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By Greg Williams
Pennsylvania / West Virginia Director of Scouting

and Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

and Shooter Hunt
PBR National Crosschecker

Of the 100 prospects to showcase their abilities over two days of the 2017 Preseason All-State Showcase nearly 40 percent participated as pitchers. Today we continue our analysis of the prospects in attendance by taking a look at the pitchers in the Class of 2017 and 2018. Those pitchers who also worked out as position players have already been evaluated at their defensive position in a previous article.

+ PLEASE NOTE: positioning of the radar gun and LED board on day one led to numbers visible on videos that were, at times, 3-5 mph too low. Both mounds on day one also had radar guns running directly behind the respective catcher. As such, numbers reported below may differ from those on the video, but are accurate and were announced over the public address system during the course of the day's action.

Top Prospect

Dillon Marsh, 2018, LHP/1B, Lancaster Catholic
Two-way prospect continues to show incremental progress on the mound. Increased tempo and arm speed has led to fastball velocity jumping several ticks over the past year. On this occasion the 6-foot-2, 215-pound lefty sat 87-89 while topping at 90 mph from a high 3/4 arm slot. Curveball showed improvement at 70-72 with 1/7 rotation and occasional two-plane break while still not being thrown with fastball intent. Changeup continues to be a well above average pitch at 75-77 with armside run and sink. The Kentucky recruit has advanced feel for the pitch and is able to locate it with regularity.

 

Other Participating 2017 & 2018 Pitchers

Brady Bash, 2018, RHP, West Chester Henderson
6-foot-2, 175-pound righty sat 84-85 from a lower arm slot (3/4) than we have seen him at in the past. Hip coil delivery and lower slot led to significant armside run and some sink on his fastball. Changeup sat 76-77 at near fastball arm speed. Slider will need to be improved to have a solid, three-pitch complement. Slider currently sits 68-71 with minimal break and tends to be flat through the hitting zone.

Tim Beimel, 2018, OF/RHP, St. Marys Area
5-foot-10, 165-pounder pitched out of an over-the-top slot. Compact, repeatable delivery. Lands with toe pointing at catcher and works around front side somewhat. Fastball sat 76-79, touching 81 mph. Also featured a change-up at 73-75 with some dive to it and a curveball at 67-69 that lacked significant tilt.

Quinn Buffington, 2018, OF/LHP, Camp Hill
6-foot-1, 190-pound primary outfielder sat 80-83 with some hip coil to his delivery out of a high 3/4 arm slot. Relatively new to the position, Buffington also showcased a 66 mph curveball with 1/7 rotation and occasional two-plane break along with good feel for his changeup at 74-77. Very athletic two-way prospect could see significant jumps in velocity if more concentration were to be placed on this area of his game.

Justin Byler, 2018, 1B/RHP, Warwick
6-foot-4, 185-pound primary position player continues to show progress on the mound. Right-hander sat 80-82 from a high 3/4 arm slot with a hip coil delivery. Curveball shows 11/5 rotation at 64-66 and will need to be thrown harder to be a functional pitch at the next level. Displayed solid feel for his changeup with armside run at 76-77. Gets over front leg well and should continue to see velocity gains as he learns to incorporate lower half more in his delivery.

C.J. Conrad, 2018, OF/RHP, Apex (NC)
Aggressive 6-foot, 175-pounder with a quick arm out of an over-the-top slot. Deliberate wind-up into a drop-and-drive delivery with slight back shoulder dip. Drops hands from chest to waist to separate into a long arm action and stays on-line to the plate. Fastball sat 81-84 with some life. Curveball was inconsistent during this short bullpen, but, at its best, had tight 11/5 tilt with depth at 69-72.

Mark Conrad, 2018, RHP, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic
Standing 6-foot-2, 165-pounds Conrad is wiry with long arms and legs. He utilizes a somewhat robotic delivery to go along with a long, cast-like, arm swing that delivers out of a 3/4 to higher slot. Arm action is longer without being whippy, while his fastball was consistently in the zone and kept climbing in velocity throughout. Starting out in the 82-83 range, Conrad continued at 84-85 before pumping his last pitch in at 88. Though his slider is more of a spinner right now at 73 mph, and his changeup is still developing at 71-73, Conrad's arm strength cannot be ignored, and as his frame fills out more, he has a chance to continue adding to it.

Aaron Feld, 2018, RHP, Octorara Area
Physical 6-foot-2, 195-pound build. Quick arm with a bit of effort produced a fastball that sat 85-86 out of a high three-quarter slot. Slurvy breaking ball flashed hard bite at 71-72. Firm change-up at 79-81 had short, hard sink to it. Bit of a low elbow can, at times, lead to coming across his delivery and limited plane on offerings, but there's plenty to like about his three-pitch mix and physique.

Jonah Frankel, 2018, RHP, Harriton
Aggressive, max effort, 6-foot, 175-pounder with a quick arm out of a high three-quarter slot. Delivery includes a hip coil with chest-high leg lift, good leg drive, and some deception created by slight pause over rubber and then throwing his front side at the hitter. Fastball lacked significant plane, but had occasional armside run at 83-85. Showed a very good feel for a change-up at 75-76 with late sink and an ability to drop his 11/5 curveball in for strikes at 71-72.

Andrew Haupt, 2018, LHP, Southern Columbia Area
5-foot-9, 160-pound lefty sat 68-70 with some natural cut to his fastball from an over the top arm slot. High arm slot allows for 12/6 rotation on his 62 mph curveball with late down action. Changeup is thrown with similar arm speed as his fastball at 67-68 with little movement and lacks separation in velocity. Displayed solid command of all three pitches with balanced, repeatable mechanics.

Jake Herrit, 2018, OF/RHP, Knoch
5-foot-11, 190-pound two-way prospect sat 79-83 from a high 3/4 arm slot with an up-tempo, balanced delivery. The right-hander also showcased a curveball with tight 11/5 rotation and a changeup thrown at near fastball arm speed at 62-65. The athletic junior announced a commitment to Army within days following the event.

Dylan Kingan, 2018, RHP/1B, Eden Christian
Projectable 6-foot-4, 185-pound build. Mid-delivery tempo change from quick to slow as he reaches his balance point. Elbow can get low, at times, as he pitches out of a three-quarter slot. Stays on-line to the plate well. Fastball sat 75-76 and was accompanied by a solid slider at 70-72, a slow curveball at 62-64 that lacked significant action, and a change-up at 67-72 on which he must maintain fastball armspeed.

Dawson Magar, 2018, RHP, Donegal
6-foot, 180-pound righty sat 81-83 with a deliberate, balanced delivery out of a high 3/4 arm slot. Magar has a projectable frame and stays directional with added velocity likely moving forward. The junior showcased advanced feel for a 71 mph curveball with two plane 11/5 rotation and a 76 mph changeup with good sell and some late sink.

Jared Marshman, 2018, RHP/1B, Berwick Area
6-foot-1, 220-pound two-way prospect sat 77-79 from a balanced delivery with a high 3/4 arm slot. Also displayed solid command of a 64 mph curveball with 11/5 rotation and a 69 mph changeup with good feel and some sinking action. Arm action is short in back and short in front. Velocity spikes are likely if he can add some length to his arm action moving forward.

Adam Maser, 2019, LHP, Ephrata Area
5-foot-11, 155-pounder who pitches out of an over-the-top slot. Begins delivery with a sideways rocker into a chest-high leg lift. Fastball sat 74-75, while he also featured a curveball with short break at 63-66 and a change-up at 71-72 with occasional fade. Stays on-line and was around the plate with all three offerings.

Ryan Miller, 2018, RHP/3B, Fleetwood Area
6-foot-2, 205-pounder who pitched entirely from the stretch out of an over-the-top slot. Repeatable delivery and stays on-line to the plate. Both two-and four-seam fastballs were virtually the same velocity at 84-85. The former was very straight with some life, while the latter showed some hard, late armside action. Has some feel for a curveball at 68-69 that flashed depth, as well as a straight change-up at 72-75 that he threw for strikes, albeit while slowing his arm a tad.

Zack Murray, 2018, RHP, Hughesville
Projectable, athletic 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame. Right-hander sat 78-81 from a high 3/4 arm slot with a balanced, repeatable delivery. Curveball sat 70-71 with 11/5 rotation with good arm speed and his changeup flashed heavy fade at 75 mph. Athletic delivery with more room to fill out projects for added velocity in short order.

Grady Nance, 2018, LHP, The Haverford School
5-foot-10, 170-pound lefty sat 78-80 from a 3/4 arm slot. Tends to fall to third base dugout leading to some armside run. Also showcased a slider at 68-71 and a changeup with good arm speed at 72 mph. Solid rhythm and tempo to delivery with fluid arm action should lead to continued velocity gains.

Austin Odell, 2018, RHP, Bishop Shanahan
Righty showcased a quick arm and a fastball that sat 84-86. Standing 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, Odell has a long, lean pitcher’s frame that should be adding more weight and muscle in the near future. His motion was smooth and compact, and he repeated his high 3/4 slot well. Odell’s stride was noticeably long, and at times it looked like he had to try and shorten it so that he would not go off the mound. Throwing slightly against his body, the ball had a bit of a jump to it when approaching the mitt. Though at first he struggled to find a release point for his curveball (70-72), he did manage to throw one good one that showed sharp break, and may even have a chance to be a swing and miss pitch in the future. A similar case can be made for his changeup (74-76), which he spiked a few, but threw one that showed some sink and was above average. Overall, Odell is still working on polishing his arsenal, but the arm strength is there, and there are tools to work with.

Nick Parker, 2018, RHP/SS, Dallastown Area
Wiry 6-foot, 180-pound Coastal Carolina commit with room to add strength to his frame. Controlled tempo in drop-and-drive delivery with slightly crossfire landing from first base side of rubber. Out of a high three-quarter slot, fastball sat 82-83 and touched 85 mph, while he has a good feel for his change-up at 75-77. Also features two distinct breaking balls, a slider at 75-76 and a curveball at 64-66 that varied in shape, but had good depth when he got on top of it.

Casey Rother, 2018, C/RHP, Tamaqua Area
Prototype 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame. Repeatable delivery in which he holds his hands at his chest until separation, lands with his toe pointing at the catcher, and pitches out of an over-the-top slot.  Fastball sat 86-87 and has a chance to be a heavy pitch in the future, while a split at 77-78 exhibited solid tumbling action. Struggled to get on top of his curveball at 67-70, but did flash one at the upper end of that range that had some tilt to it.

Alec Shaw, 2017, RHP, Greensburg Salem
6-foot-1, 175-pounder who pitched out of both a below sidearm and a low three-quarter slot. From underneath, his fastball sat 72-73 with variable rise/run/sink action, while his slider and change-up both checked in as mid-60s offerings. From the higher slot, his fastball sat 76-77 with the slider ticking up to 67-68.

Zac Vittorelli, 2018, RHP, Holy Ghost Prep
6-foot-1, 185-pounder who pitches out of a high three-quarter slot with a bit of a head whack. Gathers well over rubber, kicks lead foot out of balance point, lands open, and works around front side. Directional issues and not getting over his front side, plus his loose arm action, hints at untapped velocity from a fastball that sat 83-84 and touched 86 mph. Also showed a firm change-up at 80-81 and a curveball at 70-71 that he tended to cast.

Sean Wills, 2018, RHP/OF, Holy Redeemer
Lean 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame. Short takeaway, drifts out of balance point to a slightly crossfire landing, and pitches out of a three-quarter slot with a fastball that sat 76-77. Best pitch is a change-up at 70-71 that showed good, late sink. Tended to get on the side of his curveball at 62-64 and drop his elbow slot. Given lower release point, a switch to a slider could be advantageous.

Tyler Wright, 2018, LHP, Coatesville Area
6-foot-2, 175-pound primary pitcher sat 77-79 from a high 3/4 arm slot with some hip coil to his delivery working solely out of the stretch. Also commanded a 68 mph curveball and a 71 mph changeup. Projectable frame with repeatable delivery. Will likely see significant velocity gains with work to increase tempo and arm speed.

Luke Zimmerman, 2018, 1B/LHP, Marple Newtown
Primary position player pounded the zone with four pitches delivering from a high 3/4 slot after pausing in a loaded separation. Sat 79-81 with his fastball, up five mph from just six months ago. His curveball with 1/7 rotation and sweeping slider were both thrown 69-70 with tight spin, and his changeup had some late fading action at 72-73.

Preseason All-State Showcase News