Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

Indy Summer Open : Quick Hits

August 12, 2024
Cooper Trinkle
Indiana Scouting Director

On Sunday, August 11th, the Prep Baseball Indiana staff hosted the Indy Summer Open on the campus of Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. 30 prospects ranging from the class of 2025, all the way to incoming freshman in the class of 2028, were in attendance to showcase their skillset in a pro-style workout, gaining unrivaled access to the advanced technology Prep Baseball has to offer. 

Full event stats can be found, here.

Find all players highlighted from the event, here. 

+ I was very intrigued by the potential of a pair of '26 arms in attendance - RHP Connor Couch (Bloomington South) and RHP Ben Pickering (Lafayette Jefferson). Couch offers a strong mix of several attributes that often lead to future success - a lengthy, projectable, 6-foot-2, 190 pound frame, above average stuff currently, balance within the delivery, and whip in the arm stroke. Couch showcased a five-pitch mix w/ different shapes to all - a four-seam with generic properties, working at 83-86 mph, a low-to-mid 80's sinker w/ arm-side life, the ability to add/subtract & manipulate shape w/ spin, sweeping a 68-70 mph slider & showing a two-plane curveball in the mid-60's (both at 2400+) & rounding it out with a mid-70's changeup that shows the makings of a swing-and-miss offering. Couch showed above average feel for all pitches in his arsenal. The delivery is up-tempo with dynamic balance and he gets above average extension as he works down the slope. 

- Pickering showcased borderline top-of-the-class arm strength in a bullpen stint where he sat 87-90 on his heater, touching 91 mph on his best bullet. There is some "uniqueness" in the slot that will allow the fastball to play up even higher, as he drops-and-drives with a slight topple to work to a low release height (4-foot-6) from an over the top slot. The ground force he produces helps to create very solid extension, another contributing factor to his strong fastball, along with his ability to backspin the baseball to produces some heaviness. Although inconsistent, Pickering showed flashes of two above average offspeed offerings, sweeping a slider at 72-75 and killing spin on a low-80's change. The overall feel for command is still developing at this point but the arm talent alone makes Pickering a strong '26 to follow. 

+ A pair of 2027s caught my attention throughout the day - with OF Mark Neels (Carmel) and LHP Jaiden McNulty (Western) walking away as winners. Neels is an interesting outfielder in the class, standing with an athletic frame at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds. Neels burned an event-best 6.72 60-yard dash to begin the day before putting together my favorite round of batting practice of the day. Setting up in a taller, pre-coiled stance - Neels gathers into a toe-tap early in the operation before making a positive forward move towards the baseball. The barrel gets perpendicular to the back shoudler at launch, creating connection in the upper-half, and he turns it on-plane early with lift at the front of the path. Neels was able to use the whole field & hinted pull-side gap power throughout his round, reaching a peak exit velocity of 93.2 mph. Indiana's 2027 class boasts plenty of talented left-handed hitting OF's - and Neels performance this past weekend puts him in the conversation with some of my early favorites in the class.

- McNulty showed one of my favorite arm actions that I have seen out of a '27 southpaw from Indiana - a full, continuous arm circle w/ quality scap retraction that releases to a low 3/4 slot. McNulty is another arm with some unique fastball traits, as his fastball worked up to 81 mph with true carry (18" IVB avg, 21" max) on a low-slot heater. Generally, a low 3/4 slot will produce more run than ride, however McNulty shows consistent hand placement to stay behind the fastball to backspin it. The 5-foot-10 southpaw was able to pull the string on a low-to-mid-70's change that worked with significant horizontal movement, while spinning a low-70's curveball with upside, flashing higher spin (2333 max). McNulty is an above average mover that showed feel for all three in his bullpen. 

+ A pair of unsigned seniors showed promise in this look in '25 SS Eric Tratnyek (Fort Wayne Carroll) and '25 RHP Grant Gearhart (Fishers). Tratnyek is a lanky, athletic, 6-foot-1, 175 pound shortstop with body control and all-around feel. Taking the best round of infield of the day - Tratnyek showed consistent pace with efficient footwork, soft hands, and a quick release during defensive evaluations. Offensively, the long-levered right-handed hitter creates linear separation with a small hand load that works on-time with a positive forward move, creating stretch. The path works short & to the top of the ball to create lower ball flights. Gearhart is a 6-foot righty from Fishers that offered an intriguing three-pitch mix in his bullpen. He creates some deception in the arm stroke, hiding the ball behind the body, before the arm accelerates to a 3/4 slot. The fastball worked 83-85 mph with sink, pairing with a sharp, two-plane breaking ball in the low-70's that is a quality offering. Gearhart rounded out a quality arsenal with an upper-70's change that he was able to get 16" of horizontal break with, on average.