2023 Utah Top 10 Prospects (Sept Update)

3/6/22

Robinson the #1 ranked player in the ‘23 class and a TCU commit, didn’t do anything to be knocked off that perch, as he sprayed hard LD’s to all fields from both sides of the plate during his BP round. With 3 MLB scouts in attendance, Robinson was immediately noticed and it won’t take long for other scouts to do the same. A PBR Future Games alum and a 2021 1st Team All-Region and 1st Team All-State honoree, Robinson has a silky smooth stroke to hit from both sides of the plate and makes it look EZ. A bloodline player, as his uncle was a four year starting 3B at BYU and his Father was an All-American MIF at CSI and played in the Cardinals chain for three years. Ryder’s older brother Crew was a 1st Team JUCO All-American at CSI a year ago and currently plays at UC-San Diego. Robinson is also the leadoff hitter for national powerhouse American Fork and led the state in runs scored with 52 a year ago. Look for Robinson to contend for state player of the year honors before he culminates his HS career. 

The best athlete in the class. A two sport star, as McChesney is also one of the better WRs on the gridiron, as he blows by defenders in getting deep in hauling in highlight type plays. On the baseball field, Crew tore his UCL on a freak injury with weeks to go in the ‘21 season, which caused him to miss all summer/fall. Now healthy and only 8 months post op, McChesney posted arm velo from the OF at the Preseason All-State of 90 mph. Look for even greater velo to the low to mid 90’s as he is removed further from surgery and gains his man strength in 3-4 years. But what sets McChesney apart is premium speed as he posted a blazing 6.24/60, which on the MLB scale of 20-80 is an “80”, making him the best runner in the state, as well as one of the handful of fastest 60’s in the entire country. A quick compact stroke from the plate that generates elite hand speed of 25.7 and bat speed of 80. Now that McChesney is back on the map, look for a big year at the plate and on the bases, as he possesses Power 5 school type talent and should impact any program on both sides of the ball. 

 The top pitcher in the ‘23 class, Tyler committed to Stanford after his freshman year and was highly recruited by other schools as well. An Underclass Area Code alum, Ball has been on my radar since he was 14 years old, as I’ve seen him play with my son at a younger age. Ball has intriguing potential and is built like a MLB pitcher, with a lean, yet strong muscular build. Possessing a clean, yet shorter HTQ arm stroke, Ball shows good use of his lower ½, and has genetic arm strength, which he possessed at a young age. Now with two seasons of HS baseball remaining, not only is he a D1 commit, but shows the type of arm and arsenal of pitches to be a pro prospect out of HS. With a Stanford offer in hand, the Cardinal very rarely loses a HS commit to the draft, thus it will have to be a very high draft selection, for Ball to forgo a Stanford education, in addition to being a top Cardinal pitching recruit. Ball features a FB in the 88-90 mph, that reached the low 90’s in the fall. Ball also has a tight late breaking CB in the 74-78 range and has late tilt and biting depth. The CH 79-80 has late tumble and 13.8 inches of depth and turn over type life. Look for Tyler to have a big junior year, as he features the type of arm to put him in the conversation of region and state pitcher of the year, whether it's this spring or next. One thing is for sure Tyler will be a name to keep an eye on for Utah baseball fans, as he has big time potential. 

Positional Profile: SS/2B

Body: 5-9, 165-pounds. Small frame with proportioned V-Shaped structure. Pound for pound strong with defined musculature relative strength.

Hits: LHH. Even prop square stance w/his toes slightly turned in and balances on the inside part of his feet, which keeps him centered. Holds his hands above his back shoulder in a flat setup. Starts his bat in a timed manner with a slight rock back and a lift of the front foot. Soft at foot strike and then lays his bat open, similar to Jeter, and then takes his hands inside the baseball w/a tight flat compact stroke. Barrel gets into the hitting zone early and stays in the zone long. Gets quality extension out front w/an overall fluid swing path thru and into his finish.

Power: 94 max exit velocity, averaged 86.2 MPH. 316' max distance.
Arm: RH. INF (75-79 mph)

Defense: Plays with fluid educated feet with "dance" and bounce to the lower 1/2. Works out front and from the ground up. Bends at the waist/knees, in getting low to the ground with his back as flat as a table top. Plays low and out front. Plays through the ball and is adept at leaving his feet to make the horizontal play, in any direction. Upper body strength, allows him to pop to his feet in completing plays.

 
Run: 7.30 runner in the 60. 7.3/60, yet looks and plays quicker in game action. Tight turns with proper angles and strikes the bag with his right foot, which tightens his turns and puts him on a quicker path to the next bag.

Vizual Edge: 80.83 Edge Score

The Utah Tech commit is one of, if not the smoothest defender in the state, regardless of class. I have seen this young man play since he was 10 years old. Gifted with "Dancy", educated feet with plus movement patterns to allow for his glove to be in the right place at the right time. Also can play CF, and shows off an avg arm at 86 from the OF and 77 from the INF. Soto doesn’t sell out for metrics, but just plays catch and throws K’s in all directions. Throws from multiple arm slots and does it EZ. From the plate, Soto has a quick twitch well synced up hitting stroke with good use of his lower ½ and looks the part of a young Francisco Lindor. A fringe to avg runner at 7.06 in the 60, yet his lateral quickness and instincts at SS, belies a player that moves within a circle of range, rather than a straight line runner. With an additional 15-20 lbs at maturity, this kid has a very high ceiling. 

Laycock is one of 6 D1 commits on a loaded roster that went 30-1 a year ago, enroot to the 6A state title. Laycock, a secondary arm a year ago, will be out in front this year, along with Kaden Carpenter and Dax Newman to form a trio that will be tough for opponents to handle. Austin has a strong, sturdy athletic build and has grown an inch and put on 15 lbs since we last saw him this last July. Austin features a high flexible kick to a tucked delivery and maintains balance and creates deception from a short, ball to ear type arm slot, that makes it tough for hitters to pick up his pitches. He shows a FB/Lateral SLV and CH, with the FB 87-92 and ripping his fingers through the ball, he creates 2419 spin and the pitch has natural cutting action and darts off the barrel of hitters. The SL 71-73 has CB velo and SL action, which from his lower arm slot, looks like a frisbee and can be a tough pitch for both RHH/LHH’s to handle. The CH 78 has kill spin and is evident of the spin rate of 1418, which is one of the lower spins in the state. It fades really well, but needs to maintain his arm speed and create added turnover sync. A K thrower, repeating his delivery with his natural deception, should create a ton of mis-matches in Laycock’s corner this coming spring.