Introducing Team Wisconsin: Part One

July 30, 2019
By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

Each summer, the PBR Future Games concludes the summer baseball circuit by collecting the country’s top uncommitted incoming juniors in one place. This year, that place is the LakePoint Sports Complex in Cartersville, Ga.

Today, we’re going to spend a little time introducing you to Team Wisconsin. From all corners of the Badger State, some of the best on-the-market 2021s will be repping Wisconsin at our Georgia complex.

ARMS

Drew Stippich (Kettle Moraine) will take the ball first for Team Wisconsin on Thursday night. The 6-foot-1 right-hander has a simple, easy delivery to home that helps him casually live in the mid-80s, though we saw him sit 87-88 mph at a showcase in February. He backs up his fastball with a curve and change he’s demonstrated feel for this summer, giving him a handy three-pitch mix. His present arsenal and athleticism will make him a next-level commodity after this week.

Wauwatosa East’s Tommy Meyer is the top-ranked lefty in the state’s 2021 class and has a chance to steal a lot of attention this week, claiming arguably the highest ceiling from the mound in the class. He’s a lean, lanky, athletic 6-foot-4 with an uber easy motion. At our South Milwaukee event in March, Meyer sat 82-84 mph with hard life and he has an advanced feel for his offspeed – a tight curve and a fading changeup.

Tommy Meyer (3/3/19)

Two late adds to the Team Wisconsin roster are fresh off head-turning performances earlier this summer: LHP Jared Lessman (St. Croix Falls) and RHP Tyler Hug (Waukesha West). Lessman really stole our attention at All-State Games in Illinois in early July, where he sat 82-86 mph, touching 87 mph, with minimal effort. He struck out a pair of batters in his lone inning of work. As for Hug, he made a stellar start just over a week ago at the PBR at The Rock 16U tournament, one in which he racked up 10 Ks in a complete-game effort against a talented lineup. In the start, he sat 83-86 mph, touching 87 mph a few times, and his fastball featured his trademark heavy action. It was a gutsy effort, and Hug’s athleticism plays exceptionally well as a track and field star, as well as the gridiron. There’s still some untapped potential here, certainly.

Oak Creek will have two Knights righties representing in Georgia: Tyler Peck and Isaac Engelbrecht. Peck has good feel for the makings of a dependable four-pitch mix. He’s another mid-80s arm on this roster who projects well, standing in at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds. Engelbrecht is a strong 6-foot-3 who put together a live ‘pen in June at our Underclass Trials event. There he sat 84-86 mph with some aggressive offspeed, specifically a 12/6 breaking ball with sharp downer action.

Isaac Engelbrecht (6/19/19)

The long and lanky 6-foot-8 Logan Landers (Brookfield Academy) will naturally pry some eyes once he takes the mound this week. He was a big riser in the late winter/early spring when he sat 83-86 mph at a preseason event, touching 87 mph. He flashed some raw offspeed with genuine swing-and-miss potential. Landers is the exact kind of prospect to garner some heavy looks this week.

Alex Hayes (Muskego) is built to be that calm, dependable lefty presence to anchor a rotation. He has a durable 6-foot-1 frame and is sitting at an ultra easy 81-83 mph, topping 84 mph often in our most recent look a few weeks back. His clean and easy motion lets him repeat his quick and loose arm action, simultaneously allowing him to fill up the zone when he’s on. He’s shown us a feel for offspeed at various points in 2019. He makes it tempting to bet on the upside, and to expect a spike in velocity in the relatively near future.

The last pitcher-only to watch for this week is the other Muskego lefty: Blake Read. The lean and athletic 6-foot-2 southpaw has a loose and quick arm and is able to generate hard arm-side run on his mid-80s fastball. He’s still finding consistent feel for his breaking ball, but when it’s on, it’s swing and miss. It’s a tight- and sharp-breaking curveball working off a 1/7 plane that’s especially tough on lefties.

TWO-WAYS

The aforementioned won’t be the only arms to watch for, however. There are three two-way prospects headed to LakePoint who are set to take at-bats and innings on the bump. First, we’ll start with one of the state’s hottest prospects, regardless of class or position: INF/RHP Owen Washburn (Webster). Washburn fits the middle-infield profile and has only been getting stronger from the left-handed batter’s box. It all culminated in a huge year offensively for the Tigers, which went on to win a consecutive state title, and Washburn earned a PBR First-Team All-State honor in the process. On the mound, he can run it into the mid-80s and mixes in a curve and change he has advanced feel for. The athleticism and bloodlines are clearly here, so Washburn will let us know himself whether or not he’s and arm or bat at the next level – or both.

Owen Washburn (3/10/19)

Speaking of standouts from the high school season, Liam Stumpf and Mineral Point opposed Washburn and Webster in the state Division-4 title game. Stumpf helped pitch the Pointers into the title game in the semis and homered along the way, too. He slugged 12 home runs this year, actually, while roaming the outfield on the days he wasn’t pitching. Stumpf’s fastball topped 88 mph in a preseason event but more regularly sits a few ticks below that. He’s also a 6.80 runner with a little pop and a great feel to hit.

Grant Ross is a hard-nosed, do-it-all two-way player for Pewaukee and his club team STiKS Academy, who was essential to the team’s PBR at The Rock 16U championship win a couple weeks back. He’s a strong, athletic 5-foot-10 with pop in his right-handed bat that frequently fools pitchers. Ross clubbed two deep doubles and a clutch home run in that tourney’s title game all while pitching a gritty seven-inning outing for his squad. That sums up his competitiveness succinctly. On the mound, he’s been up to 88 mph in front of our staff, featuring hard run. He has a good grip on his breaking ball, too, and is consistently able to earn swings and misses outside of the zone with it.

ITINERARY

Briefly, the format of the week will flow as follows:

+ Wednesday: Team Wisconsin will separate into their positional groups to participate in a showcase-style workout that will take place all day. Corner infielders will run the 60-yard dash, take batting practice, and go through defensive evaluations beginning at 9:30 a.m. The middle infielders will follow in the same order, the outfielders after that, and the catchers will conclude the day.

+ Thursday: Team Wisconsin will play its first game in the evening, with pre-game on-field BP taking place at 7 p.m., first pitch at 8:15 p.m., against Team Indiana.

+ Friday: First pitch vs. Team Illinois scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Note: there will be no BP on Friday.

+ Saturday: Batting practice will begin at 8:15 a.m. with first pitch vs. Team Iowa/Minnesota at 9 a.m.