Summer Upperclass Spotlights: 2023 Pitchers
October 25, 2022
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In late June and early August, over eighty-five uncommitted players from the 2023 class were in attendance for one, or both of our summer upperclass events. Our two upperclass summer events, the Upperclass State Games in late June and our annual Unsigned Senior Games in early August, were our most heavily recruited events in the state. Between the two events we hosted over forty coaches from the MId-Atlantic region. From those two events there have been a total of forty-two commitments in the weeks following our final summer upperclass event, with twenty-two of those commitments going to schools that were in attendance on those days.
Today we are going to take a look at five uncommitted pitchers from those events.
Summer State Games Spotlights:
2023 Pitchers
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Logan Benton RHP / 3B / LC Bird, VA / 2023Benton is an athletic right hander with a slow build up style delivery. Normal effort, short arm action, and a lower three-quarter slot. Benton got some whiffs in the zone and was a different look for hitters. He sits in his backside a bit and combine that with the lower slot, it makes it a lower release height. The low 80's fastball was effective in the upper half and made quick work of hitters. The 69-70 mph slider tended to back up, but was able to throw is for strikes at a fifty percent clip.
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Owen Buckley RHP / 2B / Loudoun Valley, VA / 2023Long, lean 6-foot-3 frame. Buckley was a standout arm at the Unsigned Senior Games, getting up to 88 and showing ability to get whiffs in the zone. It is a control over command arm. He creates uncomfortable at bats for hitters with the ride and run he gets on his fastball. He gets really good separation down the mound, it is a long arm swing, and the ball jumps on hitters. The secondary is still a work in progress, but he possesses solid arm speed and velo on the pitch. With added consistency to the shape, it could be a solid secondary pitch. A lot of intrigue with this uncommitted right hander that has the ability to miss bats.
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Luke Cardman RHP / RHP / West Potomac, VA / 2023Durable 6-foot-2 frame. Slower paced delivery with low effort. Longer arm swing and works from a three-quarter arm slot. Cardman produces plenty of arm side run on the low to mid 80's fastball. He was able get run on it while working to both sides of the plate. The breaking ball averaged sixteen inches of horizontal movement. The shape and movement profile of the pitch are solid, but the velo needs to continue to progress. *Luke Cardman is a Catholic University commit *
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AJ Poole 1B / RHP / McLean, VA / 20236-foot-3, 215-pound XL frame. Poole displayed a repeatable delivery on the mound and upside with his combination of physical frame, arm strength, and ability to move the fastball around the zone. The fastball was up to 86 mph with some ride and run to it. Above average spin rate, getting up to 2,420 RPM. Poole also mixed in a 73 mph splitter. Interesting arm that still has room to add polish.
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Isaiah Wyatt LHP / 1B / Varina, VA / 2023If you are looking for an arm that can give you a different look, Wyatt has a chance to be that guy. Although he is not a big overpowering arm, Wyatt offers a different look to be a middle to back end reliever, or even a bridge guy that can get you out of a tough spot. It is a three pitch mix from a lower slot and has plenty of arm side run to his fastball. The fastball got up to eighteen inches of horizontal movement that can give right handers a lot of trouble. Spin is still a work in progress, but the changeup is a nice change of pace that played well off of the fastball. Both pitches do something similar, so he will need to establish a pitch that give a different look to get hitters to stay off of the arm side of the plate.
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