By Steve Nielsen

The Pitchers Showcase and Analysis brought some good arms to The MAX on September 25^th. The event saw some surprising up and comers as well as some polished seniors. One of the biggest surprises and top young prospects was Belvidere HS product Tyler Lass (2015). On the other side of the coin, there were some polished arms from the Class of 2013 which included Matt Dennis out of Rolling Meadows HS, and River Pitlock from York HS.

Here is a summary of some of the top performers from the Pitchers Showcase and Analysis.

1. Tyler Lass, RHP, Belvidere HS, Class of 2015
   Lass is a big athletic right-handed pitcher who looks to be one of the premier arms in the 2015 class. Lass is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound pitcher with a big upside. Lass throws from a high 3/4 arm slot out of a fairly quick delivery; his delivery is slightly erratic but still shows the ability to control the baseball with multiple pitches. Lass threw a lively fastball at 85-87 mph, flashing an 88. His arm strength is certainly advanced for his age and looks to have the makings of possessing a big time fastball. Lass showed flashes of having a good slider with late bite at 72-75 mph. Lass also threw a change up at 71-73 mph that he showed good command of with some sink. He also showed a splitter at 71-73 mph.
2. Matt Dennis, RHP, Rolling Meadows HS, Class of 2013
   Dennis is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound athletic pitcher that showed the ability to command all of his pitches with regularity. Dennis throws from a high ¾ arm slot out of an athletic, repeatable delivery. He showed above average feel for a fastball, curveball, and change up. His fastball sat comfortably at 85-87 mph, his easy arm action proved that he was able to maintain his velocity throughout the extended bullpen. His curveball is a pitch he showed good feel for, throwing it at 66-68 mph and showing signs of true 12-6 action. Dennis also showed good fastball arm speed on his change-up (74-76 mph) which he threw consistently for strikes and showed good sink down in the zone. Dennis proves to have a good feel for the mound and control of all his pitches.
   
   
3. River Pitlock, RHP, York HS, Class of 2013
   Pitlock is a 6-foot, 170-pound athletic right-handed pitcher. He throws from a high ¾ arm action with easy effort and clean arm action. His delivery is very athletic and rhythmic. Pitlock showed excellent feel for every pitch with above average explosiveness. Pitlock's displayed the ability to control his fastball, consistently sitting at 84-86 mph. His curveball (69-70 mph) had great feel with 11/5 action, exhibiting some sharp downward action with two plane movement. His changeup also showed excellent feel at 73-76 mph with some arm side run and sink. Both changeup and curveball have a chance to be excellent pitches with late life.
   
   
4. TJ Case, RHP, Willowbrook HS, Class of 2014
   Case is a long lanky right-handed pitcher, standing at 6-foot-2, and 166-pounds, he shows a lot of projectability. He uses his long arms well from a high 3/4 arm slot. Possessing a quick arm action, Case's fastball sat between 85-87 mph. His off-speed pitches show upside, with a little more polish he will possess a well-rounded arsenal. He throws his curveball with late life showing solid two-plane break. His changeup shows upside as well throwing it for strikes with good arm speed, as he develops more feel for the pitch it could develop into a great out pitch.
   
   
5. Mike Kogut, RHP, Nazareth HS, Class of 2015
   Mike Kogut is a big bodied right-handed pitcher standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 220-pounds. Kogut controls his body well for his size. He showed good balance throughout his delivery resulting in a good command of the strike zone. He uses a long arm action from a high 3/4 arm slot consistently delivering the ball on a downhill plane. Kogut does a good job of staying tall and using his size to his advantage. His fastball sat comfortably between 80-83 mph with regular effort, he showed good command of the pitch with some life. Kogut's curveball is a pitch that has potential, throwing on a good downhill plane, as release point consistency continues to improve, this could become a good pitch for him. He showed good command of a changeup (71-74 mph) that will continue to improve with added arm speed.
   
   

For a complete list of participants at the event, and their stats, visit the event page here.