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By Jerry Shank
MD/VA Scouting Director

Last week was a busy one for PBR Maryland with two top prospect events at the Univeristy of Maryland. Tuesday was the Class of 2018 Top Prospect Games and Wednesday was the Underclass prospect games. Close to 100 players from around te state and surrounding areas came to participate in front of the PBR Maryland scouting staff. Today we take an early look at these great events.

Tuesday showed players making a jump improving their statistics with C RJ Price being one of the top on the day. Price, a catcher out of John Carroll, showed improvement across the board showing increases in arm strength and exit velocity while also lowering his pop time on the day. Price showed a short path at the plate with gap-to-gap ability during BP as well as quick feet to release from behind the dish on his pops.

University of Richmond commit Sammy Senders impressed at the event, showing increased strength to his frame. Senders showed off his arm strength in the outfield, throwing 90 mph from right field with accurate throws. Senders again showed off his ability on the mound, pitching up to 85 on the day with a late action breaking ball that has swing and miss capability.

Kevin Madden again impressed with his all around athleticism projection at the plate. The infielder gives versatility in the infield with the capability to be an option at any spot and provide offensive upside at the plate.

Derrick Newman is an interesting corner infield prospect, showing bat speed at the plate and power potential. He moves well around the corner and can provide an offensive option.

Wednesday pitchers took over the day with a special group of young men at the underclass prospect games. 2019 Chris Chaney topped out at 90 mph on the bump and again the Maryland commit showed off a late action breaking ball. Chaney still needs to gain confidence in his third pitch, but his two pitch arsenal are both plus pitches. Overall 12 pitchers were 83 or better from the Underclass (Chaney, John Carter, Jamison Covey, Joseph Davis, Jake Gelof, Aaron Groller, Colton Knoble, Marcus Lee Sang, Joshua O'Neill, Jack Povey, James Springer, and Dom Velazquez), with five of those being 86 or better (Chaney, Covey, Knoble, O'Neill, Povey). Projection showed in all of them, providing for a special group of young arms on the day.

Lee Sang also showed well offesnviely on the day, showing off potential two way capability with his left handed stroke and power potential. He showed gap ability at the plate with nice extension through contact and shows some power potential as he continues to develop.

Gelof and Davis are two others that showed showed two way potential with excellent workouts, but also provide some intrigue in the fact that both arms showed off strength during the defensive portion that showed that they have more in the tank on the mound. Gelof was 87 across the infield while Davis got up to 90 from the outfield.

Jake Manderson was one of the overall winners on the day of the event, showing a projectable frame and nice athleticism from the catching position. Manderson was a consistently in the 2.0's during the workout, showed off quick hands at the plate with a level path and uphill finish at the plate while hitting from a strong, wider base.

Overall, both days showed plenty of talent across the board. Check out the following sites to see the statistics from both events.

Class of 2018  /  Underclass Prospect

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