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Unsigned Senior Showcase: Top Middle Infield Prospects

January 29, 2015

By Ryan Quigley
Illinois Scouting Director

The Prep Baseball Report’s final Unsigned Senior Showcase for the 2015 class took place on Sunday January 11th at the Max in McCook, IL. 91 prospects strutted their stuff in front of over 40 collegiate programs in attendance. Over the next several days the PBR Scouting staff will roll out position-by-position rankings of the event, culminating with the Top Ten Overall Prospects from the showcase.

Click Here to view the article on top statistical performers from the event.

We also broke down the Top Tools of the event. Click Here to view the Top Tools based on various commonly used scouting criteria for analyzing prospects.

Yesterday we took a look at the Top Corner Infielders, and today we'll focus on the Top Middle Infielders.

Bradley Bourbonnais Mike Mateja took home top honors thanks to posting some of the top all-around showcase numbers of the event. Mateja has a strong, physical build, but still moved well enough side to side to stay in the middle of the diamond at the next level. He also showed some of the best bat speed of the event, 88 mph exit velocity, and impressed with one of the better rounds of batting practice.

Cudahy’s JT Athy fits the mold of a left-handed hitting second baseman, and showed the bat control of a top of the order hitter, showing the ability to hit the ball to all fields. Athy had the best hands of any middle infielder at the event.

Crete-Monee’s General McArthur was perhaps the smoothest fielding middle infielder of the event, and is no longer unsigned having committed to Kirkwood CC. If McArthur had shown more arm strength, which we’ve seen in the past, he may have rated at the top on this list, so he’ll be interesting to follow this spring. New to switch-hitting, the left-side currently lags behind the right, but McArthur has the type of athleticism to make it feasible in the future.

Let’s take a look at the top Middle Infield Prospects from this January’s Unsigned Senior Showcase.

Top Middle Infield Prospects

1. Mike Mateja, MIF, Bradley Bourbonnais, 2015
5-foot-11, 180-pound right-handed hitting MIF hits from a crouched, open setup, smooth hand load, short stride, uphill bat path, strength evident in swing, good barrel awareness, 88 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 87 mph across the diamond from short, high ¾ arm slot, with accuracy and carry. Average hands fielding, quick footwork, plays through the baseball. Above average runner, 6.96 60. Mateja was one of the top middle infield prospects at the Unsigned Senior Showcase.

2. JT Athy,  MIF, Cudahy (WI), 2015
5-foot-10, 160-pound left-handed hitting MIF hits from a balanced setup, hands load smoothly, short stride, short, level bat path, fluidity to swing, drives the baseball to left-center, 84 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 78 mph across the diamond from short, loose, high ¾ arm slot with accuracy. Soft hands fielding the baseball, fluid footwork, clean exchanges, profiles at second base. Ran a 7.27 60.

3. General McArthur, MIF, Crete-Monee, 2015
6-foot-1, 165-pound lanky and athletic switch-hitting MIF impresses more from the right side, hitting from an open stance, short, level bat path, recoils after contact, pull tendencies, above average bat speed, 84 mph exit velocity off the tee. Drops hands during load in left-handed swing, level bat path, new to switch hitting, currently lacks the strength he shows from the right side, 76 mph exit velocity. Defensively, throws from loose and whippy ¾ arm slot across the diamond from short, doesn’t use full arm strength (has thrown 90 mph from the outfield in the past). Soft hands fielding the baseball out front, plays through the baseball, moves side to side well, above average footwork and body control. Ran a 6.93 60.

4. Wes Farmer, MIF, Mundelein, 2015
5-foot-7, 150-pound right-handed hitting MIF hits from a wide base, open stance, hands load smoothly, short, level bat path with occasional extension, 80 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 79 mph across the diamond from a short, ¾ arm slot. Showcased average hands fielding the baseball, fluid footwork, accuracy on throws. Ran a 7.49 60 yard dash.

5. Connor Schneider, MIF, Prairie Ridge, 2015
6-foot-1, 165-pound lanky and athletic right-handed hitting middle infielder hits from an open setup, long stride, long, level bat path, line drives in batting practice with opposite field tendencies, 77 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 78 mph across the diamond from short, ¾ arm slot with accuracy. Showed soft hands fielding, quick footwork, quick exchanges getting rid of it, plays through the baseball. Ran a 7.35 60.

Best of the Rest (Listed Alphabetically)

Ethan Arrigo, SS/RHP, Bishop McNamara, 2015
5-foot-10, 165-pound right-handed hitting RHP/SS hits from a tall setup, leg kick stride straight up and down, hands load back, upper half gets rotational, doesn’t use legs in swing, up the middle approach, 83 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 77 mph across the diamond from long, high ¾ arm slot with some accuracy. Ran a 7.46 60. On the mound, fastball sat 76-78 mph from long, varied arm slot (high ¾ and dropping down to ¾), wraps throwing hand slightly behind back, shoulders close off at balance point, stay level in delivery, lands in line with home plate. Drops arm angle on 63-65 mph breaking ball with gradual break, backs up at times. 67-69 mph changeup shows sinking action, also thrown from a lower slot.

Xavier Avalos, MIF, Brooks, 2015
5-foot-11, 160-pound left-handed hitting middle infielder hits from a crouched, open setup, hands drop to load, short stride, gets down late at times, short, compact, line drive stroke, 70 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 75 mph across the diamond from short, loose, ¾ arm slot. Ran an 8.24 60.

Carlo Falcioni, SS, Marian Catholic, 2015
5-foot-10, 165-pound right-handed hitting shortstop hits from a closed stance, hands drop to load, short stride, long, uphill bat path, hits off backside, right-center field approach, 72 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 75 mph across the diamond from short, ¾ arm slot, showed soft and steady hands fielding the baseball, second base profile. Ran a 7.51 60.

Wes Farmer, MIF, Mundelein, 2015
5-foot-7, 150-pound right-handed hitting MIF hits from a wide base, open stance, hands load smoothly, short, level bat path with occasional extension, 80 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 79 mph across the diamond from a short, ¾ arm slot. Showcased average hands fielding the baseball, fluid footwork, accuracy on throws. Ran a 7.49 60 yard dash.

Shawn Feagin, MIF, La Salle Peru, 2015
5-foot-11, 160-pound right-handed hitting MIF hits from a balanced setup, short stride, hands load back, short, slightly uphill path, 71 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 76 mph across the diamond from long, loose, high ¾ arm slot, average hands fielding the baseball out front. Ran a 7.36 60.

Jonathan Hodo, MIF, Morgan Park, 2015
5-foot-9, 150-pound right-handed hitting middle infielder hits from a balanced setup, wide base, shorts stride, hands load back smoothly, level bat path produces 78 mph exit velocity. Defensively, threw 70 mph across the diamond from short, high ¾ arm slot. Hands are soft fielding the baseball, plays through the ball with fluid footwork. Ran a 7.37 60.

Enrique Manzano, MIF/RHP, Solorio, 2015
5-foot-9, 175-pound left-handed hitting MIF/RHP hits from a balanced, crouch setup, long leg kick stride, hits off front foot at times, aggressive swing, above average 84 mph exit velocity. Defensively, impressed at shortstop with arm strength (79 mph across the diamond) with carry across the diamond from short, high ¾ arm slot. Shows average hands fielding the baseball, average foot speed/lateral quickness attacking the baseball. Ran a 7.39 60. On the mound, fastball sat 77-79 mph from long, loose, high ¾ arm slot. Threw strikes with all three pitches. 63-65 mph curveball has lateral shape and hangs at times, but lands for strikes. 70-71 mph split showed occasional hard downward action.

Tyler Moua, MIF/C, La Crosse Logan (WI), 2015
5-foot-9, 160-pound right-handed hitting MIF/C hit from a narrow setup, short stride, dives slightly, up the middle tendencies with 77 mph exit velocity. Defensively, threw 73 mph across the infield from a short, high ¾ arm slot with some accuracy. Showed average hands fielding, stays back on the baseball. Behind the plate, pop times registered between 2.30-2.41, 77 mph from the crouch. Ran a 7.65 60.

Zack Radde, MIF, Downers Grove South, 2015
6-foot-2, 170-pound middle infielder, lanky frame, showed some athleticism. Right-handed hitter, open stance, short stride. Gap to gap approach, 85 mph exit velocity from the tee, showed projection in the box. Defensively showed playable hands in the middle of the field. Arm action is rigid with length, over the top slot, 76 mph across the diamond. A quicker release will help greatly on the middle of the infield. Ran the 60 in 7.38.

Angel Ramirez, MIF, Greendale (WI), 2015
5-foot-10, 170-pound right-handed hitting middle infielder hits from an open setup, dives slightly, hands start high, long, level swing, several ground balls during batting practice (chops down on the ball at times), average exit velocity at 81 mph off the tee. Defensively, threw 77 mph across the diamond from long, ¾ arm slot with accuracy. Ran a 7.39 60.

Connor Schneider, MIF, Prairie Ridge, 2015
6-foot-1, 165-pound lanky and athletic right-handed hitting middle infielder hits from an open setup, long stride, long, level bat path, line drives in batting practice with opposite field tendencies, 77 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 78 mph across the diamond from short, ¾ arm slot with accuracy. Showed soft hands fielding, quick footwork, quick exchanges getting rid of it, plays through the baseball. Ran a 7.35 60.

Dylan Smith, SS, South Central, 2015
Strong build, thick 6-foot-2, 205-pound infielder. Offensively hits from a balanced stance, wider base, arm bar load, minimal stride. Muscular swing, shows some whip through the zone, occasional pop, good bat speed present. 91 mph exit velocity from the tee. Defensively uses a long arm action, longer release, ¾ slot, showed arm strength across the infield, 84 mph. Strong stocky build projects him better at a corner spot going forward, arm can play at third base. 7.12 runner in the 60.

Brandon Viken, SS/OF/RHP, Seneca, 2015
5-foot-10, 160-pound right-handed hitting SS/RHP hits from a wide base, open setup, leg kick stride, uphill bat path, hits off back side, up the middle approach, 73 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, impressed more in the outfield throwing 78 mph from a short, high ¾ arm slot with some accuracy. Threw 73 mph across the diamond from shortstop from the same arm slot, stays back on the baseball. Ran a 7.27 60. On the mound, fastball sat 73-75 mph, 62-65 mph curveball flashed occasional 12/6 shape thrown for strikes. Short leg lift/tuck over the rubber to balance point, also showed a fading 66-68 mph changeup.

Andrew Wrona, MIF, Glenbard South, 2015
5-foot-11, 175-pound right-handed hitting MIF hits from tall, narrow setup, short leg lift stride, level bat path, up the middle approach during batting practice, 80 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, threw 75 mph across the infield from short, ¾ arm slot, gets rid of the baseball quickly, clean exchanges. Ran a 7.43 60.

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