By Adam Akin
Director of Scouting

The 2016 PBR Tennessee Top Prospect Games took place on Tuesday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 15 and included a position player workout, followed by three 9 inning games each day. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and many college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every position player that was assigned to the Black Team in Wednesday’s action.

OUTFIELDERS

Trey Messer, OF, Halls, 2018
60 Time: 7.06, Position Velocity:  OF-84, Exit Velocity: 89
5'11, 180-pound, RHH hits from a pretty athletic, balanced, and slightly open stance and utilizes a leg kick and subtle hand load to get himself going, hands start high and load even a little higher.  Lower half fires well but doesn’t always get all the way through and causes him to lose balance and finish on his heels at times, hands start from that high load and come down steeply through the zone,  good bat speed allowed him to hit some balls very hard when he squared them up, finishes on front leg at times.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork and a conservative approach to the ball, pats the ball in his glove during exchange and uses a short arm action through a high ¾ slot that showed good carry but struggled to remain accurate.  Expect Messer to continue to develop over the next couple of years with the athleticism he showed. 

Jake Holloway, RHP/OF, Battle Ground Academy, 2017
60 Time: 7.19, Position Velocity:  OF-86, Exit Velocity: 84
5'11, 180-pound, RHH hits from a fairly tall and slightly open stance and uses a long stride and a solid push back of the hands to get loaded.  Lower half gets wide and through the zone and allows his hands to get in a good position to attack the ball, sometimes gets a little off balance at the end, swing plane stayed flat and allowed him to drive through balls up in the zone but sometimes got a little muscly and steep on balls down, causing him to roll over some ground balls.  Strong kid was able to show some gap-to-gap power in BP.  Defensively, showed a slower and more calculated approach to the ball that sometimes hindered him from working through the ball, fluid footwork and hands, longer exchange and crow hop led to a shorter arm action from a high ¾ -over-the-top arm angle that produced some good arm strength with carry. 

Timothy Wilson, OF, Center Hill (MS), 2018
60 Time: 7.48, Position Velocity:  OF-78, Exit Velocity: 82
5'11, 160-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance and uses some rhythmic movement with his hands that continues through a conventional stride to initiate his load, hands go back a little bit.  Lower half gets through and is able to keep him balanced throughout his swing, barrel gets on plane early and stays in the zone a long time, gets extended through the ball and showed the ability to spray the ball all over the field, line drive swing produced for him in BP.  Defensively, comes after the ball aggressively, slows down a little bit upon reaching the ball to gather himself, could play through the ball better, uses a clean but long crow hop and exchange that leads to a long arm action from an over-the-top release point, showed average arm strength, hands and footwork.

Camden Dickens, OF/RHP, Notre Dame, 2018
60 Time: 7.59, Position Velocity:  OF-83, Exit Velocity: 75
5'10, 140-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and uses a short, quick, and early stride to get himself set, sudden and slight push back of the hands comes at the same time of his stride.  Lower half works, but fires at almost the same time of his hands, limiting the separation he gets on a regular basis.  Hands and barrel did come through the zone on a good plane and produced a lot of low line drives in BP, driving the ball and showing any kind of pop when Dickens matures and adds strength to his frame.  Defensively, showed average footwork and hands and even fielded some balls with two hands from the outfield, did his best to work through the ball and looked very athletic on a couple of his throws from a high ¾ arm slot with which he showed very good accuracy and average arm strength. 

FIRST BASEMEN

Gage Gregory, 1B, Goodpasture Christian, 2017
60 Time: 7.72, Position Velocity:  IF-79, Exit Velocity: 90
6'4, 225-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and uses a short stride and a slight hand load back to get himself ready to go.  Lower half works well but will slack from time to time, causing him to drag his hands and come around the ball. When lower half got through, he was able to showcase a hard line drive approach, hitting balls to all fields in BP, bat path is a little steep because of how high his hands start and a lack of back side drive, strong kid can get firmly through the ball, had 2 singles in game play.  Defensively, showed good footwork and hands around the bag, experienced 1B knows how to and can make every necessary play, used a high ¾ arm slot to show slightly above average arm strength and struggled a little bit with the accuracy on his throws. 

MIDDLE INFIELDERS

Gehrig Ebel, SS, Baylor, 2020
60 Time: 7.35, Position Velocity:  IF-82, Exit Velocity: 79
5'11, 160-pound, RHH hits from a fairly tall, athletic, and open stance and uses a fluid barrel tilt and hand movement back along with a leg kick and long stride to get himself in a very good hitting position.  Lower half fires very well and makes it very easy for him to get his barrel in the zone early and his back side through the ball, bat stays flat through the zone and gets through the ball well, gets good extension at the end of his swing and remains in a balanced and strong position through the finish.  Defensively, showed fluid footwork and soft hands, has the ability to get around the ball and play through it smoothly, needed an extra gather and glove pat during his exchange to muster the arm strength he displayed, long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot struggled with accuracy during defensive evaluations but never had a problem in game play. Young athlete is going to be a very good player.

Hudson Chastain, SS, Christian Academy of Knoxville, 2017
60 Time: 7.53, Position Velocity:  IF-78, Exit Velocity: 84
5'11, 165-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance and begins his swing from a very athletic looking position, uses a very abbreviated leg trigger, a short stride, and a rhythmic lowering of the hands to initiate his load.  Lower half rarely ever drives all the way through as a few of his swings even finished with his back foot still pointed toward the third base dugout, back side works hard and allowed him to hit a lot of line drives to left field and center field throughout BP, continued his opposite field approach throughout game play, played quicker than his 60 time suggests.  Defensively, showed good footwork and soft hands as he played through the ball and produced a quick exchange and release through a short arm action and a high ¾ slot, is a flipper, accurate throws with a lot of carry allow him to make a lot of different plays from the SS position.   

Garrett Breeden, 2B, Christian Academy of Knoxville, 2018
60 Time: 7.18, Position Velocity:  IF-71, Exit Velocity: 81
5'10, 160-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance and uses some early bat/hand movement to get some momentum built up before the swing, small and abbreviated leg kick combines with some lowering hand movement to get him going.  Lower half gets through but doesn’t always keep him behind the ball, upper body stays very tall throughout swing, does a good job of bringing a level swing through the zone, can get top hand dominant and cause himself to get a little stiff from time to time, hit some balls hard in BP with a line drive/gap-to-gap approach, recorded 2 singles in game play. Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork as he seemed to field a few balls on his heels, uses a glove pat and an extra step to make for a long exchange and short arm action through a ¾ arm angle, arm strength has room for improvement and produced a few accurate throws.

Bailey Etheridge, 2B/RHP, John Overton, 2017
60 Time: 7.26, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: 78
6'2, 165-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins with his hands fairly far forward in his setup.  A quick and almost choppy stride covers quite a bit of distance and his hands go straight back and up a bit to initiate his load, lower half does get through but doesn’t quite explode enough to create good separation, handsy swing gets steep on pitches down in the zone and makes for a lot of ground balls up the middle and to the left side, finishes well balanced a majority of the time.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he fielded a few balls a little too deep, used a clean exchange and a long arm action through a high ¾ slot to produce some very accurate throws with good carry across the infield. Adding some strength would go a long way for Etheridge’s game.

Andrew Sinks, 2B, Ensworth, 2017
60 Time: 7.27, Position Velocity:  IF-72, Exit Velocity: 78
6'0, 165-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly closed stance and uses a high hand positon in his initial setup.  Uses a fairly rhythmic movement of his entire body along with a very short stride to help load his hands a little down and back and get himself ready to go.  Lower half does get through the zone but doesn’t create a lot of separation or torque in his swing, tends to drag his hands through the zone and cause himself to come around the ball, hit a lot of ground balls to the left side, high hand position and a taller backside causes his swing to be a little steep coming through the zone, finished on his heels a few times.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he fielded a few balls a little deep and on his heels, long exchange uses a glove pat in the middle and leads to a fairly long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot that produced some accuracy with average arm strength. 

THIRD BASEMEN

Zane Denton, 3B, Ravenwood, 2019
60 Time: 7.47, Position Velocity:  IF-80, Exit Velocity: L89 R87
5'11, 180-pound, SHH hits left-handed from a balanced, athletic, and slightly open stance, uses a slight leg kick and some hand movement with a small barrel tilt to initiate his load.  Lower half explodes through the zone and really frees up his hips and backside to get out and through the ball, back elbow gets in a slot but gets strong at times and causes him to start his bat path a little steep, does a good job of flattening back out and staying on plane from that point on, showed ability to hit with pop and to all fields. Hits right-handed very similarly to the left side and shows all of the same characteristics, was able to get on plane a little sooner and show some extra pop from the right side.  Defensively, sure hands and good footwork as he always put himself in a good position to field the ball, lateral quickness lacks but will definitely improve with age and maturity, used a clean exchange and a relatively simple arm action through a high ¾ release point to deliver accurate throws with carry across the infield.  Denton is surely one of the top players in the 2019 class.  

Jacob Hoffman, 3B/RHP, The King's Academy, 2018
60 Time: 7.55, Position Velocity:  IF-74, Exit Velocity: 81
6'0, 175-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and open stance and uses a leg lift and longer stride as a timing mechanism, lowers hands and stands the bat up in order to complete his load.  Lower half fires but doesn’t quite get all the way through, stays tall on his backside and comes up on his front leg a little bit on contact, gets a little boxy with his upper half because of some flaring of his elbows, swing path is a little steep but he does a good job of getting through the ball at the end, a little late with his timing.  Defensively, showed average footwork and hands as he fielded the ball a little deep and sometimes on his heels, used a clean but long transfer that resulted in a long arm action and average arm strength from a high ¾ release point.

CATCHERS

Trae Hall, C, Knoxville Christian, 2017
60 Time: 6.84, Pop Time: 1.82-1.97, Position Velocity:  C-76, Exit Velocity: 87
5'10, 175-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance with high hand positioning in his initial setup, uses a toe tap and stride and a barrel tilt to get himself loaded.  Lower half fires through the zone aggressively and provides some strength in his swing, high hand position causes his swing to come into the zone steeply but levels it out and uses some raw ability to get on plane and through the ball, strong kid muscles up from time to time but is able to drive the ball into the gaps.  Defensively, showed the ability to control a game, sure hands, and average footwork behind the plate, uses a quick exchange and a short arm action to get rid of the ball efficiently, steps into the right-handed batters box when throwing to second and received balls very high in his stance when recording pop times.

Rudy Maxwell, C, Ensworth, 2018
60 Time: 7.25, Pop Time: 1.79-1.93, Position Velocity:  C-74, Exit Velocity: 86
6'3, 220-pound, RHH hits from a tall, athletic, and slightly open stance and uses a long stride and a slight hand movement backwards to get initiate his load. Lower half has a lot going on as he gains a lot of ground and tends to cause him to lunge at the ball, movement of his body doesn’t allow him to get the separation he’s capable of achieving, can get more power out of his lower half and back side when he stays behind the ball, top hand is strong through the swing and helps him get through balls anywhere in the zone, line drive approach showed the ability to hit the ball to all fields.  Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork behind the plate, quick exchange and release comes out from a lower arm slot than normal, decent carry on throws to second base, stayed fairly aligned when recording pop times, but was nearly standing up when he caught the ball.

Garrett Maxwell, C, Center Hill (MS), 2018
60 Time: 7.61, Pop Time: 1.95-2.03, Position Velocity:  C-73, Exit Velocity: 76
5'10, 170-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance with his hands positioned relatively low with a little bit of forward tilt in his initial setup, uses a rhythmic stride and raises his hands backwards to get loaded.  Lower half gets through but is a little late at times, causing him to drag the bat into and through the zone, line drive approach and swing resulted in some hard hit ground balls and low line drives in his round of BP to all fields, strong kid can get a little muscly at times.  Defensively, showed good hands and footwork, received well in game play and stayed very connected throughout his exchange and quick release, delivered strong throws with very good accuracy to second base, sat pretty high and came up quickly when recording pop times.

Dylan Bryant, C/RHP, Silverdale Baptist Academy, 2018
60 Time: 7.66, Pop Time: 2.11-2.26, Position Velocity:  C-72, Exit Velocity: 80
5'10, 185-pound, RHH hits from a balanced stance and uses a relatively conventional stride and a subtle hand load to get himself ready to go, some rhythm helps out as well.  Lower half really gets through the zone and adds both balance and stability to his swing, back elbow drops into a good slot and allows his barrel to get on plane early in the swing, doesn’t get extended through balls low in the zone, cuts himself off after contact, was able to hit some balls hard that were up in the zone, backside adds some power and showed an ability to hit to all fields.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork, some added strength could help him stick low pitches, good alignment and a longer exchange led to a short arm action through an over-the-top release, one-hopped a lot of his throws to second base when recording pop times.