By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

On Sunday, January 19, a total of 49 prospects showcased their abilities to the PBR Kentucky staff and several college coaches.  The group of pitchers turned in a number of solid performances as some underclassmen established themselves as prospects to follow, and other players we had seen before showed improvement from previous events. 

A few notes on the pitchers:

+ Unsigned senior LHP Drew Lively showed a lot of late life on his 80-81 mph fastball.  Lively is battling back from a shoulder injury that prevented him to miss his junior season.

+ Class of 2017 RHP Jack Schneider showed big-time velocity with a fastball that sat 85-87 mph.

+ Class of 2015 RHP Aaron Hedgecock showed a 2-4 mph increase in velocity since June with an 81-83 mph fastball that touched 84.

+ Several underclassmen established themselves as pitchers to follow as they continue to develop on the mound.

We continue today with analysis of all pitchers.  This article includes pitching analysis only.  Two-way players have either already had their positional write-up or will have in the coming days.

The following is a look at the group of pitchers by class that participated in the event.

 

class of 2014

Drew Lively, LHP, South Oldham HS, 2014
6-foot-1, 175-pound prospect with athletic frame, uses long arm action through a ¾ to high ¾ arm slot, delivery requires minimal effort, fastball sat 80-81 and showed very good late life, good command of 70-71 mph curveball with 1/7 action, changeup shows some sink and fade at 71-72 mph thrown with good arm action.  Lively missed his entire junior season due to a shoulder injury and is working his way back to 100 percent.  His arm is not quite back to the loose arm action prior to the injury, and his fastball was mid-80’s pre-injury.  He is certainly an arm to follow this spring.

Chandler Littleton, RHP, Rowan County HS, 2014
5-foot-11, 235-pound prospect, uses long arm action through an over the top arm slot, fastball sat 75-77 mph touching 78, curveball shows some 12/6 action at 68-70 mph, changeup was mainly straight at 70-71 mph, two-seam fastball showed good arm-side run and sink, throws strikes consistently with all 3 pitches.

class of 2015

Aaron Hedgecock, RHP/1B, Butler HS, 2015
6-foot-2, 190-pound prospect with projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, fastball is mainly straight, showed a 2-4 mph increase in velocity from previous event at 81-83 mph touching 84, showed good command of curveball with 11/5 action at 66-68 mph, changeup is good at 71-73 mph with good arm-side run and sink, potential for more velocity gains from Hedgecock.

Jake Koerner, RHP/SS, Butler HS, 2015
6-foot, 179-pound prospect with athletic build, uses medium arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, quick arm, fastball sat 80-81 mph touching 82, showed good command of his 65-67 mph curveball with sharp 11/5 action, changeup sat 70-71 mph with good arm-side run and sink, good arm action on the changeup, repeats delivery well, may see more velocity to come from Koerner.

Ryan Garner, 1B/LHP, McCracken County HS, 2015
5-foot-10, 175-pound prospect with athletic build, arm is quick through a high ¾ arm slot, showed slight velocity gain from previous event at 79-80 mph, two-seam fastball shows good arm-side run, curveball shows sharp 1/7 action at 71-72 mph, good arm action on 70-71 mph changeup, shows solid command for all 3 pitches, good upside on mound.

Chance Bodine, C/RHP, Bethlehem HS, 2015
6-foot-1, 180-pound prospect with athletic build, uses shorter arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, delivery requires some effort, fastball sat 79-81 mph with some good arm-side run and sink on two-seamer, lacked command of 71-72 mph curveball with late 11/5 action, changeup thrown with near fastball arm speed at 72-74 mph with some run and sinking action.

Matthew Frank, RHP, Christian Academy of Louisville, 2015
6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect, projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ to over the top arm slot, arm worked more freely than the last time we saw him, showed a 2-4 mph increase in velocity as fastball sat 79-80 mph touching 81, tended to bury 70-72 mph curveball with 12/6 action, curveball was harder and sharper than at previous events, changeup sat 73-76 mph with some sink, has shown some progression since last seen during the summer.

Travis Weber, RHP/OF, Butler HS, 2015
5-foot-9, 170-pound prospect with athletic frame, uses medium arm action through an over the top arm slot, fastball sat 77-79 mph touching 80, two-seam fastball showed good arm-side run and sink, curveball shows 12/6 action at 67-71 mph, changeup was very good with good sink and fading action at 73-74 mph, throws all 3 pitches for strikes consistently.

Tad Canada, RHP/3B, Mitchell HS (IN), 2015
6-foot-1, 160-pound prospect with lanky build and room to fill in, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, wraps some on backside arm action, fastball sat 74-76 mph touching 77, two-seam fastball showed some arm-side run, curveball shows some downward spin at 62-65 mph, changeup shows some arm-side run at 67-69 mph.

Gavin Wood, RHP/OF, Elizabethtown HS, 2015
6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect with a projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, fastball is straight at 77-79 mph with two-seamer showing some slight arm-side run, slows arm on curveball that shows gradual 12/6 action at 61-63 mph, throws 69 mph changeup that shows some arm-side run when he stays behind it.

class of 2016

Michael Higgins, RHP, South Oldham HS, 2016
6-foot, 155-pound prospect with lanky build, projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, good rhythm in delivery, easy effort, fastball sat 81-83 mph with some arm-side run on two-seam fastball, curveball shows 11/5 action at 62-64 mph, has a tendency to get around his 73 mph changeup causing some cutting action, secondary pitches will continue to develop, definite 2016 prospect to follow.

Ean Barker, 3B/RHP, Central Hardin HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 195-pound prospect with strong lower half, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, easy effort in delivery, fastball sat 78-80 mph touching 81, showed good command of 66-69 mph curveball with 11/5 action, curveball showed big improvement from July event, changeup showed some cutting action at 68-69 mph, slows arm on the changeup.

Brayden Imel, C/RHP, Knox Central HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 205-pound prospect with strong lower half, uses short and quick arm action through a high ¾ to over the top arm slot, lands closed, fastball sat 75-76 mph with good arm-side run on two-seamer, showed good command of 64-67 mph curveball with 11/5 action, throws changeup with good arm action at 67-70 mph with some sink and fade, also throws a 68-70 mph slider that shows late bite.

Matthew Gammon, SS/RHP, Shelby County HS, 2016
6-foot, 173-pound prospect with athletic build, uses long arm action through a ¾ arm slot, throws slightly across body, fastball sat 74-75 mph and is straight, curveball showed some sweeping 10/4 action at 63-66 mph, lacked command of curveball, changeup sat 66-67 mph with some cutting action.

Drew Mills, RHP/3B, Trinity HS (Whitesville), 2016
5-foot-11, 190-pound prospect, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, fastball sat 74-75 mph touching 76 with some cutting action, lacked command of curveball burying most, curveball sat 65-67 mph with some limited 12/6 action, tendency to bury changeup as well, changeup sat 70-72 mph and needs a bigger velocity difference off fastball, will continue to improve on the mound as secondary pitches continue to develop.

Aaron Smith, C/2B/RHP, Trinity HS, 2016
5-foot-8, 135-pound prospect, uses short arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, fastball is straight at 70-71 mph touching 72, curveball shows some 12/6 action at 62-65 mph, lacked command of curveball, changeup was mostly straight at 63 mph, tendency to slow arm on changeup, will continue to improve on mound with additional velocity and development of secondary pitches.

Logan Koch, 2B/RHP, Bullitt Central HS, 2016
5-foot-9, 130-pound prospect with smaller build, uses short arm action through a ¾ arm slot, fastball sat 66-68 mph touching 69 with some occasional cutting action, curveball shows mostly some sweeping action at 61-62 mph, tendency to rush lower half on curveball leading to inconsistent action, changeup is straight at 64-65 mph, throws a 62 mph slider that needs more development.

class of 2017

Jack Schneider, RHP/3B, Daviess County HS, 2017
6-foot-2, 183-pound prospect with athletic build, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, deliberate delivery, quick arm, fastball sat 85-87 mph, curveball showed 12/6 action at 67-70 mph and he showed much better command of it out of the stretch, changeup sat 77-79 mph thrown with good arm action with some cutting action, will be a very good pitch when he stays behind it more consistently.  Schneider, like a lot of young pitchers, will need to continue to progress in repeating his delivery, but there is no doubt at this point and time he has the most arm strength of any freshman in the state and will be a high level prospect on the mound.

Ethan Osborne, RHP/SS, Sheldon Clark HS, 2017
6-foot-2, 155-pound prospect with lanky build and projectable frame, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, delivery requires minimal effort, fastball sat 76-79 mph touching 80 and is mainly straight with occasional cutting action, shows good command of his 64-67 mph curveball with gradual 11/5 action, throws changeup with good arm action at 72-73 mph with some slight cut action, tendency to get around his changeup, throws a knuckle ball at 65-66 mph, good upside on the mound, definite 2017 prospect to follow.

Jaren Lovely, OF/LHP, Magoffin County HS, 2017
5-foot-10, 130-pound prospect with lanky build, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, arm shows some loosness, good command of all 3 pitches, fastball sat 74-76 mph with some arm-side run, curveball shows 1/7 action at 63-66 mph, throws changeup with good arm action at 65-66 mph that shows good arm-side run and fade, will continue to add velocity as he continues physical maturity, has put on 15 pounds since first event in July.

Nolan Johnson, LHP/1B, Daviess County HS, 2017
5-foot-10, 147-pound prospect, uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot, fastball sat 69-71 mph touching 72 with occasional arm-side run (increase of 3 mph from June event), curveball continues to progress showing sharper 1/7 action than previous event at 58-60 mph and will continue to get better with physical maturity, throws 65-66 mph changeup with good arm action that shows some arm-side run when he stays behind it, has grown 2 inches and gained 35 pounds since first event in June, will continue to develop on the mound.

Will Moriarty, RHP/3B, South Oldham HS, 2017
6-foot-3, 165-pound prospect with lanky build and projectable frame, uses long arm action through a ¾ arm slot, fastball sat 73-75 mph touching 76 with some slight arm-side run, curveball shows gradual 11/5 action at 65-66 mph, throws a solid changeup at 68 mph that shows good sink and fade, young prospect with good frame, would expect to see additional velocity gains as he progresses.