By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

The Louisville Prospect ID Showcase, held on January 21 at Mockingbird Sports/Louisville Baseball Center, yielded some potential high level pitching prospects.  Today we take a look at those top pitching prospects, as well as the rest of the pitchers in attendance at the showcase.  Stay tuned as we continue to analyze by position group over the coming days.

The top pitching performances

Marty Coursey, RHP, Class of 2014, Henderson County HS
Coursey is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound RHP that showed repeatable mechanics and a quick arm through a high ¾ slot that produced a fastball that sat 81-84 mph, touching 85.  His curveball showed sharp 11/5 action with tight spin at 66-70 mph and has the potential to be a plus pitch with better command.   He showed good command of his changeup that was thrown with good arm action and sat 74-76 mph with some arm side run.  Coursey has the physical makings of a high level pitching prospect with a good frame and projectability that should lead to more velocity gains in the near future.

Jacob Kelly, LHP/1B, Class of 2015, North Bullitt HS
Kelly is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect with very good projectability on the mound.  He showed good balance and a loose arm through a high ¾ arm slot that produced an 81-82 mph fastball with some arm side run.  He showed good command of his curveball that sat 68-71 mph with late 1/7 action and tight spin.  He also showed good command of his changeup that he throws with good arm action that sat 74-75 mph with some run and sink.  Kelly should continue to see velocity gains and has the potential to develop into a high-level, left-handed pitching prospect in the Class of 2015.

Caleb Bruner, SS/RHP, Class of 2015, Logan County HS
Bruner is a 6-foot, 160-pound prospect that shows good upside on the mound.  The RHP used solid mechanics and a quick arm through a ¾ slot to produce an 82-84 mph fastball with good arm side run on his 2-seamer.  His curveball sat 69-73 mph and shows 11/5 action.  He flashed a very good change up at 73-75 mph with good arm side run and sink that he throws with good arm action.  The sophomore is definitely a pitcher to watch in the Class of 2015 and should continue to progress on the mound with additional physical development.

Daniel Steiner, LHP, Class of 2015, Henderson County HS
Steiner is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound LHRP with an athletic frame who shows promise on the mound.  He uses a quick arm through a high ¾ slot that produces an 81-84 mph fastball.  Delivery requires some effort and at times he rushes through his delivery and falls off to the 3^rd base side.  He flashed a 68-72 mph curveball that showed tight rotation and sharp 1-7 break.  His changeup showed some arm side run  at 71-74 mph thrown with fastball arm speed.  Steiner is a pitcher to watch in the Class of 2015 with the potential to be a high-level pitching prospect.

The next group

Matt Frank, RHP, Class of 2015, Christian Academy of Louisville
Frank is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound prospect with a good frame.   He shows long arm action through a high ¾ slot that produced a 77-80 mph fastball that was straight.  He showed good command of a tight 11/5 curveball that sat 64-65 mph.  His changeup was thrown with good arm action and sat 68-69 mph with some cutting action.  The sophomore has good projectability and should continue to see velocity gains with room to fill on his frame. 

Chase Patton, LHP/1B, Class of 2014, Bullitt East HS
Patton is a 6-foot, 185-pound prospect that showed a quick arm through a high ¾ arm slot that produced a 79-81 mph fastball with occasional arm side run.   He showed good command of his curveball that sat 69-71 mph and had late 12/6 action.  His changeup was thrown with good arm action and fairly straight at 74-75 mph.  Patton’s curveball was the better of his secondary pitches.  The change up has the potential to be a good pitch for him with continued development.

Parker James, RHP/2B, Class of 2014, Kentucky Country Day HS
James is a 6-foot, 160-pound prospect with an athletic frame.  He throws from a high ¾ arm slot with a fastball that sat 78-79 mph with some arm side run.  His curveball showed tight rotation with sharp 11/5 break and sat 61-63 mph.  He has good command of his changeup that sat at 70-71 mph.  James has room to fill on his frame and would expect to see some additional velocity out of him as he continues to progress physically.

Taylor Combs, RHP/1B, Class of 2014, Corbin Independent HS
Combs is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound prospect.  He throws through a high ¾ arm slot and his fastball sits at 78-79 mph.  His 2-seam fastball shows good arm side run.  His curveball has tight rotation and 11/5 action and sits 66-68 mph.   He throws a splitter and has a tendency to slow his arm, splitter sat 61-63 mph and will be a better secondary pitch for him thrown with fastball arm speed.

 Jonathan Thrasher, 1B/3B/RHP, Class of 2014, Butler HS
Thrasher is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound prospect that used long arm action through a high ¾ slot to produce a 78-80 mph fastball with some heavy action.  He drops his arm angle slightly on his curveball to a ¾ slot that produces a sharp 10/4 curveball that sat 60-64 mph.  Thrasher throws his change up with near fastball arm speed that showed some arm side run when he didn’t get around the baseball and sat 70-71 mph.

Austin Combs, RHP/OF, Class of 2014, Corbin Independent HS
Combs is a 6-foot, 195-pound prospect.  He uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot that produced a 78-79 mph fastball that was straight.  His curveball showed 11/5 action with late break and sat 63-68 mph.  He showed good command of his curveball, consistently throwing it for strikes.  Combs throws a splitter that showed good sink and deception at 66-68 mph that he will continue to develop command of.

Keep an eye on

Tyler Horsley, RHP/OF/3B, Class of 2016, Ballard HS
Horsley is a 6-foot, 152-pound, young prospect.  He throws from a high ¾ arm slot and showed a straight fastball at 74-75 mph.  He has a tendency to slow his arm speed on his 12/6 curveball that sat at 58-59 mph.  His change up shows promise as a good secondary pitch as it showed good  run and sink at 65-66 mph.  Horsley is a young prospect with projectability and will continue to get better as he adds to his frame and gets physically stronger.

Justin Stinson, 2B/RHP, Class of 2014, North Bullitt HS
Stinson is a 5-foot-8, 135-pound prospect that showed the ability to throw from different arm slots in his bullpen session.  He threw mainly from a sidearm slot but occasionally would go upstairs to a high ¾ slot as well.  He showed some cutting action on his fastball and arm side run on his 2-seamer when he changed arm slots to the high ¾.  His fastball sat 74-77 mph.  He showed good command of his curveball that had 10/4 action and sat 62-64 mph.  His changeup sat 65-66 mph and showed some cutting action. 

The best of the rest (alphabetical order)

Jonathan Ferrell, 1B/RHP, Class of 2015, George Rodgers Clark HS
Ferrell is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound RHP.  He throws from a ¾ slot and wraps on backside arm action with his arm having a tendency to drag.  His fastball sits at 74-76 mph with occasional arm side run.  He throws a 64-65 mph curveball that is flat and struggled with command.  His changeup showed promise with some arm side run and sink and sat 68-69 mph.

Casey Klein, LHP/1B, Class of 2014, Kentucky Country Day HS
Klein is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound prospect.  He throws from a high ¾ arm slot with short arm action that produced a straight fastball at 74-75 mph.  His curveball showed gradual 2/8 action and sat at 60-61 mph.  He also showed a changeup thrown with near fastball arm speed at 68 mph with some arm side run and sink.

Shawn Lile, OF/RHP, Class of 2015, John Hardin HS
Lile is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound RHP that showed a 72-74 mph fastball with short arm action out of a ¾ slot, 2-seam fastball shows some arm side run.  His curveball showed slight 11/5 action at 57-60 mph and change up sat at 58-59 mph.

Brandon Johnson, RHP/1B, Class of 2014, North Bullitt HS
Johnson is a 6-foot-3, 208-pound RHP/1B that uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot.  He tends to wrap a little on the backside.  His fastball sat 73-75 mph with some arm side run.  His curveball showed gradual 11/5 action at 62-64 mph.  He showed a changeup thrown with near fastball arm speed with some run at 71 mph that needs more velocity difference off his fastball.