Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

Florida Top Prospect Games: Outfielder Analysis

July 2, 2016

By Mike Maerz
Director of Florida Operations/Area Scout

Following the release of the pitchers, catchers, and infielders from the June 22nd Top Prospect games, we will now take a look at the top outfielders from the event in the final part of our positional analysis. A strong showing from several 2017 and 2018 outfielders lead the way as we break down the outfield, player by player.

First off is 2017 OF/1B Rafael Santos (Stoneman Douglas HS, FL) who stands at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds with a physical, athletic build along with a strong lower half. The FAU recruit showcased one of the stronger bats at the event by driving balls gap-to-gap in batting practice, while also taking a ball deep over the right field wall. Santos has an advanced approach, with a clean, simple path directly to the ball that stays in the zone. Defensively, he topped at 90 mph from the outfield with consistent, low, accurate throws.


Another incoming senior that stood out was 2017 OF/ RHP Tyler Esplin (IMG Academy, FL) who stands at 6-foot-3, 210-pounds on a physical build with room to continue to get stronger. He has a balanced, strong lower half which he uses well while also being able to keep his hands back and create a slightly uphill swing with a good path through the zone creating some present power. During the game he had three hits, including a double. In the outfield Esplin has a strong and accurate arm, topping at 89 mph, and takes good routes to ball.


2017 OF/1B Justin “JC” Lovelace (Union County HS, FL) stands at 6-foot-4, 180-pounds with a tall, lean frame with plenty of room to fill out. At the plate, he has a loose bat with quick hands and creates leverage in his swing. He was loaded on time and in rhythm with a level swing resulting in line drives to the middle of the field. Lovelace was athletic in the outfield, topping out at 81 mph.

2018 OF/LHP Ricky Shimko (Stoneman Douglas HS, FL) stands at 6-foot-2, 170 pounds with an athletic frame and room to grow. At the plate he has a simple set-up with little movement prior to the pitch with a short, direct path to the ball which led to him finding consistent barrel in batting practice as well as a base hit up the middle in the game. As Shimko continues to get stronger the simple swing and barrel control should produce some gap-to-gap power. He also displayed an above average arm topping at 83 mph from the outfield and consistently producing good low throws on target with some carry.

2018 OF Ricardo Vargas (Lake Gibson HS, FL) stands at 6-foot-1, 165-pounds with an athletic, projectable build with some quick twitch. At the plate, he stands tall and comfortably in the box with quick hands with quality hand-eye. Although he does not use much of his lower half yet, he still creates some gap-to-gap power. This shows with the 87 mph exit velocity, the second highest by a 2018 at the event. From the outfield, Vargas is athletic and his throws topped out at 80 mph.

Below are the remaining outfielders in alphabetical order:

Diego Algarin, OF/3B, Pembroke Pines Charter HS, FL (2018)
The 5-foot-9 160-pounder had accurate throws from the outfield topping out at 79 mph. In the box, he has a simple set up with not much of a load, but had good use from his lower half creating a level line drive swing. Algarin consistently found the barrel in batting practice spraying line drives and hard ground balls from gap-to-gap.

Tyrek Ball, OF, Brandon HS, FL (2017)
The athletic 5-foot-10 150-pounder topped out at 79 mph from the outfield while ranging and showing the ability to track the baseball. At the plate, Ball has some quick twitch and quick hands through the zone. Although he can get a little long, his hand eye has him finding the barrel. Ball is athletic showing that by running a 4.3 home to first in the game and stealing a base.

Andrew Cappeller, OF, Boca Raton HS, FL (2018)
The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder has an athletic, projectable, live build. Balanced in the box with a slightly open stance. Showed some quick hands and displayed the ability to square the ball up with some pull side approach along with some loft in his swing. Throws from the outfield were on line. Displayed some good instincts and charges the ball. Gunned down a runner at home during the game with a throw that had carry and was accurate to the plate.

Weylin Cleri, OF, Western HS, FL (2017)
The 6-foot 160-pounder has a lean, lanky build with quick hands through the zone. Standing at a slightly open stance, Cleri can get a little long, but consistently found the barrel in batting practice. From the outfield, Cleri has an average but accurate arm, throwing out a runner at home. Showed the ability to track the ball.

Anthony Laney, OF/RHP, Calvary Christian Academy, FL (2018)
The 5-foot-8 165-pounder topped out at 75 mph from the outfield with on line throws.  At the plate, Laney has an open stance and quick hands but doesn’t get full extension and tends to cut his swing short. He worked level through the zone and when he got extension had a few hard line drives in batting practice.

Isa Mamudoski, OF/2B, Timber Creek HS, FL (2017)
The 5-foot-11, 160 pounder has a lean, athletic body. Showed some good instincts in the outfield and was able to deliver some accurate throws from right field topping out at 74 mph. He has a short, quick swing with a level path through the zone. At times can get out in front and lose his ability to drive the ball. Staying back and letting the ball get to him while using all of the zone will allow him to hit more line drives consistently. Had an 86 mph exit velocity in the batting cages.

Gabriel Parker, OF, IMG Academy, FL (2018)
The 6-foot 178-pounder is lean and athletic with room to fill out. At the plate, Parker has rhythm to his set up and stays on time to the baseball. Parker does not get the full utilization out of his lower half, but uses his hands well to consistently find the barrel. Quick hands and barrel control also led to an exit velocity of 88mph. From the outfield, Parker displayed actions and a quick first step to the ball.

Drew Stoloff, OF, Cooper City HS, FL (2018)
The 5-foot-7 145-pounder has a level swing with a direct path with an exit velocity of 77 mph which will continue to improve as he gets stronger and his body matures. Defensively, Stoloff was a solid outfielder and showed the ability to track the ball with his throws from the outfield topping out at 74 mph.

Jacob Young, Ponte Vedra HS, FL (2018)
The 6-foot 165-pounder Young showed a level short swing, when he was on time, with gap-to-gap power which led to a single and double in the game. Young is very comfortable in the box, knows what type of player he is and consistently executes his plan during his at-bats. Defensively, Young has and average arm and runs good routes to the ball. Young is very solid all the way around, can really hit and will be interesting to follow going forward.

related content