Adam Akin
Director of Scouting



The 2017 PBR Tennessee Middle Tennessee Preseason Preview took place on Monday, January 16 at Showtime Sports Academy in Franklin, 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, as well as a number of college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every left-handed pitcher that was in attendance.

 

Alec Lubas, OF/LHP, Ravenwood, 2018
Max FB: 85, FB: 84-85, CB: 64-65, CH: 73-75,
6-foot-2, 195-pound, LHP works quickly on the mound and utilizes some short and efficient movements, leg lift is a little higher but his shoulders remain even throughout his delivery, strides in line and jumps at the plate with a short but quick and explosive arm action through a high ¾ slot, finishes balanced and under control as his strength allows him to maintain body control.  Fastball was mostly straight with some occasional late run, curveball showed 1/7 shape, changeup actually had some cut at times. 

Robert Hassell III, OF/LHP, Independence, 2020
Max FB: 84, FB: 82-84, CB: 69-74, CH: 71-72,
6-foot-2, 175-pound, LHP begins with his shoulders already aligned with the plate and uses only short and quick actions to get to the top of his leg lift in a loaded position, maintains an up-tempo pace, strides and lands in a closed position but has a quick enough arm to get out and over it, longer arm action comes through a ¾ slot, finishes tall and under control while his back leg swings around.  Fastball was mostly straight, curveball was almost a slider with some 2/8 movement through the zone, changeup had some slight run and faded a little bit at the plate.  

John Dowless, LHP, Mount Juliet, 2017
Max FB: 83, FB: 81-83, CH: 77-78, SL:74-75
6-foot-1, 175-pound, LHP skips any kind of rocker step and heads straight into an up-tempo motion, leg lift only gets about waist high and creates a slight little shoulder tilt before heading toward the plate, strides and lands in a closed position but is usually able to get out and over his front side, arm action is long through a high ¾ slot but gets a little stiff near release, finishes in front and under control.  Fastball showed some run and sink through the zone when kept down, slider had some slight movement with 2/8 shape, changeup seemed to have some sink on it but missed down a few times.

Dylan Berry, LHP, CreekWood, 2019
Max FB: 79, FB: 77-79, CB: 64-68, CH: 68-72,
6-foot-0, 180-pound, LHP uses a fairly smooth and consistent pace throughout his delivery, tempo builds through a higher leg lift and a big shoulder tilt that is created before attacking the plate with some effort, strides mostly in line as his longer but quick arm action comes through a high ¾ angle, occasionally finishes with a slight drift toward the 3B side.  Fastball was mostly straight, curveball showed 1/7 to 2/8 shape with gradual movement, changeup had some run through the zone.  Could develop nicely and has some projectability.

Gabe Morris, LHP, Siegel, 2018
Max FB: 77, FB: 74-77, CB: 57-59, CH: 65-67,
6-foot-0, 175-pound, LHP uses a more up-tempo delivery with a lot of short and simple moving parts, delivery is quick with an efficient leg lift that keeps his shoulders aligned and mostly even, strides and lands in line while utilizing a short and quick arm action through a high ¾ release point, generally finishes balanced out front.  Fastball was mostly straight, curveball had 1/7 shape with some big movement into the zone, changeup showed some sink and fade, can be effective throwing 3 pitches for strikes.

Elijah Brooks, 1B/LHP, Ensworth, 2019
Max FB: 76, FB: 74-76, CB: 67-69, CH: 68-70,
5-foot-10, 185-pound, LHP begins his motion a little slower but builds up to an aggressive movement toward the plate, higher leg lift gets him to the top and creates some slight shoulder tilt before heading home, stride lands very slightly closed, arm action begins long and slings through a high ¾ slot before he finishes out front and under control.  Fastball was pretty straight, curveball had some late movement with 2/8 shape, changeup actually showed some cut at the end.

Cole Alsup, LHP/OF, Mount Juliet Christian Academy, 2018
Max FB: 73, FB: 71-73, CB: 56-57, CH: 62-66,
6-foot-0, 145-pound, LHP uses a more deliberate delivery through a little slower-paced tempo, nearly comes to a pause around the top of his leg lift, shoulders stay pretty even but close off with his stride toward the plate, lands in a very closed position and really has to reach out over his front side on release, long arm action comes through a ¾ slot with natural effort.  Fastball was mostly straight but showed some occasional cut, curveball showed 12/6 to 1/7 shape with gradual movement through the zone, changeup had some cut.