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Midwest ProCase: Quick Hits

July 10, 2019
Steve Nielsen
Illinois/Wisconsin Scouting Supervisor

The Midwest ProCase was held at Dupage Medical Group Field in Joliet, Illinois on Tuesday, July 9th. Some of the best prospects in the midwest were in attendance to showcase their talents to the many professional scouts that were on-hand. Throughout the coming weeks, we will be analyzing the event with in-depth reports on each position. For now, here are some of our initial takeaways from the showcase and gameplay. 

QUICK HITS

Missouri Impresses

  • Two of the more highly touted position players heading into Tuesday’s ProCase both hailed from Missouri in the forms of OF CJ Cepicky (Vianney, Missouri) and SS Tavian Josenberger (Park Hill, Kansas). Cepicky put on a show in BP, wearing out the left side of the outfield with easy hard contact and showing some of the best power of the day to his pull side. Cepicky was one of a handful of bats where the ball simply sounds different coming off the barrel, and he showed it in game with a hard gap single to right center. Josenberger is a highly intriguing athlete, he ran a 6.84 and has switch hitting abilities with an up the middle defensive profile. His arm plays up, getting true carry and accuracy across the diamond while making the most athletic plays look easy. 

High-Level Defense

  • Christian Knapczyk (Joliet Catholic, IL, Louisville) joined Josenberger as Team Red’s middle infield combo, and the duo were clearly the best infield defenders of the day. Knapczyk is as clean as it gets on the dirt, his hands play soft and has the range and arm to make any play on the diamond. His defensive prowess is his present calling card, but his left-handed bat competes in the box with a spray approach and instinctual hitter.

  • Left-handed hitting catcher Calvin Harris (West Dubuque, IA, Mississippi) is a top 150 Overall Rank and and put his full game on display at the ProCase. One of the first BP hitters of the day, his bat clearly stood out, the ball jumps off his barrel and showed abilities to go to both gaps with authority. His feel for the barrel translates to game action as well, Harris finished with a pair of singles that drove in two RBI. Behind the dish he has a plus arm that carries with accuracy and posted an event best pop of 1.86. 

Power Bats

  • Joining the power bat of Cepicky, includes the likes of LHH Drake Westcott (Edwardsville, IL, Louisville), RHH Kip Fougerousse (Linton, IN, Indiana), LHH Costa Sirounis (Munster, IN, Indiana) and RHH Garrett Rice (Willard, MO, Missouri). Rice and Fougerousse tied for top exit velocities of the day at 100 mph. Fougerousse takes an aggressive hack from the right side, showing one of the more intentful swings of the day, its violent and with a purpose and played in-game as well.

Athleticism headed to the Big-Ten

  • A pair of athletic outfielders who seemed to elevate their stock out of Illinois is Tre Hondras (Homewood-Flossmoor, IL, Michigan) and Connor Milton (Champaign Central, IL, Illinois). The pair have similar profiles, and both took to the wood bat better than expected. While neither are overwhelming in size or strength, the projection is there and the hand strength to get wood barrels on the baseball with authority in BP was impressive.

High-end Arms

  • Game play started with one of the higher ceiling arms of the day in Isaiah Jackson (Champaign Central, IL, Uncommitted) The 6-foot-5 right-hander started the game with a blistering 94 mph fastball at the knees. The ceiling on his arm is limitless, but presently still raw, he sat mostly 88-92 mph with limited control, but when the levers are synced up he possesses an electric fastball. Jackson also showed well on the position side of the ball running a 6.78 with a 93 mph arm from the outfield and 94 mph exit velocity from the tee. 

  • RHP Ben Weigman (Carmel Catholic, IL, Louisville) arguable had the best showing on the mound. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder sat 90-94 mph with polish and feel for the strike zone. Weigman is hardly just a thrower either, he showed well above average feel for his fastball as well as dropping a breaking ball for strikes at 73-77 mph, resulting in the most efficient inning of the day. 

  • Tulane commit, RHP Blake Mahmood (Benilde St. Margarets, MN) was one of the biggest risers on the mound. Yet to be ranked in our overall rankings, Mahmood brought an easy fastball with sneaky finish at 89-90 mph, topping at 91 mph. His breaking ball played with depth on an 11/5 plane and reached 79 mph. At 6-foot-2, 190-pounds, there’s clearly more in Mahmood’s tank, and likely to make a splash next time the overall rankings our updated.

  • A huge presence on the mound, RHP Casper Clark (Columbus North, IN, Indiana), stands 6-foot-6, 255-pounds and throws just as heavy of a fastball, its sinking action feels difficult to lift out of the infield, and the big right-hander got a pair of come-backer groundouts and a strikeout looking in his inning of work. 

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