By PBR Staff

Today we kick off our coverage of the Top Prospect Games teams.  First up is the White Team.  Several players made big strides and showed well.  Here is a complete list of players on the team in order how the appeared on the roster.

Tyler Waldrop, RHP/MIF, Grand Ledge, 2015
At 5-10 150 pounds, Waldrop is evenly proportioned and rangy with plenty of room for weight and strength gains.  Long thru zone and keeps hands back.  Timing issue leads to inconsistency. Higher upside on mound.  Easy, repeatable delivery with mostly straight fastball sitting 83-85, he has some run when down.  Curveball acts like slider at times at 70-72. Time on his side.

Devin Rose, OF, OL St. Mary’s. 2014
Devin has an athletic build at 6-foot, 180 pounds. Line drive hitter w/quick hands and quick to extension.  Tick below avg. runner but better underway and has instincts enough to snag some bags.  Alert defender, enough arm now at 79-82 with more in the tank.  Takes proper angles, gets good jumps and gets to balls quickly. Overall Rose performed well at Top Prospect Games.

Austin Batka, LHP, Grand Rapids Christian, 2014-
Austin has a smaller build but a live arm.  The 5-foot-10 Batka sat between 84-86 mph and touched 87 mph. He shows steady progress.  Good timing. Quick tempo and worker.  Gets swings an misses on his riding fastball that shows some life.  Breaking ball has adequate shape.  Can spin it for a strike. Overall had a good outing at TP Games.  Showed why he is one of the better lefties left in the state.

Garrett Schilling, RHP, Bishop Foley, 2014
Long and lean w/plenty of room for physical projection at 6-foot-1, 160-pounds.  Athletic w/decent body control for someone still growing into body.  Balanced approach, slight upper cut with more power to come.  Good reads in the field and catches what he gets to. Knows how to compete and win.  Repeatable delivery with a H3/4 slot and pitchability.  Fastball is mostly straight at 80-84 w/more in there. ¾ curveball is 70-72 and his change-up is 78 with slight fade. 

Ryan Mergener, SS/2B, Portage Central, 2014
Compact and wiry at 5-foot-9, 175-pounds, Ryan plays bigger than he is.  Long through the zone w/some extra base pop.  Takes proper angles, is agile, has a decent first step and actions with enough arm at 80-83 mph to play either middle position.  Most likely a 2B at another level.  Consistently put the barrel on the baseball.  A true baseball player with a good motor.

Austin Lukaschewski, OF/RHP, Bishop Foley, 2014
Plenty of room for weight and strength gains at 5-foot-10 168 pounds.  Quiet, balanced approach, quick to and through zone.  Line drive, gap to gap type hitter.  Solid defender w/proper rotation, online carry and accuracy. Took good routes to the baseball. Fastball sat 83-84 but has been high for us in the past.  Has some run when down and his curveball was 62-63 with shape and depth.

Tanner Kaplan, C, Traverse City St. Francis, 2015
Undersized at 5-foot-9 and 160-pounds, Tanner gets the most out of his body.  His compact swing allows him to get barrel to ball consistently.  He sits low and comfortable and his footwork and transfer compensate for the lack of arm strength now, but time is on his side. 

Nathan Bethel, OF, Jackson, 2014
Nathan’s 6 foot 165 pound frame has room for added strength and maturity.  He has a balanced approach at the plate and the barrel stays in the zone for a while.  A contact type hitter now, if he incorporates his lower half a little more, he should be able to hit for ore power in years to come.  79-82 in the outfield.  Nathan takes good routes and uses his soft hands to catch what he gets to.

Brad Baldwin, 2B/SS, Bishop Foley, 2014
Compact, sturdy and barrel chested at 5 foot 8 170 pounds, Brad plays bigger than he is and gets the most out of his tools.  Fearless at the plate, he is able to keep his hands back to adjust to offspeed stuff but is also able to turn on a ball with some extra base power.  With good fundamentals and lateral mobility, Brad has big play capability.  The kind of player that makes good teams great.

Connor Grant, C/3B, Lake Orion, 2014
Well proportioned, durable and flexible at 5 foot 8 180 pounds, Connor has strong hands and wrists to drive the ball the other way with a fluid swing and decent hand eye coordination.  A calming influence behind the plate, Connor has good hands and his transfer helps his pop times sit right around  2.1-2.2.  Has caught big time pitchers in big time games and is a leader on the field.

Michael Reid, OF/3B, Bishop Foley, 2014
Long and lean with overall body strength, Michael’s 6 foot 4 180 pound frame still has some room to fill out.  Athletic with decent bat speed and a barrel that is in the zone for a while, he should find his power stroke sooner rather than later.  Speed is not his game but he is agile and instinctive enough to get to balls in the outfield and catch what he gets to a third.  Arm strength is there as he’s 85-87 from the outfield.  He’s a sleeper on the mound with upside there as well sitting 84-86mph with feel for a change and curveball.

Ben Schaap, RHP, West Ottawa, 2014
Ben has seen his stock rise recently despite maybe not having his best stuff at Top Prospect Games.  Schaap has a good frame with room for future gains in strength.  Fastball ran up to 83 mph but primarily sat between 78-82.  Breaking ball has good shape. 

Joey Prechtel, RHP/OF, Rochester Adams , 2016
Joey has a prototypical pitcher’s body at 6 foot 3 and 176 pounds with lean muscle and room for future strength and weight gains.  Although young, he has some pitchability with no major mechanical red flags.  His fastball is mostly straight at 79-85 with a downer curve at 60-62 and he’s around the zone with both.  He doesn’t back down and should be a force to reckon with in the years to come.

Nick Kamrada, RHP, Grand Ledge, 2014
Physically built at 6-foot-2 and 195-pounds, Nick has limited physical projection.  A ¾ slinger with a semi-windup, he is online and on time with his delivery.  The fastball has some run at 83-85 and the curveball acts like a slider at 72-73.  Not afraid to go after guys.  Quick tempo.  Threw plenty of strikes.

Joe Cox, 3B/OF, Stoney Creek, 2014
With a strong and sturdy build at 5 foot 10 and 195 pounds, Joe is a quick twitch athlete with good hand eye coordination and strong wrists and hands to go with a smooth, short stroke.  Joe is a reliable defender with solid actions and instincts to position himself in the field and run the bases efficiently.  A quick release and decent footwork make up for slightly below average arm strength.

Eric Gilgenbach, 3B/OF, Stoney Creek, 2015
At 6-foot-2 and 185-pounds Eric wears a uniform well with overall body strength and will only get bigger and stronger.  A wide, square, balanced approach, bat speed and a flat bat through the zone help launch balls to gaps, with more power to come.  Minor timing issues with the load lead to inconsistency but are correctable.  Arm plays better in the outfield but is agile enough with a decent first step and actions to not hurt you at third base.  Speed is not his game but is not a clogger due to instincts and is better underway.

Will Mullen, RHP/1B, Notre Dame Prep., 2015
Mullen who recently committed to Western Michigan has a big frame at 6-foot-4, 195-pounds.  Arm works well.  Showed a fastball up to 84mph.  Future weight gains should add strength and velocity.  Breaking ball was looser with a little slurvy action. Mullen also played first base.  Showed balance at the plate.  Good bat speed with smooth load.  Hit several balls deep to the gaps.

Tyler Dundore, C, Mattawan, 2014
With an evenly proportioned, athletic body at 5-foot-11 and 185-pounds Tyler employs an opposite field approach while the barrel is in the zone for a while with a slight uppercut. Has gap to gap potential.  Defensively, he sticks pitches with strong hands and is adept at keeping balls in front of him.  The arm plays due to footwork and transfer. Pop times between 2.18-2.3 to second base.  75 mph from the crouch.

Aiden Cullen , OF, Notre Dame Prep, 2014
Tightly wound and physical with a wide back and durability at 5 foot 10 and 185 pounds.  Aiden has some juice in the bat with hand speed and repeats his swing with feel for the barrel.  An energetic and alert defender, Aiden knows only one  speed and is a tough and fearless competitor. One of our favorites at Top Prospect Games. 

Josh Bays, RHP, Lake Orion, 2014
A prototypical pitcher’s body at 6-foot-3 and 175-pounds, Bays has a frame that can handle more weight with strength gains surely to come.  A recent Western Michigan commit, there aren’t many miles on the arm as he really began concentrating on pitching two years ago.  A semi wind-up leads to a long arm circle in back with a quick and easy high ¾ delivery with proper extension.  The fastball is mostly straight sitting at 85-87 and bumping 88 with more in the tank.  When down in the zone there is some arm side run.  The curveball is inconsistent at 70-72 and goes up out of his hand now but he has some feel for it.  A strike thrower and works quick, with good makeup and likes to compete.

Conor Bowers, RHP, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 2014
Long and lean at 6 foot 3 and 175 pounds, Conor will gain more strength with maturity.  A longer arm circle in back and a quick arm that produces a lot of strikes.  Conor works quick and is not afraid to challenge hitters inside.  The fastball is mostly straight at 80-82 and bumps 85.  He has feel for the curveball at 64 and it acts like a slider at times.  With no real red flags in the delivery, Conor has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter at the college level for years to come.

Kyle Randick , RHP/3B/1B, Flushing, 2014
Well proportioned and heavy bodied at 6 foot 1 and 215 pounds, Kyle is agile and athletic.  Featuring a four pitch mix, Randick tops out at 82 on the mound with a 12-6 curveball, slider with tilt and a changeup with some fade at times.  At the plate he is quick to the zone with a smooth stroke but is able to keep his hands back to adjust to off speed.  He catches what he gets to in the field and may be better suited for 1B as he may have more upside as a hitter.