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Team TN Future Games: Noteworthy Hitters

August 14, 2023
Hunter Martin
TN Scouting Director

As we return home from Atlanta it’s time to take a closer look at the young men that represented Team Tennessee at the PBR Future Games. With 375 college recruiters in attendance the event can be a little overwhelming though our Tennessee prospects handled themselves very well and played very competitive baseball with games vs. Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. 

Let’s take a look at the pitchers that made it out to the Lakepoint Sports Complex in Emerson, GA.

 

noteworthy hitters

Nathan Eisfelder: Eisfelder came into the Futures game with very minimal recognition, especially on the national scale. However, he set out to make a name for himself and he did just that. Eidfelder led Team Tennessee offensively over the 3 game span but it wasn’t just the multiple XBH games or RBI’s, but more so the entire offensive approach that he took that entire week. It started in BP where he launched multiple balls to right and left center gaps with natural feel for an easy repeatable swing, which starts with a rhythmic timing load with his arms and bat wiggle to create separation before connecting everything back up with a short lever leg kick. Eisfelder finished the week with 4 hits that included 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 RBI’s at the plate with one single in 8 plate appearances with a stolen base, 1 walk and 0 K's. Eisfelder never chased out of the zone at the plate and looked like he was in complete control of the batter’s box, while looking to get his pitch or go where the pitch took him. All three of his extra base hits came to right-center or right field. Game 3, Eisfelder took over the 3 hole spot in the lineup to have more of a true game feel. We wanted to test him with runners on, including getting the pitchers best and he delivered with his overall best game of the week. Eisfelder came away from the Future Games a real winner and will be making a home for himself in the SEC where he announced his commitment to Tennessee following the event. 

Malachai Halterman: Twitchy and an uber competitive player, this is a kid that is just a gamer through and through. Chai manned the leadoff spot in two games and started multiple offensive rallies with competitive at-bats, hard shot line-drive singles to the gaps and showcasing off the charts bat speed. Overall, he finished the week going 3-8 with a walk. The thing that sticks out with Chai is his off the charts bat speed that causes some current swing and miss in his game. He does have a tendency to pull his left controlling arm out of the zone too quickly at times and can work to stay longer through the zone, while creating lag through the middle of the field. However, I think the swing is actually pretty impressive and is uniquely designed to hit higher velocity pitching. All of Chai’s hits came against guys throwing upper 80’s with spin. He has a great understanding of the strike zone and showed discipline spitting on several off-speed breaking balls down in the zone. He came away with multiple competitive at-bats regardless of the outcome. Chai has some of the quickest hands we saw for a hitter at Future Games and I believe his best days as a player are in front of him. He is someone that can pick up spin quickly and will be able to turn on 95 mph naturally once he starts seeing it consistently. Defensively, he was about as good as it gets with smooth transitions with the ball and an absolute hose from across the diamond that looked every bit of 90+ to gun quick runners at first. He also made one instinctive read to his backhand side, in which he threw the ball to third to try and get the runner advancing and came away just short of getting the tag on the base runner. Halterman is a premium athlete with a ton of upside, who more than proved himself at Future Games. 

Colton Denton: Denton came into Future Games after a breakout sophomore year for Hardin Valley that saw him contribute immensely for the TSSAA 4A state runner ups. This is a prospect that is continuing to learn and trust his ability, while he even opened up his eyes to the kind of player he has the potential to be. Before we get to Denton’s in-game performance, we want to highlight his BP round at Wednesday's workout. The Hardin Valley HS product turned in a personal best 100 mph max exit velocity, but what was more impressive was his 94 mph average exit velocity, which was good for a Top 10 finish at the entire event. Denton has an innate ability to keep his weight back during his forward move, and he's able to get his barrel on-plane early and it stays on-plane a long time, hence why he's been super successful. For the week, he finished 4-8 at the plate with a 2B, 2 RBI’s, and only 1 K, as he also showed a really good understanding of the strike zone with little to no chase. The most impressive at bat all week for Denton wasn’t even a hit but an 11 pitch at-bat that saw him fight breaking ball after breaking ball off, while laying off some really close balls that saw him work a walk in a pressure packed situation. Simple and compact swing that carries a lot of presence in the box and is just starting to scratch the surface on his potential. Primaries as a catcher with the tune of a 1.92-1.96 pop time and efficient blocking mechanics where he has a high chance to stick at the next level, but may move to third to get his bat consistently in a lineup. 

Brody Winemiller: The 6 foot 4 and 200 pound Collierville HS product came into Future Games pretty much unheard of but came away a winner as he really started to put some impressive at bats together for an overall solid showing at the plate. Winemiller has a natural ability to effectively work and stay inside the baseball with a short smooth swing that doesn’t have a lot of moving parts and stays compacted through the zone. He creates impressive back spin on contact and will start hitting those out as he learns to lift and create feel for his bat plane. Winemiller finished the week 3-7 overall with 1-2B, but it was the EV’s of 97+ on all three of those hits that really stick with you. Carried multiple competitive at bats and really found his stroke as the week went on. He is still pretty raw, but the upside is potentially enormous as he starts to trust himself and keep it simple in the box, as he was constantly on time and on the barrel last week in Georgia. Darrah finished the week going 4-6 at the plate with a 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, SB, and 0 K's. It's a quiet and "boring" set-up and approach at the plate without a lot of moving parts. He keeps his hands tight and works with an inside-out path through the baseball. What was most impressive about Darrah's offensive performance was his ability to hit and drive the ball to the opposite field, as all of his hits were from CF to RF. There's also more power to come as he continues to fill out his long and lean 6'3" 175 lbs. frame, which in turn will likely allow him to pull the ball with more authority as well. He's also versatile defensively, as he spent time at 2B, 3B, and each of the 3 outfield spots last week. 

Kirk Weatherford: The 6 foot and 190 pound athlete continues to grow into his game and really showcased his skillset in impressive fashion at Future Games. While he didn’t hit for power, he changed every game in some way. Weatherford was constantly on time and on the barrel in Georgia to the tune of him going 3-5 with 2 walks, 1 steal and found a way to get on base in every game. He had some of the most impressive at bats out of the entire Team Tennessee lineup with fouling competitive pitches off to stay alive; to spitting on quality off-speed near the zone. Mentally, he is very advanced for his age and the discipline that he showed while in the box was truly eye popping. This is a prospect that has really matured physically over the last year and is still learning to work his way into understanding his body and the power that he has presently with it. The pop potential will start coming along and I could see him being a true starting caliber player for a division 1 program right away when he gets on campus. 6. 8 runner at the sixty and plays a really clean outfield manning the center field position. He is one of those players that is a clog for any team. As he goes, his team will go and will really provide value at the top of a lineup for any program he is with.

 

Upcoming Events

SHOWCASE DATE LOCATION
Tennessee Fall ID 9/9 Riverdale High School - Murfreesboro, TN
Tennessee Senior Games 9/23 Trevecca Nazarene University - Nashville, TN
2023 Southeast Senior Games 10/7-10/8 Choccolocco Park & Jackson State University 

 

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