Adam Akin
Director of Scouting



The 2017 PBR Tennessee East Tennessee Preseason Preview took place on Sunday, January 29 at Chattanooga Sports Complex, in Hixson, Tennessee and included a position player workout, followed by pitcher bullpens.  Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of the PBR Tennessee staff and college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every outfielder that participated in the event.

 

Zane Keener, OF/LHP, Christian Academy of Knoxville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.32, Position Velocity:  OF-87, Exit Velocity: 93
5-foot-10, 160-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and open stance in an athletic position with a cocked barrel, uses a leg kick and stride with a rhythmic movement of his hands to get loaded, lower half is engaged early and explosively clears his hips to create separation, bat path stays through the zone for a long time and showed some lift at the end that provides some power, bat speed is impressive and helped to drive the ball toward the right-center gap consistently.  Defensively, showed smooth footwork and soft hands that played through the ball with confidence and led to a slightly longer arm action through a high ¾ slot, throws had a ton of life.  UT commit is a top prospect in the 2019 class.

Gavin Cross, OF/LHP, Tennessee High, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.43, Position Velocity:  OF-86, Exit Velocity: 87
6-foot-0, 175-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance with some slightly higher but quiet hand positioning, uses a short and simple stride with a smooth movement back with his hands that moves them a tad lower, lower half stays wide and strong and clears his hips while giving him a solid base to operate on, swing plane is very flat through the zone, finds the barrel a lot but can allow his top hand to get a little too strong at times.  Defensively, plays very athletically with good hands and footwork in the outfield, played through the ball with confidence, a slightly shorter arm action comes through a high ¾ slot, throws were firm and accurate.  Highly regarded 2-way prospect in the 2019 class.

Daniel Willie, RHP/OF, Ooltewah, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.53, Position Velocity:  OF-85, Exit Velocity: 83
6-foot-2, 175-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance with his hands resting the bat just behind his back ear to begin, uses a toe-tap and stride with a smooth movement down and back with his hands to get loaded, lower half worked very much the same as we saw from him at the Unsigned Senior Games in the fall by clearing his hips but pulling him tall, bat path remains flat, long arms try to get extended, at his best when he stays up the middle.  Defensively, moved athletically in the outfield by showing smooth footwork and good hands while playing through the ball athletically, arm action is longer through a high ¾ slot, throws had solid carry.

Chad Marsh, OF, McCallie, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.51, Position Velocity:  OF-76, Exit Velocity: 86
5-foot-8, 175-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance with higher initial hand positioning and his knees angled well inside his feet, short and early stride combines with a lowering of the hands to get him loaded, lower half fires quickly but can get cut off by closed footwork at times, swing plane is flat to slightly up through the zone, consistently got the barrel to the ball in BP, likes to stay in left-center.  Defensively, plays through the ball with some aggressiveness and stays headed toward his target, good hands and quick footwork put him in good positions, shorter arm action comes through an over-the-top angle.   

Kenny Naysmith, OF, Morristown East, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.71, Position Velocity:  OF-73, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-7, 145-pound, RHH hits from a wide stance with quiet hands, uses a lean back with a toe-tap and stride and a slight movement back with his hands to get loaded, lower half stays wide and open does a good job of clearing his hips but can get stuck from time to time, bat path begins a little stiff but gets through the zone pretty flat and loosens up near contact, consistently produced line drives from gap-to-gap in BP.  Defensively, good footwork allowed him to play through the ball pretty consistently, using two hands to field the ball threw his timing off at times, slightly longer arm action comes through an over-the-top slot, throws had decent carry.