After prospecting the Midwest during Week Eight of the D1 baseball season, the Scouting Trail again took me through the central states. Starting with a mid-week junior college game with No.1 ranked Wabash Valley (check-out our most recent JC Rankings), then onto Indianapolis for a top round arm and bat, and finishing with a Missouri Valley Conference double-header between the top two hitting prospects in the conference, there was an abundance of tools and talent. Here’s what I saw…

No. 79 Mike Massey, 2B, Illinois- Loose bodied, athletic middle infielder who recently returned to playing defense after experiencing back issues the first seven weeks of this spring season. During this time he was exclusively the DH. Likely due to his back injury and the inability to hit the weights hard, Massey looks thinner this spring than in the past. When fully healthy, Massey plays defense with ease. He is a plus defender with soft hands, smooth actions and good range in all directions. Also has a near average arm and is quick on the DP pivot. At the dish, he has a loose, pure stroke with good rhythm. Starts his swing with a leg lift load. Has minimal separation as he keeps his hands tight to his back shoulder. A slight adjustment for more separation could result in more over the fence power in the future, where it currently projects to be below average. However, his power should continue to grow as he gets completely healthy and fills out. Massey has very good hand/eye and controls the barrel. Never looks over matched and always seems to have a plan up to bat. As a result, he’s been very consistent at the plate generating hard contact; batted .330 as a freshman, .326 as a sophomore and is currently hitting .319 with more walks than strikeouts. Remarkably,...