Prep Baseball took the talent to South Beach, and the results didn’t disappoint.

Following the successful debut of the Prep Baseball All-American Game in 2023, the second annual event in Miami on Sept. 14 lived up to the hype. Featuring the top high school baseball talent in the country, the game showcased elite seniors going head-to-head with the best juniors, giving fans a thrilling glimpse of the future of the sport. Held at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, the classes of 2025 and 2026 put on a show, and several arms emerged as true standouts. After a full weekend of action and workouts, five pitchers in particular left an indelible mark, turning heads with their advanced metrics and eye-popping performances.

+ Click here to view all metrics from the Workout Day, as well as the in-game pitching data.

In this post-event spotlight, we’ll break down the data-driven behind five "Data Darling" pitchers from the 2024 All-American Game, examining their standout traits – ranging from exceptional release heights to elite extension and spin rates – that will make them forces to be reckoned with now, and in the future.

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DATA DARLINGS: 5 ARMS 🔬

Justice de Jong, RHP (Poly Prep HS, NY, 2025) 

Justice de Jong sat 92-94 mph, throwing two distinct fastballs (four-seam and sinker), from an average release (5.8-foot release height, 6.3-foot extension). With these offerings, de Jong has high-end spin traits which offer lots of encouragement for future shape improvements. The standout pitch for him is a big, downer curveball at 79 mph with -9.5 inches of vertical and 9.5 inches of sweep, projecting as a potential plus pitch.

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Landon Harmon, RHP (East Union HS, MS, 2025) 

Landon Harmon’s fastball is one of the best in the 2025 draft class. It’s 93-96 mph with below average carry (14.5-inch IVB at a 5.7-foot release height) but he gets just 4 inches of arm-side run, giving it a cut/ride look, and he gets above-average extension (6.6 feet). The spin traits here are plus (at 2,700 rpm avg. on the four-seamer), and point to a potential for shape optimization and likely more carry as he matures, though he already drew a ton of whiffs on the heater this summer as it stands. His slider is a bigger sweeper with 3.5 inches of depth. The main point of improvement here could be the pitch's velocity, as it's throw in the upper-70s typically, with 13.2 inches of glove-side movement. Sacrificing some horizontal movement to bump the velocity up into the 83-85 mph range could potentially be a worthwhile trade-off. There are makings of a third pitch changeup which he threw sparingly at 86 mph, with nearly 17 inches of arm-side.

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Josh Hammond, RHP (Wesleyan Christian HS, NC, 2025) 

Working 93-95 mph on his fastball from a below-average release height (5.4 feet) with plus extension (6.8 feet), Josh Hammond generates a flat vertical approach, allowing the pitch to play effectively up in the zone despite having just average carry (17 inches of IVB). Hammond’s slider is big sweeper, getting 14 inches of horizontal and -4.7 inches of vertical break at 83 mph. I’m high on the offering, which should draw whiffs at a high level moving forward. His third pitch is a changeup, which he threw just once at the All-American Game, measured 18.6 inches of arm-side at 88.7 mph.

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Eli Herst, RHP (Seattle Academy HS, WA, 2026) 

Eli Herst displayed some of the most intriguing release traits from this weekend’s event, measured at a 5.2-foot release height and an average extension of exactly 7 feet. His ultra-low release in combination with the exceptional extension he creates is an outlier look for opposing hitters, despite the fact that he typically works in the low-90s with two-plane shape at nearly 14 inches of IVB and 14.5 inches of horizontal movement. His slider shape is top-end, getting 9.4 inches of sweep with 2.5 inches of lift, there are all the makings of a future plus pitch, though like Harmon, he's another candidate who could benefit from throwing his slider with more velocity. His third pitch, and likely his best, is a changeup thrown at 81 mph with 17.6 inches of arm-side and he's able to kill its vertical movement at an elite level (-1.1 inches of IVB).

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Matthew Sharman, RHP (Etowah HS, GA, 2026) 

Working from an ultra-low release (5 feet) with plus extension (6.8 feet), Matthew Sharman offers a tough look for his opposition. His fastball is really more of a sinker, getting 17 inches of arm-side run and 13 inches of carry, at 90-93 mph (T94.5). While there’s still some inefficiency with the shape, he’s shown the ability to kill vertical movement at times. His primary breaking ball is a bullet slider with lift and 4.5 inches of sweep at 82 mph, which pairs nicley with his curveball. His standout trait is his changeup, which gets plus arm-side run at 20 inches, and it's thrown 10 mph off of his fastball, at 81-85.