By Rob Sidwell
Florida Scouting Director

After looking at the top right-handers and left-handers from the FACA All-Star Weekend in Sebring, FL, we’ll take a look at the top hitters in different categories—pure hitters, power hitters and athletes.

First up are the pure hitters. Two of the best bats in the country—SS Brendan Rodgers (Lake Mary HS, FL) and OF Kyle Tucker (Plant HS, FL) were not in attendance, but there plenty of others to choose from. When I look at hitters, I factor in the swing, bat speed, hand-eye coordination, the ability to center the ball, manipulate the barrel and performance. Hitters can be helped with minor adjustments, a good approach and physical maturity, but you can’t make a hitter out of somebody that doesn’t have some of these characteristics.

1. Ryan Mountcastle, SS, Hagerty HS, FL
Mountcastle has a tall, lean body that looks like it’s starting to get stronger and fill out. He stands at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. He has good hitter’s hands with a good path and solid approach. He showed some raw power in batting practice, but showed doubles power in both gaps in game play. He stays inside the ball well and makes a lot of hard contact to all fields. He’s very aggressive and attacks the ball. Occasionally, he gets too aggressive, but that’s not a bad thing for someone his age. He squares a lot of balls up and has done so for a long time. He has tremendous hand-eye coordination. His bat is good enough to overlook his defensive shortcomings.