DFW Top Prospects Showcase: Pitching Analysis
August 10, 2018
PLANO, TX - If you were looking for arms, the DFW Top Prospect Showcase was the place to be. Included in this analysis are a number of pitchers that should find a home soon. From high velocity right-handers, to strike throwing lefty's, projectable bullpen guys, and everything in-between, take a look.
Pitching Analysis
Top Performers
Chandler Freeman, 3B/RHP, Colleyville Heritage HS, 2019
Dallas Baptist commit. Physical 6-0, 187-pound frame with wide shoulders, and a strong lower half. On the mound, the arm strength translated and Freeman was 89-91 mph with a fastball that has life out of his hand. He has a high ¾ arm angle with a quick arm speed. He maintains balance and fluidity in his delivery, and there is some effort involved. He threw his slider from 78-79, and the pitch has tight spin. Freeman has the potential to be a two-way player with his high-end tools.
Austin Teel, LHP/OF, College Station HS, 2019
Wake Forest commit. Athletic 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame. The left-hander works from a high ¾ arm slot with a short and quick arm action, and uses his strong legs to drive in-line to the plate. His fastball sat 85-87 mph flashing late life when up in the zone, his curveball had a sharp 1/7 shape break with tight spin and fastball hand-speed, and his changeup was down in the zone at 77-78 mph and fastball hand-speed. Teel has a high-effort delivery with smooth rhythm, level shoulders, and an athletic finish. Teel has a strong mound presence, and straight up competes when he toes the rubber.
Elijah McCormack, RHP, Coppell HS, 2019
Projectable, long and lean 6-foot-3, 170-pound frame. McCormack still has room to grow into his frame and further develop. McCormack is a right-handed pitcher who works from a high arm slot, hides the ball well, and has a quick arm. His fastball sat 88-90 with downward tilt. He has a sharp 12/6 breaking ball that comes out of the same slot and tunnel as his fastball, and he has feel for this pitch at 74-76 mph. He also threw his changeup in the bottom of the zone at 80-81 mph. McCormack reaches his balance point with his foot kicking out away from his body, but he works with good direction to the plate, lands square, and fills up the zone. He also showed the ability to pound strikes by using a slide-step out of the stretch. McCormack has a high ceiling, and has shown improvements in both stuff and command over the past year.
Jack Hattrup, LHP/1B, Plano West HS, 2019
Baylor commit. Long and lean projectable frame at 6-foot-4, 187-pounds. Hattrup has a quick arm action, and has an over-the-top delivery that creates downward tilt to all of his pitches. His fastball was 82-84 mph with life, he had feel for a sharp curveball at 68-69 mph with an 11/5 shape and plenty of depth, and his changeup was 64-65 mph. Hattrup has tempo in his windup, maintains balance at the top of his motion, sinks into his backside before going down the mound, works in line with a strong front side, and has an aggressive backside finish. Hattrup has the ability to spin a breaking ball well from the left side, and his quick arm action combined with his athleticism and projectable frame suggest that Hattrup still has not reached his high ceiling of potential.
McCrae Wiest, RHP/1B, Prestonwood Christian Academy, 2019
Projectable frame, lean with a high waist, 6-foot-4, 185-pounds. Works from a near over-the-top slot, the right-hander sat 86-88 with downward tilt to his fastball, he had a sharp 12/6 curveball with tight spin at 72-74 mph, and worked his changeup at the bottom of the strike zone at 75-76 mph. Wiest has a slow tempo in his windup, brings the ball and glove over his head on his rocker step, breaks his hands over his knee, he as a long loose arm stroke, and has a tall upper body posture in his finish. McCrae showed feel for all three pitches and has a simple linear delivery out of the stretch with similar velocity, movement, and feel for all three of his pitches. With his loose arm action and the projectable frame, Wiest still has not reached his ceiling velocity-wise.
Luke Douthitt, RHP/1B, Plano West HS, 2019
Wiry-strong, quick twitch frame at 6-foot-2, 180-pounds. and threw every fastball at 86 mph with arm-side run from a high slot with a quick arm swing. He spun a 12/6 curveball with depth at 70-71 mph, and showed feel for a changeup with arm side fade at 75-79 mph. Douthitt works in-line to the plate with his delivery and lands square, as well. He has a live arm, and there is more arm strength ahead as Douthitt continues to mature.
Trennor O’Donnell, RHP/1B, Faith Christian, 2019
Projectable 6-foot-7, 205-pound high waisted frame. O’Donnell filled the strike zone with his three-pitch mix. His fastball had downward tilt and sat at 82-83 mph from an over-the-top arm slot, his breaking ball has a 10/4 shape and was in the 68-72 mph range, and he worked down in the strike zone with his changeup at 73-74 mph. He has a slow and smooth windup with balance during a high leg lift, and has some effort involved in the delivery. He had similar arm speed on each pitch, and his length allows him to get down the mound with extension and downward tilt to the plate.
Justin Karbowski, RHP, Wakeland HS, 2019
Long, lean, high-waisted frame at 6-foot-5, 170-pound frame. Karbowski worked his heavy fastball in the 82-84 range from a low ¾ arm slot and the pitch had slight arm-side run, his curveball (72-74 mph) had tight 10/4 shape spin and late depth to the pitch, his changeup was deceptive with fastball-like arm speed and he located his changup in the zone consistently at 78-79 mph. Karbowski has a high leg kick and balance throughout the windup, and keeps a low leg kick out of the stretch which allows his time to the plate to be cut down. Karbowski is projectable with his long levers, and his ability to throw from a unique arm slot with command.
Easton Turnage, RHP/OF, Grandbury HS, 2019
High-waisted 6-0, 175-pound frame. Turnage is a right-handed pitcher with a loose arm action and a high ¾ release point. His fastball has late arm-side run at 85-86 mph. He flashed the ability to throw his changeup in the zone at 73-74 mph with fastball hand-speed, and threw both a curveball and a slider. His curveball was 66-68 mph, and the slider was 70-72 mph. Turnage has a smooth delivery, and some effort is involved in the delivery. With his frame and arm action, there projects to be even more velocity in Turnage’s right arm once he develops more strength into his frame.
Cameron Pool, LHP/OF, Lovejoy HS, 2019
6-foot-1, 175-pound frame with some strength in the lower half. Pool works has a long arm action with a high ¾ release, and his fastball sat in the 82-84 mph range. He has some rhythm in his delivery with a high balance point, he drops into his back leg after his balance point, works in direction to the plate, and he has an athletic finish. Pool has feel for his three-pitch mix, working his fastball consistently around the zone, flashed tight spin on his curveball (66-69 mph) and showed the ability to throw this pitch to a right-hander’s back foot, and worked his changeup down below the zone at 74-75 mph with depth and fastball hand speed.
Strong, durable frame at 6-foot-3, 215-pounds. The right-hander threw his 4-pitch mix for strikes; his fastball ranged from 81-83 mph and he threw it to both sides of the plate, he had feel for a tight slider with depth at 68-69 mph, he threw his changeup down in the zone, and just below the zone with plenty of feel and deceptive hand speed at 73 mph, and his curveball was 66-68 mph. Tieding has a smooth delivery with regular effort, has the same tempo throughout his windup, a long loose arm action with a high ¾ release point.
Tye Sampson, LHP, Guyer HS, 2019
Paris JC commit. Long, lean, projectable frame at 6-foot-6, 180-pounds. Left-hander with a clean high ¾ arm action. Sampson has smooth body actions throughout his delivery, maintains balance and direction to the plate with his body, has solid leg drive, and finishes in an athletic position ready to field his position. His fastball sat between 78-80 mph, and there is more velocity waiting to emerge out of this frame and arm action. He flashed the ability to spin his curveball in the 70-72 mph range, threw a sharp slider that broke later than his curveball at 75 mph, and he had feel for his changeup at 71-73 with depth and deceptive arm speed. Sampson has a high ceiling on the mound, as he will gain more velocity as he continues to get stronger and he already has a solid feel for the game with a strong presence on the mound.
Best of the Rest (Alphabetical)
Hayden Archer, LHP/1B, Liberty HS, 2019
6-foot, 180-pound frame. The left-hander has a quick tempo in his windup with fluid rhythm, works in-line to the plate with a square landing, and releases from a high ¾ arm slot with some effort involved. His fastball sat 78-79 mph working it around the zone, his curveball had a tight 1/7 shape at 62-63, he worked his slider down below the zone at 66-68 mph, and his changeup had some slight cut to it at 68-70 mph.
Drake Boggan, RHP/SS, Hebron HS, 2019
6-foot, 155-pound frame with wiry strength and a high waist. The right-hander has a loose arm stroke and his fastball has slight arm-side run at 81-83 mph. His changeup flashed the potential to be a plus pitch at 71 mph, he has deceptive arm speed, and the ball falls off the table late with command of the pitch. His curveball had a big 11/5 shape, and he showed the ability to throw this pitch in the zone for a strike at 66-67 mph. Boggan should continue to develop, and his tools will also develop as he gets stronger in his frame.
Tanner Cabaniss, LHP, Lake Highlands HS, 2019
5-foot-11, 165-pound frame. Left-handed pitcher who hides the ball well in his delivery, has a short quick arm action. Has a fluid motion with solid balance and rhythm throughout the leg lift. Threw his fastball 81-83 mph and had command around the zone with it. He threw a sharp breaking ball at 70-71 that had tight spin with late break, and he showed the ability to throw this pitch to the back-foot of right handed hitters as well as the ability to throw this pitch for a strike in the zone. His changeup had fastball arm-speed and was 72-73 mph with slight sink and arm side run. Cabaniss showed pitchability from the left-side with a three-pitch mix.
Carson Gordon, C/3B, Frenship HS, 2019
Big frame with strength, 6-foot-3, 195-pound. The right-hander has a smooth delivery with regular effort down the mound. His fastball ranged from 71-79 mph; did not throw a fastball below 76 mph out of the stretch. Threw a big 1/7 shaped breaking ball at 60-64 mph, and had feel for his changeup at 67-70 mph. He has a smooth delivery with regular effort, and follows through to a flat back position.
Kamren Harrison, LHP/1B, Sulphur Springs HS, 2019
Athletic lean 6-foot-1, 166-pound frame. Harrison is a left-handed pitcher with a three-pitch mix, and topped out at 76 mph. Harrison works from a near over-the-top arm angle with a short to long arm action. He establishes direction to the plate by keeping his front side closed, lands in-line to the plate, and gets drive out of his back leg. Harrison threw his fastball 73-76 mph, he showed feel for a 10/4 breaking ball with tight spin, and threw his changeup at 72-73 mph.
Will Horton, LHP/OF, Nolan Catholic HS, 2019
6-0, 180-pound athletic frame. Horton is a left-handed pitcher who works with fluid rhythm and an upbeat tempo in the windup. Horton threw his four-pitch mix consistently in the strike zone. His fastball sat at 80-81 from a ¾ arm angle, his curveball was 66-68 mph with a 10/4 shape break, he threw a sweeping slider ranging from 69-72, and threw his changeup down in the zone at 74-76 mph.
Jake McCorkle, OF/LHP, Whitesboro HS, 2019
Strong, sturdy 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame. A two-way player and left-handed pitcher, McCorkle works from a high ¾ slot with a tall-and-fall delivery. He hides the ball well before exploding towards home plate, and throws all four pitches from the same window. His 72-76 mph fastball flashed some natural arm-side run, while he manipulated a 66-68 CB with a 1/7 shape down in the zone. Shows feel for his changeup that he throws with fastball arm speed at 65-68. Slider is more of a sweeper at 67-71 with 2/8 shape.
Jordan Rozenblum, 3B/RHP, JJ Pearce HS, 2019
5-foot-9, 175-pound frame. Rozenblum hits from the right side of the plate with a smooth load and a high leg kick; posted an 82 mph exit velo. In the infield, he works from around the baseball to establish direction and momentum in his footwork, and he showed consistent accuracy at 73 mph. Rozenblum ran a 7.87 laser-timed 60. Off the mound, his fastball ranged from 68-71 mph from a high ¾ slot with a short arm action. His curveball had a big 11/5 shape and came in at 61-63 mph, with a sweeping slider at 61-62 mph, and he threw his changeup at 65-67.
Austin Salyer, RHP, Marcus HS, 2019
Projectable 6-1, 182-pound frame. Salyer is a right-handed pitcher who works from a near over-the-top arm slot. His fastball sat from 73-75, and he topped out at 78 mph. He has fluidity with his body through the delivery, and an easy effort level in his release. He throws a big breaking ball with 1/7 shape at 61-64 mph, and his changeup was 66-67 mph. He has good direction in his delivery, staying in-line with his front side and his stride.
Tanner Shotwell, RHP/2B, Creekview HS, 2019
Wiry-strength in a 6-2, 185-pound frame. Shotwell is a right-handed pitcher who has an over-the-top arm slot. He has some rhythm in his delivery and maintains control of his body throughout the delivery working in-line to the plate. His fastball ranged from 74-76 mph. He has a big breaking ball that breaks up out of his hand and has a 1/7 shape at 61-62 mph. He worked down in the zone with his changeup that was 63-67 with some depth. Shotwell does a good job of hiding his fastball and changeup from the hitter by hiding the ball behind his body throughout his delivery.
Kyle Simpson, LHP/1B, Magnolia HS, 2019
6-foot-2, 225-pound frame with strength in the shoulders, hands and wrists. The right-hander has an old-school type hands above the head rocker step, with tempo and rhythm in his delivery, and works from a high ¾ arm slot from the left side. His fastball had late cut to it and was 74-77 mph, he thew a 12/6 shaped curveball in the zone at 62-65 mph, and his changeup was 65-68 mph. Simpson ran a 8.59 laser-timed 60.
Crew Wilson, 3B/SS, Ouachita Christian (LA), 2019
6-foot-1, 175-pound athletic frame with strength. The right-hander threw his fastball 81-83 mph, touched 85, flashing some late arm-side-run. Showed feel for a 12/6 shaped breaking ball, throwing it consistently down in the strike zone, at 67-68 mph, and his changeup was 69-70 mph. Wilson has an over-the-top release, works from a tall balance point with some rhythm in the delivery, works in line to the plate, and his head stays on his target throughout the pitch.