Norcal 9 - Uncommitted
March 27, 2020
New Episode LIVE now! -At The Yard Podcast
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - Not a lot of words needed here to explain the piece. Nine uncommitted players from nine different teams I saw this spring. Focused on juniors and seniors. These nine players drew my attention. There is video in the profiles for each of these six pitchers, from the game action this spring.
2020 Grads
RHP Evan Tomlinson - Northgate HS - 6-foot-4, 205-pounds. At his best shows a heavy fastball up to 89 mph, sitting most comfortably in the 85-87 range. Curveball at 74-77 with depth and good spin, while also flashing a developing change-up. Works with easy effort to produce his present velocity, indicating that there could be quite a bit more in the coming years. Best when down in the zone. (UPDATE: since committed to Cal Poly)
RHP Samuel Olds - Berkeley HS - 6-foot-2, 185-pounds. Jake Peavy type delivery. Fastball up to 86, comfortable at 82-85, added and subtracted. Potential for abv avg sinker to pair with 71-73 mph slider with late two-plane action. Diving CHG 74-77 mph is another quality secondary pitch. Highly competitive, w/out assigning his future, WOULD be interesting to see development w/two JC years.
LHP Gianluca Shinn - St. Francis HS - 6-foot-1 190-pounds, good arm speed with some effort in the arm stroke. Shinn appears to be a highly competitive pitcher as he rose to the challenge of being opposite one of the nation's top 2020 HS LHP (Kyle Harrison) and facing a good line-up he kept his team in the game. FB steady at 86-87 and got 88 pretty regularly. Slurvy wide slider at 75-77 mph.
C Konner McClellin - Vacaville HS - 6-foot-1, 190-pounds w/size and strength. Impacted game in multiple ways. Leadership skills from first pitch to the last in xtra-inning game. Quality receiver, blocked/controlled BIDs very well, steering ball back toward plate. Accurate arm w/competitive C/T skills. Offensively no issues w/upper-80s velo. Chance to contribute in the middle third of the order.
2021 Grads
RHP Julian Garrahan - Petaluma HS - 6-foot-6, 200-pounds. Utilized only FB in this CG effort; 7 IP in 69 pitches (3 K, 4 H, 0 BB), FB up to 88, last pitch of game 86. Competes in the zone and let control & movement work for him. Loose arm, clean on backside with slight length. Showed ability to pound both sides of the plate w/some life through the zone. Calm confident demeanor, team played for him.
1B/C/OF Joey Donnelly - De La Salle HS - 6-foot-1, 210-pounds he looks the part of a LHH thumper. Has an outstanding approach and process. Stayed on the fastball early in ABs, with an aggressive and easy stroke, there is ample power in his future. Willing to cut down his swing in a two-strike counts and move the baseball, which will allow for many RBI in his future. Power plays gap to gap.
MIF Jake Ferguson - Tamalpais HS - Athletic 5-foot-9, 170-pounds, energetic player w/athleticism both at plate and in the field. Short stroke, gap to gap approach w/enough present pop to produce doubles. Quality baserunner w/quickness, tight turns, takes the extra base. Excellent footwork at 2nd base, soft hands w/sound fundamentals, accurate feeds, has fun and plays w/confidence. Ballplayer.
RHP Cooper Robinson - Folsom HS - 6-foot-2 185-pounds. Aable to repeat the delivery and slot well. Utilized the FB up/down in zone (82-84, T85) w/occasional w/just enough arm side run to be effective. Best pitch is tight 12/5 CB (66-70) w/late tilt deep in the zone. He repeatedly locked up hitters w/late break and got multiple swing/misses to finish hitters. The CB is going to be good at the college level.
RHP Griffin Allen - Valley Christian HS - 6-foot-3, 250-pounds. Arm works easily, mechanics still a work in progress. FB location was an issue but the life on it and the a chance to develop a heavy 90+ fastball (w/occasional power sink) in pretty short order were quite clear. CB has shape and spin w/a chance to be a pretty big 11/5 downer in the mid-70s. Raw but has all the tools to be a POWER arm.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SHOWCASE | STATE | DATE | LOCATION |
Norcal Underclass Games (INVITE-ONLY) | CA | 06/06 | Islanders Field - Lathrop |
Northern California ProCase (INVITE ONLY) | CA | 06/13 | Folsom Lake College |
SoCal Underclass Games (INVITE ONLY) | CA | 06/13 | Hart Park |
SoCal ProCase (INVITE ONLY) | CA | 06/14 | Hart Park |
2020 PBR Future Games (California Invite) | CA | 07/29 | LakePoint Sports |
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