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Top Prospect Games Catching Analysis

August 19, 2015



By John Cackowski
State Director

The Prep Baseball Report’s Top Prospect Games took place on August 8th and 9th at the historical Cherry Creek High School Baseball Field.  89 prospects showed up and strutted their stuff in a pro-style workout. Over the next several days the PBR Scouting staff will roll out position-by-position rankings of the event, culminating with the Top Ten Overall Prospects from the showcase.

Click Here to view complete statistics from the event in PDF format.

We also broke down the Top Tools of the event. Click Here to view the Top Tools based on various commonly used scouting criteria for analyzing prospects.

Catcher Analysis: Best of the Best:

Tyson Hays,C/3B,Grandview High School, 2017
Hays continues to show he is one of the top 2017 catching prospects in the state. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound prospect ran a 7.62 60-yard dash and showcased an 91 mph bat exit velocity which was up from 88 mph at the Denver Metro Prospect ID. Hays stands tall at the plate and has a level line-drive swing that generates pull power that comes predominantly from his upper half. He creates good barrel whip leading to the ball jumping off his bat when he squares the baseball. He displayed a top pop time of 2.04 from the pitcher not a coach throwing, and was 73 mph out of the crouch. Gains good ground on throws. Hays has soft hands and frames well with little movement. Was 80 mph from 3B.

Mason Speirs, C/RHP, Broomfield High School, 2017,
5-foot-11, 195 pounds. Speirs is strong player. Has a slight open stance and creates rythm with a leg kick, and got rid of his toe-tap since last time we saw him. Has good extension through the ball with a slight uphill swing that generates some pull power. Behind the dish showcases soft hands while framing. Pop time off the pitcher was 2.06. Very vocal and shows leadership on the field.  Also pitches and threw well at the event. Primarily from the stretch, Speirs showcased a fastball that topped out at 84, but lived consistently at 82-83. Falls off to first, and sometimes is off balance after finish. Projects as an upper 80's kids by the time he's a senior. Has a long loose high 3/4 arm slot. A 67-68 mph curve and 68-70 mph change round out his pitches. Solid player on the mound and behind the plate.


Best of the Rest (Listed Alphabetically)

Abraham Apodaca, C/MIF, Wheat Ridge 2018 
5-foot-8, 145-pound left handed hitting catcher, a 60-40 stance with good leg drive through the ball. Showed quick hands to the ball with a late load and good extension through the ball. Short compact swing allows for good plate coverage and gap-to-gap power that produced an improved 81 mph exit velocity off the tee since last January. Behind the plate, Apodaca showed good hands and feet and an improved pop time of 2.08. Frames well for age.  Would like to see him be more vocal. Ran a 7.7 60.

Russell Cruz, C/3B, Columbine, 2017 
6-foot-0, 180-pounds. Cruz was probably the most improved player we saw since we did Underclass Invitational last January. He's strong, athletically built right handed hitting C/3B hits from a opened stance now with a bigger stride. Lower half worked well with future power potential. The front foot gets down early line drive swing through the baseball. Posted an improved 91 mph exit velocity which was up from 81 last January. Very vocal defensively. Can play both 3rd and C.  Shows a strong arm at both positions (76 from 3rd and 73 behind the plate.  Did a good job framing and did a good job sticking the low fastball. Cruz had a 2.10 pop-time up from 2.21 in January. Cruz ran a 7.35 which was the fastest time for catchers. Cruz is an improving player with potentially high upside.

Brennen Dorighi C/3B, Cherry Creek, 2017
6-foot-0, 170-pound left handed hitting catcher. Showed a tall balanced slightly open stance with a short load. Keeps hands inside ball well and showed some good pop the other way. A short compact swing still allows for good extension through the ball with a high finish. Exit velocity was 81 mph off the tee, up from 79 last January. Pop-time was 2.09 from the pitcher in between innings. Threw 70 mph from behind the plate and are accurate to the bag.  Frames well, looks polished behind the plate. Ran a 7.65 60.

Alek Hall, C/MIF, Peak to Peak 2017 
5-foot-11, 160-pound left-handed hitting C. Hall was the most vocal catcher on the field this weekend. He has a lot of passion and energy on the field. Needs to build up some arm strength as pop times came in at 2.5, or needs to work on quicker feet 60 mph position velocity with an underneath arm slot. 60 time was 8.1. Hall hits from a balanced wide stance with a toe-tap stride, hands drop to load, long, swing was more level with some line drive pop, 71 mph exit velocity.  

Wilson Helton, C, Mountain Vista, 2018
5-foot-10, 170 pound. Bats and throws right. Athletic looking.Helton has a wide balanced stance. Depends on hands to get to the ball, with slight uphill gap to gap swing. Slight leg kick starts rhythm. Wants to sometimes go around baseball, but brings bat through zone with good extension. Generated a solid 87 mph exit velo off the tee. When framing exaggerates glove trigger at times, but frames well and gains good ground on throws that are accurate to bag. Pop time off pitcher came in at 2.1 with a longer throwing motion that was 76 mph. Ran a 7.65 60. Solid 2018 prospect.

Noah Kuzma, C/3B, Valor Christian,  2017
Kuzma is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound sophomore catcher who showcased 2.06-2.08 pop times on throws of 75 mph out of the crouch. Pop-times were measured off the pitcher and not a coach. The 75 mph was improved from 73 at the Denver Metro Prospect ID. He ran a 7.50 60-yard dash which was also improved from the Denver Metro Prospect ID and displayed a 84 mph bat exit velocity up from 74 mph a month ago. Kuzma's stance is balanced pigeon-toed stance from right side. Hips come through good on contact with a longer swing through the zone that creates solid contact. Has strong wrists and fast hands. Gap to gap hitter. Catcher that is improving and a prospect to watch.

Bret Newman, C/RHP, Highlands Ranch, 2017
6-foot-1, 160 pounds. Bats and throws right. Lean frame with a lot of potential to get stronger. Has a balanced athletic stance. Short stride starts a minimal load. Level swing through zone with one-handed finish. Stroke is simple and smooth. Sometimes off balance after swing. Generated an 82 mph exit velo off the tee. Contact hitter. Behind the dish had the fastest pop-time at the event at 2.02 off a pitcher coming in at 75 mph and accurate. As a pitcher is a strike thrower. Arm angle is 3/4. Could work on finishing through his front side. Like how he throws off two-feet and is very square to the plate in his delivery. There is some untapped velocity. Fastball was 74 to 75 mph down in the zone. Curve ball had 10/4 tilt at 60 mph. Ran a 7.7 60.

Jordan Medina, C/RHP, Highlands Ranch, 2018
6-foot-0, 180 pounds. Bats and throws right. Jordan has grown a lot since we have seen him last. Strong base, and body could be fighting himself a little in his growth spurt. At the plate has an open stance. Hands start low and generates impressive bat speed through the zone. Timing hitter with aggressive stride towards the pitcher that gets the most out his slightly uphill swing that at times can get long. Has a ton of power potential. Exit velo off tee was 87 mph. Behind the dish sticks the fastball good, and has minimal movement. Pop-time off the pitcher was 2.06. Has a lot of potential on the mound. Has good leg drive towards plate. Might have more upside on mound. Fastball sits at 82-83 mph topping out at 84, but easily can be a 90 kid as he grows. Curve is a huge change of pace pitch at 59-60 mph. Change was 68. Ran a 7.75 60. 2018 prospect to follow.

Joseph Milano, C, Centaurus, 2017
6-foot-1, 185 pounds. Bats and throws right. Big, strong kid. Slight open tall, upright stance. Gains ground on his stride. Swing is short to the ball but long through it, uphill at times but produces line drives gap to gap. Bottom hand dominant. Produced an 83 mph exit velocity off the tee. Behind the plate works hard, frames well. Generated a 2.09 pop-time off the pitcher at 72 mph. Was vocal behind the plate and controlled the game well.

Bailey Seeger, C/3B, ThunderRidge, 2018   
5-foot-5, 120-pound right-handed hitting catcher hits from a narrow open stance with high leg kick, gains ground with his stride. Swings down to the ball with slight uphill swing with good extension. Generated an improved exit velo of 75 mph off the tee. Getting a little stronger. Defensively, pop times ranged from 2.25 to 2.28, 62 mph from the crouch with good accuracy. Ran a 8.3 60 time. Once he grows and gets stronger has a good foundation to be a good player.

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