to hit the ball hard consistently (90 EV) with some more pullside pop available when he wants to get to it. In the infield he showed good feet with lateral agility, especially to the glove side, keeping balls firm and accurate across the diamond. Behind the plate his blocking and receiving are both strong as was his consistent ability to keep throws on the bag during his pop times (2.07-2.12, 76 MPH).

Scouting Report

Central Valley Preseason ID: Pinheiro showed the skills needed to stick behind the plate and the advanced baseball knowledge to be able to help a team at the next level. At the plate it’s a quiet stance with hands low and a balanced lower half. There’s no wasted movement with a slight sway and foot lift before having the hands work directly to the baseball keeping the hands tight through his turn and being able to lift the ball into both gaps. There was some lag of the barrel through the zone allowing him to control the barrel and having time where he really exploded through contact (88 EV). Behind the plate his actions were smooth and his ability to get rid of the baseball stood out along with his athleticism. Pinheiro worked with a wider base and consistent footwork to produce low pop times on the day (1.97-2.08, 76 MPH), that matched with his arm strength to keep throws accurate to the bag. When receiving he showed the ability to manipulate the baseball especially on his glove side where he could stick it; that wide base allowed for him to throw the hips back and keep balls in front of him.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
Winter Update Series powered by Monterey Bay Pirates CA 01/17 Monterey Bay Pirates Facility
California Far North Preseason I.D. CA 01/18 Chico HS
Winter Update Series powered by South Bay Sport Training CA 01/19 South Bay Sports Training
NorCal Preseason All-State (Invite-Only) CA 01/25 Islanders Field at River Islands
Winter Update Series powered by Paradigm Sport CA 01/26 Paradigm Sport
Winter Update Series powered by EM Sports CA 01/27 EM Sports - Long Beach
Winter Update Series powered by EM Sports CA 01/28 EM Sports - San Diego
Winter Update Series powered by FBK1 CA 01/30 FBK1
Super 60 Pro Showcase NATIONAL 02/02 The MAX - McCook, IL
Winter Update Series powered by Mike Murphy Baseball CA 02/08 MMB - Walnut Creek
SoCal Underclass Games ID - Los Angeles CA 02/09 O'Malley Family Field
Winter Update Series powered by EM Sports CA 02/10 EM Sports - Rancho Cucamonga

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