Adam Akin
Director of Scouting


The 2016 PBR Tennessee East Tennessee Prospect Games took place on Sunday, September 4 at Thomas Stadium on the campus of East Tennessee State University and included a position player workout, followed by two 6 inning games. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every position player that was assigned to the Black Team in Sunday’s action.

 

Outfielders

Blaine Robinson, RHP/OF, Morristown Hamblen  West, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.81, Position Velocity:  OF-82, Exit Velocity: 79
5-foot-11, 160-pound, RHH hits from a wide and balanced stance and begins with his hands in a good and relaxed position, a shorter and more conventional stride along with a slight barrel tilt helps him get loaded, lower half gets through and gets his back side through the ball, swing plane starts a little steep but flattens out through the zone, hit some hard line drives to LF in BP.  Defensively, plays aggressively and works through the ball very well, good hands and footwork assist in a clean exchange and a long arm action through a high ¾ slot, average carry and accuracy on throws.

Noah Junker, OF, Blackman, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.47, Position Velocity:  OF-75, Exit Velocity: 76
5-foot-6, 125-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and open stance, hands begin in a position away from his body, uses a short stride pulls his hands in and back with an arm bar to get loaded, lower half gets through but pushes forward at times and causes him to get his weight too far forward, bat path is flat through the zone with some lift at the end, singles hitter with the ability to slap the ball around the field. Defensively, approaches the ball under control and plays through it fairly smoothly and slowly, exchange took some time and led to a high ¾ release point and throws with some accuracy, arm strength can be improved.

First Basemen

Riley Church, 1B/OF/LHP, Maryville, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.76, Position Velocity:  IF-66, OF-76, Exit Velocity: 77
6-foot-1, 160-pound, LHH hits from a wider and slightly open stance, uses a short stride and a lowering and push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works but comes a little late at times and causes him to spin off the ball, bat path can be flat but is generally a little steep as he finishes lower than normal.  Defensively, showed good hands and footwork around the bag and an ability to make throws from different arm angles toward 2B, very accurate throws across the infield, athletic enough to make all of the plays necessary, showed versatility by displaying his ability to compete in the outfield, played through the ball well and used a high ¾ arm slot, arm strength can and should improve.

Middle Infielders

Banks Presson, SS, Tennessee, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.44, Position Velocity:  IF-78, Exit Velocity: 80
6-foot-0, 168-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance with some fairly high initial hand positioning, uses a controlled and early stride with a very slight lowering of the hands to get loaded, lower half works put moves forward quite a bit and causes him to jump at the ball, finishes on his front side, bat path is pushy through the zone but stays flat and allows him to get through some balls for line drives to CF. Defensively, showed soft hands and good footwork as he displayed his ability to play the SS position, played through the ball and allowed a fluid exchange to produce and efficient arm action through a ¾ slot, very accurate throws with some carry across the infield.

Derick Junker, 2B/RHP, Blackman, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.66, Position Velocity:  IF-79, Exit Velocity: 84
6-foot-0, 160-pound, RHH hits from a taller and slightly open stance with a little bit of pre-pitch hand movement to stay loose, uses a pretty conventional stride and movement back with his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through most of the time but stays tall and doesn’t provide as much torque as possible, hips glide forward, some drag in flat bat path but stays through the ball well, stronger than he looks.  Defensively, showed good hands and pretty solid footwork in working around and through the ball at shortstop, exchange is pretty efficient and leads to a short and quick arm action that produced accurate throws with carry across the infield.

Tyler Shaver, SS/RHP, Jefferson Co, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.65, Position Velocity:  IF-81, Exit Velocity: 77
5-foot-9, 150-pound, RHH hits from a tall and mostly even stance with some higher hand positioning, uses a long stride and a lowering and push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works but takes his entire body forward with a lot of drifting movement toward the ball, hands can drag and start a little steep but flatten out and stay through the ball, stayed mostly up the middle in BP.  Defensively, showed quick feet and smooth hands at the shortstop position, fast twitch work well, quick exchange and longer arm action are fluid and produced some firm throws across the infield through a high ¾ arm slot. Shaver was one of the top 2-way players at the event.

Eric Rigsby, SS, Daniel Boone, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.71, Position Velocity:  IF-72, Exit Velocity: 87
6-foot-0, 175-pound, RHH hits from a taller and balanced stance, hands seem relaxed at the start, uses a pretty generic stride and a slight push back with his hands to get loaded, seems to tense up slightly in his load, lower half initially fires but doesn’t get all the way through to allow his hips to totally clear, bat path is shorter and steeper at the beginning but flattens out and stays there, strong kid was able to get through a few balls to LCF in BP.  Defensively, gets around the ball well and tries to play through it, fields the ball a little deep on occasion, a glove pat in the middle of his exchange causes it to be longer but leads to a short arm action through a high ¾ release with average arm strength across the infield.

Gavin Ledford, SS, Science Hill, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.7, Position Velocity:  IF-72, Exit Velocity: 74
5-foot-9, 130-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins with some relatively high hand positioning and rhythmic movement, uses a short stride and a slight movement backwards with his hands to get loaded, lower half gets the swing going but could be quicker, hits with his backside and allows the barrel to get on plane early and stay in the zone a long time, hit some line drives to RCF in BP.  Defensively, showed fluid footwork and good hands, played through the ball consistently and used a shorter arm action through a high ¾ release to get the ball across the infield, some accuracy with average arm strength.

Cooper Eldridge, 2B, Morristown West, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.42, Position Velocity:  IF-66, Exit Velocity: 67
5-foot-5, 125-pound, RHH hits from a wide and balanced stance with his hands originally positioned behind his right ear, uses an abbreviated leg kick and stride along with a push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works but moves his entire body toward the ball, can drag hands at times, hit some low line drives to left field with his slightly steeper bat path.  Defensively, tried to play through it, fielded the ball a little deep and on his heels at times, exchange took some time and led to a high ¾ release point, arm strength and accuracy can improve.

Robert Parsons, 2B, Carter, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.77, Position Velocity:  IF-72, Exit Velocity: 83
5-foot-10, 171-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance, uses a very short stride that often ends up being nothing more than a heel raise and a late push back with his hands to get loaded, lower half never fires as you can often see no movement in his back foot at all, hips are held back and don’t clear at all and cause him to come around the ball and pull nearly everything, strong kid can get through the ball well.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he fielded some balls a little deep and on his heels, exchange was long and used an extra step to gain momentum to 1B, long arm action through an over-the-top release produced average arm strength across the infield.

Bryce Buchanan, 2B/OF, Greeneville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.81, Position Velocity:  IF-72, OF-74, Exit Velocity: 71
5-foot-6, 115-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance with some relatively high hand positioning, uses a pretty normal stride and a very slight push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works well getting his backside through the ball, barrel drops into a nice slot before coming through the zone on plane and staying through the ball, hit some balls on the button.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he fielded some balls on his heels and had to work up to get to his release, short exchange and arm action from an over-the-top slot produced some accurate throws with average arm strength, showed versatility by competing in the outfield.

Third Basemen

Jacques Gillespie Taylor, RHP/3B, Greeneville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.59, Position Velocity:  IF-82, Exit Velocity: 87
6-foot-0, 210-pound, LHH hits from a taller and open stance with his hands seemingly very relaxed, strides back in while lowering and pushing back his hands to get loaded, lower half works put doesn’t get cleared as it pulls him forward more than anything else, goes out to get the ball with a flat bat path that showed some lift at the end, displayed some power potential to RF in BP, strong kid. Defensively, showed solid hands and average footwork at 3B, wasn’t always in the best position but his hands made up for it, tries to play through it, short but loose arm action came through a ¾ release point after a clean exchange around his chest. Gillespie Taylor was one of the top 2-way players at the event.

Catchers

Will Long, C, David Crockett, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.91, Pop Time: 2.02-2.17, Position Velocity:  C-72, Exit Velocity: 85
6-foot-3, 185-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance, uses an abbreviated leg kick and an aggressive stride with some rhythmic hand movement to get loaded, lower half fires well and clears his hips to get his back side through, hands come down into a good slot and stay pretty flat through the zone with some lift at the end, can get a little steep on lower pitches, strong kid showed pop to LF.  Defensively, showed soft hands and quick feet behind the plate, quick exchange and arm action through a ¾ slot got the ball to 2B, received very well in game play and worked hard for his pitchers. Long is a 2018 to watch.

Logan Rivers, C, Daniel Boone, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.89, Pop Time: 2.03-2.13, Position Velocity:  C-68, Exit Velocity: 81
5-foot-8, 185-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance, same stride and pre-pitch hand movement we saw from him at the Underclass Games, calm and collected, lower half works to get his back side through and gives him a strong base, swing plane stays pretty flat on any plane, likes to pull the ball but gets through it well. Defensively, showed decent footwork and very much improved hands, worked through the ball more toward 2B, clean exchange led to a quick release through a high ¾ release point, accurate throws helped a lot.  Rivers could develop into a top player in the 2019 class.