Future Games Recap - Catchers

The 5-foot-10, 180 pound Ford can only be described as dynamic behind the plate, and Georgia Tech obviously thought so also, as Ford committed to the Yellow Jackets quickly after the event. Very few catchers can match his athleticism behind the plate and scouts see it as soon as he squats behind the plate. Ford is light on his feet and shows soft hands, giving him easy range behind the plate. His arm strength registered at the top of the scale at 83 mph and line up well with his Future Games best pop time of 1.83 to 1.90. There is little doubt the catch and throw skills are elite, but probably most impressive was just how well, Ford is swinging the bat these days. Smooth easy right-handed stroke played well during the workout, but also carried over to the games, as Ford just missed running a couple balls out of the ballpark. He showed consistent hard contact while never really getting hard on his front side, like we saw earlier in the Spring. Arrow way up for this young backstop after his showing at the Future Games. 

Jared “Bear” Jones checks in at a whopping 6-foot-4, 225 pounds and leaves zero doubt about why he is also known as Bear. Jones participated in the Future Games amidst attending Football workouts, but you never would of known from his performance at this event. Jones drew plenty of attention during the showcase portion of the event, sending baseballs deep into the night.  His exit velocity of 102 ranked 2nd in this event among a strong nationally ranked crowd. The imposing right handed swing of Jones at time appears to have an uppercut swing, but more importantly he gets on the same plane with the baseball and has the ability to stay balanced with a nice easy stroke, finding the bat-head frequently. Especially for a young power hitter. Defensively the big “Bear” from Walton high school showed very well in the workout, posting a pop times as low as 1.90, which puts him in pretty elite company. His arm strength is plenty as he turned in the 3rd best reading at 82 mph. Jones spent most of his summer with East Cobb at first base in order to give himself more versatility in the future and those reps have paid off, but Jones will be back behind the plate this Spring, where he started as a Freshman for a very good baseball program in 7A. Jones is already a big name on the east coast, but after this event and the schools showing interest, look for Jones to be a player on the national scene going forward.  

Lawrence has a good catchers frame at 6-foot, 190-pounds and is a sneaky athletic kid with good strength. He flashes power to all fields, almost driving a ball out the opposite way in Team Georgia’s game vs Team Carolina's. His exit velocity registered as high as 93 mph at the Future Games. Defensively Lawrence more than held his own with a pop time of 1.93 to 2.08. The scouts got a good look at what Lawrence has offer at the next level both at the plate and behind it. Lawrence definitely has good ability that will play well at the next level. Hunner was selected from a talented group that attended the PBR Georgia Underclass Games.