Adam Akin
Director of Scouting

The 2016 PBR Tennessee Underclass Games took place on Tuesday, July 26 and Wednesday, July 27 and included a position player workout, followed by two 7 or 8 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 Royal Team in Wednesday’s action.

 

Outfielders

Garrett Schultz, OF/RHP, Ensworth, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.63, Position Velocity:  88, Exit Velocity: 80
5-foot-10, 160-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and stands fairly tall with some pre-pitch bat waggle to stay loose, uses a very abbreviated leg kick and stride and a subtle push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through very well and keeps him balanced throughout the swing, bat path is mostly flat through the zone with some steepness to it, hit some very hard line drives to LF and LCF in BP and put together some good at-bats in game play.  Defensively, uses his athleticism to get behind the ball and attack through it with fluidity and confidence, used good hands and footwork to produce a smooth transfer and a loose arm action through a high ¾ slot that showed accuracy with a lot of arm strength. 

Peyton Henderson, OF, Riverdale, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.53, Position Velocity:  83, Exit Velocity: 85
5-foot-9, 140-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and even stance and begins in a little bit of a crouch, uses a regular stride and a sudden lowering of the hands to get loaded, lower half works but doesn’t get all the way through at times causing him to fall toward the plate at finish, bat path is pretty flat through the zone but is a little stiff, hit two 3B’s and an inside-the-park home run in game play.  Defensively, knows how to play the outfield well, works around and plays through the ball smoothly, can cover some ground, uses a short transfer and arm action through a high ¾ slot to produce fairly strong throws with occasional accuracy. 

Colton Harrison, OF, East Robertson, 2020
Home-1^st: 5.13, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: 76
6-foot-0, 130-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance, uses a leg kick with a slight lowering of the hands and barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half fires through and produces good separation, bat path gets a little steep at times but showed good lift at and through contact, casts his hands around the ball at times.  Defensively, attacked the ball and played through it but caught himself a little out of rhythm at times, used quite the crow hop and a long arm action through an over-the-top slot to produce fairly accurate throws with average arm strength.

Steven Jarrell, RHP/OF, Mount Juliet, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.73, Position Velocity:  80, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-8, 155-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and stands fairly tall in the box, uses a short and early stride onto the toe of his front foot and hardly any hand movement at all to get loaded, lower half glides a little bit and causes him to drag his backside through at times, seems to get a little stiff and push hands through the zone at the end, did hit a hard 2B in game play. Defensively, did well at getting behind the ball and playing through it with some athleticism, really only caught himself out of rhythm once, showed a pretty clean transfer into a long and over-the-top arm action that made for some very accurate throws with good carry.

Ryan Ragsdale, LHP/OF, Father Ryan, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.82, Position Velocity:  70, Exit Velocity: 79
5-foot-10, 175-pound, LHH hits from a narrower stance with some minor pre-pitch movement in his hands, uses a simple stride with a definite push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half works but seems to just sit and spin at times, bat path is pretty flat through the zone with a little lift at the end that did drive through some balls to RF in BP, likes to pull the ball.  Defensively, gets behind the ball well but doesn’t quite attack it like most would like to see, uses a long exchange and arm action through a high ¾ release point to produce throws with occasional accuracy and arm strength that can be improved upon in the next couple of years.

First Basemen

Brandon LeJeune, 1B, Bearden, 2020
Home-1^st: 5.38, Position Velocity:  74, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-10, 210-pound, RHH hits from a wider and slightly open stance that shows a little bit of athleticism, uses a little bit of a leg kick and a good sized stride along with a rhythmic barrel tilt to get himself loaded, lower half works well and generally puts him in a position to succeed, some occasional drift, bat path got steep when he muscled up, has potential to drive the ball, still very young as a 2020.  Defensively, showed solid hands and average footwork although you can tell he knows the position very well, made every play and made some good throws across the infield with decent arm strength and carry.  Had a 2B in game play.

Middle Infielders

Noah Gent, SS, Grace Christian Academy, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.71, Position Velocity:  83, Exit Velocity: 84
5-foot-10, 175-pound, RHH hits from a tall and athletic stance that holds his front foot very slightly open, uses a longer but early stride along with a push back of the hands and a leaning of the barrel to get loaded, lower half gets through but pulls him to his front side a little bit and causes him to drift, swing plane is flat through the zone with some lift at the end that helps him to drive balls through the gaps, showed gap-to-gap potential in BP and recorded two 1B’s in game play.  Defensively, showed soft hands an great footwork as he played through the ball smoothly and efficiently, has the ability to make tough plays look easy, will add some quickness with maturity, smooth arm action with the ability to throw from multiple slots produced accurate throws across the infield with good carry. Gent is a highly regarded SS in the 2019 class. 

Cooper Reynolds, RHP/SS, Christ Presbyterian Academy, 2017
Home-1^st: 4.49, Position Velocity:  74, Exit Velocity: 74
6-foot-1, 170-pound, RHH hits from a taller, athletic and slightly open stance, uses a smooth and fairly long stride that covers quite a bit of ground, adds in a push back of the hands and a slight barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half fires through the zone and allows him a good bit of separation to unload, bat path is a little steep on lower pitches but can create some lift on balls up in the zone, hit balls much harder than his 74 mph exit velo would suggest. Defensively, showed good footwork and sure hands as he played with a lot of confidence in the infield, playing through the ball smoothly and used a slower transfer and loose arm through a high ¾ release point, seemed to be taking it easy on his arm, as he was 85 as a pitcher.

Pete Williams, SS, Bradley, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.6, Position Velocity:  76, Exit Velocity: 81
5-foot-10, 145-pound, RHH hits from a balanced, even, and pretty athletic stance, uses a leg kick and stride along with some hardly noticeable hand movement to get loaded, lower half struggles to get all the way through on a consistent basis as there are times his back foot doesn’t move, when his bottom half clears, his backside and bat path are able to flatten out and stay through the zone for a long time.  Defensively, showed good footwork and solid hands when working through the ball in the infield, clean exchange and short arm action through a high ¾ slot produced accurate throws across the infield with decent carry.

Ethan Bailey, 2B, Christian Brothers, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.72, Position Velocity:  70, Exit Velocity: 78
5-foot-7, 180-pound, RHH hits from a fairly wide and balanced stance and uses a simple heel raise and toe-tap along with a very slight push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but pull him to his front side a little bit, stays consistent and pretty well balanced, bat path is short and compact but can be steep because of that, hit a lot of ground balls in BP.  Defensively, showed above average hands and average footwork while playing through the ball fairly confidently, a slower exchange with an extra step in transition led to a short arm action through a ¾ arm slot, very accurate throws with arm strength to be improved upon.

Third Basemen

Hayden Layne, RHP/3B, Hendersonville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.7, Position Velocity:  76, Exit Velocity: 74
6-foot-0, 175-pound, RHH showed pretty much all of the same qualities we saw at the Top Prospect Games, short stride and some rhythmic hand movement get him loaded and clear that lower half for him to gain some separation, bat path was a little steeper than we expected but still produced some hard line drives to LF and occasionally LCF. Defensively, showed decent hands and average footwork again as he could still get better at playing through the ball, takes a gather before quickly getting rid of the ball through a high ¾ to over-the-top arm slot for relatively accurate throws and average arm strength.

Justin Jones, RHP/3B, Northpoint Christian, 2019
Home-1^st: 5.09, Position Velocity:  74, Exit Velocity: 77
6-foot-2, 192-pound, RHH hits from a wide and even stance and uses a short and early stride with some very minor hand movement back to get loaded, lower half tries to get through but isn’t as explosive as it could be yet and doesn’t create the separation he needs, bat path is steep through the zone as he stays tall and doesn’t allow his backside to get behind the pitch, was a little stiff but stayed mostly balanced.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he fielded some balls too deep and a little on his heels, can improve on playing through the ball and staying confident and smooth, mustered up to a long exchange and arm action through a high ¾ release and produced throws with some accuracy and average carry.

Catchers

Evan Potter, C, Smyrna, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.74, Pop Time: 2.22-2.37, Position Velocity:  66, Exit Velocity: 79
5-foot-11, 170-pound, RHH hits from a tall and slightly open stance with some very high initial hand positioning, uses a very abbreviated leg lift and stride along with a lowering and push back of the hands with some barrel tilt to get loaded, lower half struggled to get through which causes him to hit everything the other way, did hit some solid line drives toward RCF.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork behind the plate, did have a short exchange and arm action to get rid of the ball toward second base, over-the-top arm slot produced some accuracy in his throws, quickness and arm strength can be improved.

Logan Rivers, C, Daniel Boone, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.99, Pop Time: 2.10-2.21, Position Velocity:  67, Exit Velocity: 81
5-foot-8, 184-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance, simply picks up his front foot and puts it back down for a stride to go along with some extremely slight hand movement to get loaded, lower half does get through and keeps him mostly balanced, bat path is pretty flat through the zone, gets muscly at times and likes to pull the ball a lot.  Defensively, showed good footwork, hands can be improved upon, short exchange and quick release come through an over-the-top slot to 2B with typically good accuracy and average carry. 

Mark Myers, C, Aaron Academy, 2019
Home-1^st: 5.01, Pop Time: 2.28-2.43, Position Velocity:  69, Exit Velocity: 80
6-foot-1, 185-pound, RHH hits from a taller and slightly open stance, uses a fairly smooth leg kick and a subtle push back of the hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but doesn’t create the separation it’s capable of because it often comes at the same time as his hands, swing path was a little steep on balls down in the zone because of his lower half but was able to drive balls left up.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork behind the plate, took a while to transition himself from catching to throwing and used a longer exchange and arm action through a high ¾ slot, throws to 2B were around the bag.