Toby Bicknell
Texas Scouting Director

Twitter: @PBR_Texas
IG: @pbr_texas

WACO, TX - Today we bring you the Catching Analysis from Prep Baseball Report Texas’ Fall Kickoff Showcase Games, hosted at Midway High School on Saturday, September 23. 

 

CATCHERS

+ Mason Thomchesson, C/RHP, Klein Collins HS, 2019
5-foot-11, 170-pound, lean-strong frame. The right-handed hitter has a balanced stance, loads early with a smooth rhythm, low-hanging leg-kick, short stride, lands balanced, efficient lower half, loose hands, short path, some lift with a high finish. Average bat speed, line drive to gap type power. Good approach during batting practice, best swings come on balls middle, to middle-in, knee high. Behind the plate, Tomchesson posted pop times of 2.03-2.19, with a velocity from the crouch of 73 mph. Average hands, quick footwork, average-clean exchange. Short arm stroke from high-¾ slot with some effort and inconsistent accuracy.

+ Dylan Lee, C/2B, Hutto HS, 2020
Although not yet fully developed, Lee has an athletic, quick-twitch frame at 5-foot-9, 150-pounds. He handles the ball well behind the plate, shows good baseball I.Q and solid presence on the field. Highly accurate throws to second base with pop times ranging from 2.12-2.26 consistently in the “tag-zone”. Quick footwork and quick, clean exchange. Loose arm stroke works well from back to front with elbow dominant action from a high-¾ slot. Soft hands and good mobility behind the plate. A right-handed hitter, Lee starts from an open stance with a wide base, stiff rhythm to load back, short stride, average balance. Quick hands, short, level path, currently a contact-line drive hitter. Predominantly upper body swing with limited weight transfer.

+ Cortlan Castle, C/RHP, Midway HS, 2021
Castle has a strong, sturdy frame for a freshman at 5-foot-11, 185-pounds. The right-handed hitter has rhythm in hands with good bat angle and a strong top hand. Starts from a slightly open stance, early load, average balance, short stride. Short, compact, uphill path creates lift. Solid round of batting practice where he showed above average strength to the pull side for his class with gap power. Look for his balance to improve as he continues to develop his weight shift through contact. Behind the plate, Castle has good mobility in his strong lower half. Quick footwork as he gains ground with a quick exchange into a short, loose arm stroke that works well to get out front, creating good carry. Solid accuracy and for his class on throws to second base, pop times ranged from 2.0-2.05, with a velocity from the crouch of 75 mph. Castle gunned down a would-be base stealer at second during the game, even though the runner had a great jump, he came up firing and put the throw right on the money.

+ Richard Clark, C/3B, Midway HS, 2019
6-foot-3, 208-pound frame. The right-handed hitter starts from a crouched stance with subtle-to-late rhythm. Quickish hands with strength at contact and average balance. Barrel gets on plane early, rotational lower half, limited weight shift, head stays still over contact, average power to the pull side, uphill path and a high finish. Exit velocity 81 mph. Barreled the ball well during the game, making hard contact on a fly ball to right field and a hard shot to first base. Behind the plate, Clark showed average accuracy on 3 of his 6 throws in the tag zone. Threw well between innings with carry. Quick exchange to a high slot with a short arm stroke from the ear with effort. Averaged hands and quickish footwork, pop times ranged from 2.05-2.16 with a velocity from the crouch of 75 mph.

+ Andrew Cates, C/RHP, Midway HS, 2020
6-foot, 200-pound, sturdy frame. The right-handed hitter starts from a balanced, slightly open, crouched stance. Early-smooth load back, then down into his legs with rhythm, walks away from his hands, landing into a strong launch position. Short path on ball in the middle of the plate, strong top hand, flat path, does a nice job of getting extension through contact. Line drive power currently, middle of the field approach during batting practice. Behind the plate, Cates a quick exchange with average hands and somewhat fluid footwork. Posted pop times of 2.07-2.18 to second base, hopping early into a staggered stance with inconsistent accuracy. Short arm stroke from a high-¾ slot with effort and a 73 mph velocity from the crouch.

+ Benjamin Nelson, C/3B, Midway HS, 2018
Nelson is a switch-hitting catcher with a 6-foot, 175-pound frame. Behind the plate, Nelson showed good accuracy on his throws to second base with carry at 71 mph. Arm works well from back to front, average exchange and hands with quickish footwork, pop times were 2.12-2.34. Ran a 7.8 60-yard dash. Offensively, from the right side of the plate, Nelson starts from a neutral stance, early load with smooth trigger, short stride, lands balanced, line drive approach and flat path with an exit velocity of 80 mph. From the left side, he has good rhythm in his hands with a relaxed leg kick and short stride. Gets the barrel on plane early working toward a somewhat uphill swing plane, but cuts himself off at extension with limited transfer and an exit velocity of 76 mph.

>>To view the entire roster from the Fall Kickoff Showcase Games CLICK HERE.

>>To view the entire stat sheet CLICK HERE.

Up Next: Outfield Analysis

Texas News