Adam Akin
Director of Scouting


The 2016 Knights Baseball PBR Day took place on Sunday, September 25 at Dave Hall Field on the campus of Columbia State Community College and included a position player workout, followed by bullpens for the pitchers. 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 from the 2020 graduating class that participated in the action.

 

Outfielders

Jared Dickey, RHP/OF, Friendship Christian, 2020
60 Time: 7.44, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 89
6-foot-1, 205-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance with some fairly high initial hand positioning and a waggle to stay loose, uses a toe-tap and stride with a lowering of his hands to get loaded, lower half explodes through and maintains a wide and strong base for him to operate on, bat path is flat through the zone with some lift at the end that helps supply a little more drive, had a great round of BP with a flurry of line drives and deep fly balls with pop to right and right-center field.  Defensively, showed pretty good hands and above average footwork in the outfield, not afraid to play through the ball, could be a little more confident in his positioning, used a long arm action through a high ¾ slot. 

Grayson Cole, RHP/OF/3B, Mt. Juliet, 2020
60 Time: 7.45, Position Velocity:  OF-82, IF-75, Exit Velocity: 81
6-foot-0, 170-pound, RHH hits from a balanced but tall and upright stance with a slightly closed alignment, uses an abbreviated leg kick and stride with a subtle little tilt of the barrel to get loaded, lower half works but keeps him tall and gets a little cut off by his closed positioning, swing plane comes into the zone steeply from a high hand positioning but can flatten out through contact, stays pretty balanced, hit some hard line drives toward left-center in BP.  Defensively, showed athleticism in the outfield by playing through the ball with good hands and above-average footwork, uses a shorter but quick arm action through an over-the-top slot to make firm throws with decent carry, also showed versatility by competing at 3B.

Karson Dreier, OF, Brentwood, 2020
60 Time: 7.90, Position Velocity:  OF-69, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-8, 150-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance, uses a smooth and usually short but somewhat inconsistent stride with a push back of his hands and the knob to get loaded, lower half doesn’t quite get through and can hold him back a little bit, bat path is mostly flat but has a little steepness through the zone, swing is short and produced some hard ground balls in his round of BP.  Defensively, is certainly aggressive to the ball and plays through it pretty confidently, showed average hands and footwork, exchange comes soon and leads to an arm action that starts long put gets short through a high ¾ slot, should improve a lot with age and physical maturity.

Cole Thomason, RHP/OF, Summit HS, 2020
60 Time: 7.40, Position Velocity:  OF-74, Exit Velocity: 74
5-foot-7, 145-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and open stance with some active pre-pitch hand movement, uses a short and early stride and a push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half does work but can pull him forward a little too much at times, coming forward stands him up too tall on contact, swing plane is flat through the zone but can get a little steep on lower pitches, showed ability to hit the ball where it’s pitched in BP.  Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork in the outfield, plays through the ball aggressively and uses an extra hop or so during exchange, long arm action comes through a high ¾ slot. 

First Basemen

Blake Money, RHP/1B, Summit HS, 2020
60 Time: 8.72, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 82
6-foot-3, 200-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance with his hands beginning loosely in a relaxed position, uses a longer stride and a pushback of his hands to get loaded, lower half is certainly active and gets his hips cleared but can drift a little much at times, bat path is a little steep but flattens out on pitches up in the zone, big-bodied kid had a solid round and showed the potential to add some real pop down the road.  Defensively, showed pretty good hands and footwork at both corner infield positions and made a consistent attempt to play through the ball, shorter but loose arm action comes through a ¾ slot across the infield.  

Ben Durham, LHP/1B, Middle TN Christian, 2020
60 Time: 7.47, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 82
5-foot-11, 180-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance with some relatively high hand positioning, uses a short and sudden stride with a smooth push back and slight lowering of his hands to get loaded, lower half works well and gets his lower half through the zone while keeping a wide and solid base, bat path is flat through the zone with some lift at the end, had a good round of BP and is at his best when he’s hitting line drives up the middle.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork around the bag, could’ve played through the ball better, lower exchange leads to a long arm action through an over-the-top release point.

Middle Infielders

Jack Rando, SS, Brentwood, 2020
60 Time: 7.53, Position Velocity:  IF-71, Exit Velocity: 79
5-foot-7, 160-pound, RHH hits from a narrow but more balanced and even stance, picks his front foot up quickly and puts it right back down for a stride with a little bit of barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half gets through the zone but pulls him up and forward a little bit, finishes tall and often on his front foot, bat path can be a little steep coming into the zone but seemed to flatten out through the ball, looked his best in BP when he was hitting solid line drives toward right-center.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork at the shortstop position, could’ve played through the ball smoother, often used an extra step during exchange to get rid of it, shorter arm action comes through a high ¾ release point.

Catchers

Caleb Hawkins, C, Stewarts Creek, 2020
60 Time: 7.63, Pop Time: 2.02-2.09, Position Velocity:  C-65, Exit Velocity: 76
5-foot-11, 160-pound, RHH hits from a little wider and even stance with some very low initial hand positioning, uses a short stride and a very subtle and slight movement back with his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through well most of the time and give him good separation, sometimes comes a little too far forward, athletic kid showed the ability to hit the ball to all fields during his round of BP.  Defensively, showed quick hands and good footwork behind the plate, footwork got him aligned well and a clean exchange at his chest led to a short arm action through a high ¾ slot, throws were accurate and consistently on the bag.