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 Royal Team in Sunday’s action.

 

Outfielders

Bradley Hayes, OF, McMinn County, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.44, Position Velocity:  OF-86, Exit Velocity: 86
5-foot-11, 175-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance, uses a toe-tap into an almost abbreviated leg kick and stride along with a smooth movement backwards with his hands to get loaded, lower half is consistent and fires through the zone to give him good separation, hips clear and back side is able to get his barrel on a flat path through the ball, can get a little steep on balls down, hit some hard balls in the gap during BP. Defensively, played under control and used good footwork to get behind the ball consistently, could’ve been more aggressive playing through it but used good hands and a clean exchange to get rid of the ball with a shorter arm action through a high ¾ slot, showed some accuracy and good carry on throws.

Daniel Willie, RHP/OF, Ooltewah, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.6, Position Velocity:  OF-84, Exit Velocity: 83
6-foot-2, 175-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins with some subtle hand movement, used a toe-tap and stride that we’ve never seen from him in past events and that same subtle hand movement backwards to get loaded, lower half gets through but stays so tall it almost pushes his body up through the zone, bat path is pretty flat but can get armsy from time to time, pulled a lot.  Defensively, played  through the ball well with good hands and footwork and used a clean exchange to help produce a long and clean arm action through a high ¾ to over-the-top release point to produce accurate throws with decent arm strength.

Grant Livesay, OF, Alcoa, 2020
Home-1^st: 4.61, Position Velocity:  OF-83, Exit Velocity: 76
5-foot-10, 150-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins with some fairly high hand positioning, uses a toe-tap and stride with barely any hand movement back to get loaded, lower half comes forward but doesn’t always clear his hips, hands come into the zone at a steep angle because of where they start but flatten out toward the end, hit some hard line drives to LF in BP, likes to pull.  Defensively, plays an aggressive outfield and has no problem attacking and playing through the ball, uses his athleticism well, good hands and footwork led to a usually clean exchange and a long arm action through an over-the-top slot that produced very accurate throws with good carry and arm strength.  Livesay is definitely a 2020 to keep an eye on as he develops.

Middle Infielders

Tilo Skole, SS, Science Hill, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.51, Position Velocity:  IF-83, Exit Velocity: 84
5-foot-10, 170-pound, LHH his from a wider and balanced stance and uses a toe-tap and fairly long stride with some rhythmic movement of his hands and a slight tilt of the barrel to get loaded, lower half works well but often pulls him forward and ahead of the pitch, hands come from a good spot but can get long at times and steeper on the lower pitches, hit some hard line drives to RF in BP.  Defensively, showed soft hands and smooth footwork around and through the ball, played shortstop well and is capable of making many plays, exchange and arm action can get a little long with a glove pat but uses a short arm action to get rid of the ball through a high ¾ slot, accurate throws across the infield had some zip to them.

Michael Robinson, SS, Elizabethton, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.61, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 85
6-foot-3, 170-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and uses an abbreviated leg kick and stride with some rhythmic hand movement to get loaded, lower half fires very well and puts him in a great position to swing the bat, back hip clears and helps him to get his back side through the ball, hands drop into a good slot and allow him to get his bat path on plane and all the way through the ball, lanky and athletic kid hit some balls very hard to the gap and showed some power potential.  Defensively, showed good hands and footwork in playing through the ball, can field it a little too deep on occasion, short arm action through a low ¾ slot produced some decent throws with average carry.

Casey Haire, SS, Heritage, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.32, Position Velocity:  IF-75, Exit Velocity: 86
6-foot-1, 150-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance, uses one of the longer strides you’ll see along with some smooth and subtle movement back with his hands, lower half fires and often times even over-rotates, attacks the ball way out in front from a steeper angle but is still able to flatten out and drive balls with pop to the RCF gap, hit some balls very hard in both BP and game action.  Defensively, showed good hands and footwork as he played around and through the ball with confidence, athletic kid that will continue getting better, clean transfer and a short arm action through a ¾ slot produced very accurate throws with decent strength across the infield.  Casey earned a spot on Tennessee’s Border Battle Team.

Blake Osborne, SS/RHP, Davidson Academy, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.55, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-10, 150-pound, RHH hits from a taller and athletic stance with a slightly open alignment, uses a smooth and relatively long stride that is based on the timing of the pitch and a very subtle barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half worked a little better than at previous events and probably accounted for the extra bit of drive we saw, bat path begins a little steep but flattens out into some lift at the end. Defensively, showed above average footwork and good hands at shortstop, didn’t play through it as aggressively as he’s capable but made every play and produced firm and accurate throws across the infield through an over-the-top arm slot.

Dalton McLain, SS/RHP, Greeneville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.59, Position Velocity:  IF-84, Exit Velocity: 86
5-foot-9, 155-pound, RHH hits from a wide and balanced stance, uses just a slight pick-up and sit-down of his front foot and a drop and push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half does a good job of firing through the zone while keeping him behind the ball, good separation helps him get the barrel on plane and through the ball, sprayed line drives all over the field in BP, pretty strong kid. Defensively, showed average hands and footwork at shortstop, fielded some balls flat-footed and could have played through it better, should allow himself to use more of his athleticism, longer arm action through a high ¾ to over-the-top release produced good throws with solid arm strength across the infield. Athletic enough to make a dent in the 2019 class.

Parker Kendall, 2B/C, Webb School of Knoxville, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.58, Pop Time: 2.19-2.52, Position Velocity: IF-71, C-72, Exit Velo: 82
5-foot-9, 145-pound, RHH hits from a wider and even stance, usually used a toe-tap and stride but mixed in a leg kick from time to time along with a push back of his hands to get loaded, could add a lot more consistency and pop with some improvement to his lower half, swing becomes handsy but can get through some balls with is flatter swing plane, hit some balls hard to LF in BP.  Defensively, showed average hands and feet at shortstop with a tendency to field the ball a little deep , shorter arm action comes through a ¾ to high ¾ slot.  Showed versatility by competing behind the plate with above average footwork, long arm action could cut down his pop time if shortened.

Eli Milhorn, 2B, Sullivan East, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.92, Position Velocity:  IF-73, Exit Velocity: 80
5-foot-8, 160-pound, LHH hits from a tall and open stance, uses a longer but under control stride in which his front foot stays low and close to the ground, hands wrap just a bit to finish his load, lower half works well and gives him a good base to get his back side through, hands stay simple and flat through pitches up in the zone but get steed on anything lower, came around some balls in BP.  Defensively, showed decent hands and footwork, approached the ball with purpose but looked mechanical at times, should trust his athleticism more, short arm action through a high ¾ release point produced accurate throws with average arm strength across the infield.

Cole Davis, 2B, South-Doyle, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.38, Position Velocity:  IF-68, Exit Velocity: 74
5-foot-11, 145-pound, RHH hits from a fairly wide and even stance and begins with some higher and positioning, uses a toe-tap and a longer stride along with some slight lowering of the hands to get loaded, lower half brings him forward and stays wide to give him a good base, hands seem to tighten up quite a bit before beginning to swing and cause him to get a little stiff and armsy, bat path is a little steep through the ball, hit a couple hard to LF in BP.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork to field the ball, a quick exchange led to a quick arm action through a high ¾ slot, showed decent accuracy on throws across the infield with average arm carry.

Third Basemen

 Augustus Fraley, 3B, Greeneville, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.71, Position Velocity:  IF-77, Exit Velocity: 87
6-foot-0, 175-pound, RHH hits from a wider and even stance with a good amount of barrel movement to stay loose and assist his timing, uses a short stride and a settling of his hands to get loaded, lower half fires but doesn’t continue all the way through every time, can come around the ball and roll over when his backside doesn’t get cleared, strong kid has a pretty flat swing plane and can drive balls up in the zone, gap power potential.  Defensively, showed good footwork and decent hands, put himself in good positions, worked through the ball well most of the time, exchange took an extra hop but came out clean through a high ¾ slot across the infield.

Catchers

Griffin Livesay, C/OF, Alcoa, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.4, Pop Time: 2.04-2.15, Position Velocity:  C-74, OF-84, Exit Velo: 83
6-foot-0, 157-pound, RHH hits from a wider and even stance with some initially high hand positioning, uses an abbreviated leg lick with a subtle push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works well to get through the zone and allow him some separation,  bat speed is good with a slightly steep swing plane that produces a lot of low line drives and hard ground balls up the middle.  Defensively, showed above average hands and footwork behind the plate, transfer was a little low but used a short and quick arm action through a high ¾ slot to get the ball to 2B accurately with solid strength,  showed athleticism by competing in the outfield after having performed as a shortstop at the Top Prospect Games.

 James Terry, C/RHP, Sullivan East, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.82, Pop Time: 2.15-2.32, Position Velocity:  C-69, Exit Velocity: 76
5-foot-11, 160-pound, RHH hit from a balanced and even stance with relatively high hand placement and some consistent pre-pitch movement, uses a short and early leg kick with a push back and slight wrap of his bat to get loaded, lower half gets through and almost over-rotates at times but keeps him fairly tall, hands drop into a decent slot and come relatively flat through the ball, pulled a lot of balls in BP.  Defensively, showed above average hands and average footwork as he can improve his quickness, did get in good positions and used a clean transfer to set up a short and over-the-top arm action that got the ball to 2B.