By Matt Byrd
TN Director of Scouting

The PBR Tennessee Top Prospect Games took place June 9-10 with a position player showcase at Maryville College and game play at the University of Tennessee. The following is an in-depth look at the position players from Team Royal.  This is position player analysis only.  Those players who pitched for Team Royal had their pitching evaluations featured in a previous article.

middle infielders

Bryce Hodge, 2017, Knoxville Halls, SS
The 6 foot 1, 192-pound prospect posted a 7.31 60 time. Defensively Hodge had a position velocity of 75 mph across the infield (77 at previous event). Hodge showed soft hands and average footwork. Has average arm strength with accuracy on his throws. Offensively from the right side Hodge showed good bat speed and had a 91 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and explodes with his lower half. Hodge is a power/pull type hitter. Has a good approach at the plate and really attacks the ball. Will be a prospect to keep an eye on in the future, has room to improve on arm strength and overall quickness. Hodge went 2-for-5 in game play with two singles.

Alex Tucker, 2016, McCallie, SS
The 6 foot 2, 175- pound prospect posted a 7.28 60 time. Defensively Tucker had a position velocity of 77 mph across the infield with average arm strength and accuracy on his throws. Had average hands and a clean exchange. Offensively Tucker showed fast bat speed and had an 85 mph exit velocity off the tee from the right side. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and good balance. Is a line drive type hitter with gap to gap type potential as the ball really jumps of his bat. Very impressed with Tucker’s approach at the plate and showed good discipline. Tucker went 3-for-5 in game play with a single and two doubles.

Turner Whitfield, 2016, Knoxville Catholic, SS
The 5 foot 11, 178-pound prospect posted a 7.02 60 time. Defensively Whitfield had a position velocity of 78 mph across the infield. Whitfield showed soft hands with quick/fluid footwork. Showed accuracy on his throws with a clean exchange and short release. Showed natural ability as an infielder and will likely be a 2B at the next level. Offensively from the right side Whitfield had an 85 mph exit velocity of the tee with good bat speed. Hits from a balanced setup with a leg kick involved. Has a short path and is a line drive type hitter with gap to gap potential. Whitfield went 2-for-4 in game play with two singles.

Chris Rodriguez, 2016, Blackman HS, 2B
The 5 foot 10, 180-pound prospect posted a 7.62 60 time. Defensively Rodriguez had a position velocity of 77 mph across the infield. Rodriguez showed average arm strength with long arm action and a high ¾ arm slot with accuracy, sure-handed defensively with soft hands. Offensively from the right side Rodriguez showed bat speed with 87 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride with good balance, Rodriguez is a line drive type hitter with some gap to gap power. He went 1-for-4 in game play with a single.

Logan Henry, 2016, Lenior City, 2B
The 5 foot 11, 165-pound prospect posted a 7.40 60 time. Defensively Henry had a position velocity of 75 mph across the infield and 81 mph from the outfield. Henry had average hands with fluid to slow footwork with a slow exchange. Had average arm strength with accuracy on his throws. Offensively from the right side Henry had a 77 mph exit velocity off the tee with average bat speed. Hit from a balanced setup with a leg kick and stiff rhythm. Needs to work on being a more patient hitter and on pitch selection. Henry went 0-for-4 in game play.

Outfielders

Tyler Blum, 2017, East Hamilton, OF
The 5 foot 9, 160-pound prospect posted a 7.57 60 time. Defensively Blum had a position velocity of 78 mph from the outfield. He showed average hands and hesitant instincts with some accuracy and a high ¾ arm slot. Offensively from the right side Blum average bat speed with a 73 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and an arm bar load creating some length in swing. Blum went 1-for-4 in game play with a single.

John Behrends, 2017, McCallie, OF
The 6 foot 1, 165-pound prospect posted a 7.31 60 time and had an 80 mph position velocity from the outfield. Defensively Behrends showed good arm strength from a high ¾ slot with accuracy. Shows fluid footwork while playing through the ball well. Offensively from the left side, Behrends had an 81 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and average balance. Has a level path and is a gap to gap type hitter. Behrends had a big day at the plate going 4-for-5 in game play with three singles and a double.

Corner Infielders

Cameron Wolfe, 2017, Baylor School, 3B
The 6 foot 2, 160-pound prospect posted a 7.59 60 time. Defensively Wolfe had a 76 mph position velocity across the infield (80 at previous event) with some accuracy. Has soft hands, fluid footwork, and natural instincts. Wolfe shows the potential to stay at 3B as he continues to get stronger. Offensively from the right side, Wolf has average bat speed and had a 77 mph exit velocity off the tee (79 at previous event). He hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and has overall good balance. Wolfe is a line drive type hitter and will be a guy to follow in the future as he continues to get stronger. He went 2-for-5 in game play with two singles.

Riley Thomas, 2017, Knoxville Central, 1B
The 6 foot 1, 195-pound prospect posted an 8.18 60 time. Defensively Thomas had a position velocity of 67 mph across the infield. Thomas showed average hands and slow footwork around the bag. Offensively from the right side of the plate, Thomas has average bat speed and had a 78 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and stiff rhythm. Thomas needs to be more aggressive at the plate and use his size to his advantage. He went 0-for-5 in game play.

Catchers

Hunter Jenkins, 2016, Dobyns-Bennett, C
The 5 foot 10, 165-pound prospect posted a 7.25 60 time. Defensively Jenkins had a position velocity of 72 mph from behind the plate and had a 2.00-2.09 pop time. Jenkins is fundamentally sound behind the plate. Offensively Jenkins shows some bat speed from the right side and had an 86 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balance setup with no stride and is a line drive type hitter. Has a tendency to drop his hands at times and wrap his bat in his load. Jenkins went 0-for-4 in game play.

Hayden Coffman, 2016, Grace Christian Academy, C
The 5 foot 9, 175-pound prospect posted a 7.69 60 time.  Defensively Coffman had a position velocity of 71 mph from behind the plate and a 2.20-2.30 pop time, hard-nosed catcher with good blocking ability. Offensively from the right side, Coffman has average bat speed and had a 78 mph exit velocity off the tee. Coffman hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and average balance. Cuts off lower half and finish at times, went 0-for-4 in game play.