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Underclass Invitational Corners Analysis

February 10, 2016



By Jeff Markle
Assistant State Director
The Prep Baseball Report’s Underclass Invitational took place January 31st at Slammers South. 63 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.  

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.

We continue our break down of the Underclass Invitational by looking at the corners position.

Corners Analysis: Best of the Best

Luke Ziegler, 3B/RHP, Valor Christian High School (2018)
6-foot-2, 175-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.3 home to first.  At the plate he stands tall and balanced.  He has a short stride and hands keep the bat in the zone for an extended period.  He hits off a firm front side with an exit velocity of 87 MPH.  In the field he shows smooth actions and a quick release.  He was accurate with an 85 MPH arm across the diamond.  On the mound he stands tall and falls to the plate.  He lands slightly closed and throws from a high ¾ arm slot.  He showed good command of all three pitches.  He featured an 85 MPH fastball with late movement, a 64 MPH curve with 11/5 break and a 75 MPH change that lived down in the zone.

Hunter Owens, 1B/LHP, Fairview High School (2018)
6-foot-2, 225-pound left hand hitter who ran a 4.82 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a wide stance with a high leg kick for timing. Intimidating presence at the plate.  Hands push back on the stride and he creates good plate coverage on a swing with a slight uphill path.  He registered an 85 MPH exit velocity at the event.  In the field he shows smooth actions through the ball with a quick release.  He delivered an accurate 72 MPH ball to second base on the turn. Has a ton of raw power.

Anastacio Salas, 3B/1B, Mullen High School, (2018)
6-foot-2, 202-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.37 home to first.  At the plate he hits from an open stance and a long stride to square up.  He drives against his front side with good extension through the zone. Gap to gap power.  He has an 84 MPH exit velocity.   In the field he showed quick feet and good hands to get rid of the ball.  He was accurate with an 83 MPH arm. A physically gifted player already for his age.

Best of the Rest: Listed Alphabetically

Alex Fietek, 3B/RHP, Windsor High School (2018)
6-foot-3, 158-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.52 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance with a high leg kick and weight comes forward hands and hips rotate well through the ball 80 MPH exit velocity.  In the field attacks the ground ball and gets the ball into the throwing window has an accurate arm at 74 MPH. 

Ethan Frasier, 3B/RHP, ThunderRidge High School (2019)
6-foot-0, 185-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.6 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance with a slight toe tap for timing hands drop at the beginning of the swing creating an uphill swing path exit velocity was 83 MPH.  In the field he shows quick feet and smooth actions through the ball throws from a 3/4 arm slot and showcased an 84 MPH arm.  On the mound he has a balanced leg kick and lands in line with the plate, shows good arm speed on all three pitches showcased a 78 MPH fastball, a 63 MPH curve and a 64 MPH change.  

Gunnar Garcia, 3B/RHP, Cherry Creek High School (2018)
5-foot-10, 215-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.41 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a slightly open crouched stance that dives into the plate, has quick hands and quick hips through the zone, needs a little bit more extension at contact. He showcased and 84 MPH exit velocity.  On the mound he is balanced and lands in line with the plate finishes in good fielding position, does a nice job of hiding the ball and throws from high three-quarter arm slot.  Max fastball of 75 MPH with good command of both sides of the plate he also showcased a 69 MPH curve and a 71 MPH change. 

Andrew Gardner, 1B/3B, Legend High School (2018)
5-foot-7, 170-pound right had hitter who ran a 4.63 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance with a long stride does a nice job of getting extension at contact, hips rotate quick through the zone and he showcased an 80 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he showed good glove work with soft hands and gets the ball into throwing window quickly.  He throws from a high ¾ arm slot and delivers a 70 MPH arm velocity.

Jake Gimbel, 3B/RHP, Columbine High School (2019)
5-foot-11, 155-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.83 home to first.   At the plate he hits from a balanced stance hands are in the middle of the zone on his load with a slight pull swing path.  Good hip rotation at contact and showcased a 76 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he shows good foot work and soft hands, throws from a low ¾ arm slot, he had a 71 MPH on velocity.  On the mound he gets to a good balance position and then sinks and drives to the plate, lands in line with the plate and stays square on the follow-through.  Throws from an over-the-top arm slot, showcased a 77 MPH fastball, 67 MPH curve with 11/5 break and a 70 MPH change. 

Samuel Hayes, 1B/RHP, Cherry Creek High School (2019)
6-foot-1, 140-pound right hand hitter who ran a 5.23 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a tall stance with a short stride for timing, hands rise in the zone on the pitch and hands come to the zone with good extension at contact. He featured a 71 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he showed good feet and hands through the baseball, needs to be more aggressive on the delivery, he throws from high ¾  arm slot and showcased a 63 MPH arm. 

Gunnar Kozlowitz, 1B/3B, Columbine High School (2019)
6-foot-0, 185-pound left hand hitter who ran a 4.62 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance with a long slow load of his hands. He does a nice job with hip rotation and needs a little bit more weight transfer and extension at contact.  He featured a 79 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he showed decent hands and feet gets himself into good throwing position delivers the ball from a low ¾ arm slot, his arm velocity was 67 MPH. Strong kid who works hard. Some physical projectability.

Collin Kringlen, 1B/RHP, Holy Family High School (2019)
6-foot-3, 165-pound left hand hitter who ran a 4.63 home to first.  At the plate he hits with a quiet lower half, slight toe tap for timing and good hip rotation and extension through the ball.  He finishes high and showcased an 81 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he shows good movement quick feet that get him into a good throwing position.  He throws from an over-the-top arm angle and displayed a 74 MPH arm velocity.  On the mound he throws from a balanced position and slightly leans back on delivery, he lands straight in line with the plate and falls off slightly to the first base side on his finish.  He uses an over-the-top arm slot to showcase a 78 MPH fastball, 64 MPH curve with 11 to 5 break and a 70 MPH change. A lot of physical projectability.

Cooper Legault, 1B/RHP, Dakota Ridge high School (2018)
6-foot-2, 135-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.63 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a simple balanced stance a short stride gets his weight transfer going.  He showed good hip rotation and good extension through the ball and registered a 72 MPH exit velocity.   In the field he shows smooth actions and good feet.  He does a nice job of getting himself in good throwing position and delivers and accurate ball.  He registered a 64 MPH arm velocity. Fundamentally a very strong player.

Ethan Martinez, 1B/3B, Columbine High School (2019)
6-foot-1, 220-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.9 home to first.  At the plate he stands tall and balanced.  He has a short stride and load with his hands.  Hands come through the zone level, needs to improve extension at contact.  He had an 81 MPH exit velocity.  In the field, he shows average actions on balls hit at him.  He throws from a long over the top arm slot with an arm velocity of 65 MPH.

Zack Owens, 3B/C, Grand Junction High School, (2018)
5-foot-10, 180-pound left hand hitter who ran a 4.35 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance with a high leg kick for timing.  Hands and hips explode through the zone with good extension at contact.  He had an 80 MPH exit velocity.   In the field he is fluid and quick to the ball.  He shows good hands to the backhand side.  He has a quick accurate release and registered a 75 MPH arm velocity. Was awarded best swing in the 2018 class from event.

Dillon Schroeder, 1B/LHP, Grandview High School (2018)
6-foot-0, 170-pound switch hitter who ran a 4.41 home to first from the left side.  At the plate he hits from a balanced stance on the right side.  A slight tow tap gets his hands and hips moving through the zone.  He registered a 79 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he showed good mechanics squaring up on balls.  He delivered an accurate 76 MPH ball to second base on double plays.  On the mound he delivers to the plate in a straight line from an over the top arm angle.  He is consistent with arm speed on all three pitches and showcased a 74 MPH fastball, a 59 MPH curve with sweeping break and a 64 MPH change that lived outside. Was awarded best left handed arm at the event.

Patrick Strawbridge, 1B/RHP, Regis Jesuit High School (2019)
6-foot-4, 175-pound right hand hitter who ran a 4.63 home to first.  At the plate he hits from a tall balanced stance.  A small stride and hand load get his weight moving forward with good hip rotation.  He registered an 82 MPH exit velocity.  In the field he showed good mechanics and accuracy with his arm.  He had an 80 MPH arm velocity.  On the mound he has a high leg kick and hides the ball out of his glove.  He lands in-line with the plate and throws from a high ¾ arm slot.  He falls off to the side on his finish.  He registered a 78 MPH fastball that lived down in the zone and also featured a 65 MPH curve and a 66 MPH change. A lot of upside as a pitcher.

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