Top Prospect Games: Outfield Analysis

November 19, 2014

By Sammy Serrano
Director of Scouting

On the weekend of November 8 and 9, Prep Baseball Report hosted the 2014 Top Prospect Games at Davenport Field on the campus of the University of Virginia for members of the 2016 and 2017 classes. Over 65 players participated, with some of the best talent from all corners of the Commonwealth showing off their ability on the field over the weekend. Here is our analysis of the Outfielders. (Listed Alphabetically)

Kyle Battle, OF, 2016, Glen Allen
Battle is a 6-foot-1, 170 pound, athlete that had a balanced stance with high hands at the plate. Battle took a short path to the baseball and utilized a slight inward turn in his lower half to generate bat speed (91 MPH Exit Velocity) and power. He has minimal movement in his upper body and has a line drive path to the ball and through extension. He has a gap-to-gap stroke that will produce doubles with his athleticism. In the field, Battle average arm strength (79 MPH) and is accurate to the bases. He uses his athleticism to get to the ball quickly with the ability to be a above average defender.

Brent Boggs, OF/3B, 2016, Battlefield
Boggs is a 5-foot-11, 165 pound, and started from a slightly vertical stance with flex in the knees and hands tight to his body. In the round, Boggs had a tendency to have an “uphill” swing plain but exhibited outstanding bat speed for a 2017 grad (85 MPH Exit Velocity). He stayed behind the ball well and showed the ability to finish his swing, getting through the ball consistently. In the field, Boggs showed average arm strength (76 MPH) and the ability to get to the ball. He was an adequate defender that took good routes to the ball and was able to cover ground.

Alex Burke, OF/RHP, 2016, Potomac
Burke is a 6-foot-2, 185 pound, that starts from a tall stance with narrow feet. During batting practice, he showed a slight hitch but was still able to still generate bat speed with some raw power. Burke had the tendency to land closed, cutting off the use of his backside to get through the baseball. In the field, he showed outstanding arm strength (87MPH) from almost straight over the top and was able to move through the ball well, gaining ground on his throws. At times, he took false steps in his outfield routes but compensated with his athleticism.

Jack Cunningham, OF/RHP, 2016, Paul VI
Cunningham is a 6-foot-2, 180 pound, left-handed hitting Outfielder with the smooth stroke. He sets up in a balanced athletic stance with high hands. Cunningham takes a short pass to the ball and is able to create a lot of backspin through extension. He has the ability to hit the ball from gap-to-gap with a nice line drive approach. In the future, he has the ability to add some weight to his frame, create more violence in his swing, and hit for both average and power. In the field, Cunningham is a smooth athlete with solid actions and a good route runner. He has slightly above average arm strength for the position at 83 mph and is able to make accurate on-line throws that carry through the bag.

Wil Davis, OF, 2016, Nansemond River
Davis is a 5-foot-9, 155 pound, Outfielder that sets up in a tall stance with a slight knee bend and high hands. Davis has a short compact stroke with a line drive approach that creates backspin. His athleticism will allow him to have a small skills game or be able to beat you by turning long singles into doubles. In the field, Davis was an outstanding athlete that got to the ball very quickly and had slightly above average arm strength at 81 mph. He was a very good route runner that was able to cut balls off in the gap and also had a very quick release once the ball was in his glove.

Brenton Doyle, OF, 2016, Kettle Run
Doyle is a 6-foot-3, 160 pound, Prototypical Corner Outfielder. He hits from a vertical stance with high hands that generates a ton of torque and bat speed (89 mph Exit Velocity). He does a very good job of staying on his backside while continuing to carry his hands through the baseball. He has a very good center of balance in his swing and utilizes his leverage to create backspin with some loft power. In the outfield, Doyle was a premium defender. He had the ability to utilize his athleticism to stop balls in the gap, run outstanding routes, and showed elite arm strength at 89 MPH.

Austin Gerber, OF/RHP, 2016, Patriot
Gerber is a 5-foot-11, 172 pound, athletic Outfielder that hits from a balanced stance with a slight knee bend and high hands. Gerber has a very short compact swing that generates backspin with a gap-to-gap approach. He showed above average bat speed with a 85 mph Exit Velocity. In the field, Gerber showed a very accurate slightly above-average arm (80 mph). He is a very fundamental outfielder that understands angles and was able to take good routes on the weekend. He also has the ability to play all three outfield positions, as well as, pitch.

E’lan Goodwin, OF/MIF, 2016, Battlefield
Goodwin is a 6-foot-1, 165 pound, athlete that hits from a vertical, slightly open stance, with low hands. At times, his stride length caused him to collapse on the backside making his swing uphill. On swings where he kept his balance and stride length, he was able to take his hands directly through the ball creating a line drive stroke that was gap-to-gap. At Shortstop, Goodwin showed the ability to have soft hands. He also showed the ability to utilize his feet to create proper angles. In the Outfield, Goodwin utilized his athleticism to get good jumps, take good routes, and make some outstanding plays on the weekend.

Austin Gregory, OF, 2016, North Stafford
Gregory is a 5-foot-11, 155 pound, left-handed hitting Outfielder that hit from an athletic stance with high hands. Gregory had minimal movement back in the swing but created a solid line drive stroke with backspin. From that set up, he had the ability to create torque that translated into bat speed (84 mph Exit Velocity). In the field, Gregory was a plus defender. He had the ability to track down the baseball by taking good routes and getting outstanding reads. He showed average arm strength with a 72 mph velocity. All of his throws were accurate and his quick release made up for the lack of overall arm strength.

Dion Jordan, OF, 2016, Nansemond River
Jordan is a 5-foot-7, 158 pound, athlete that hits from a balanced stance with high hands. Jordan has a compact stroke that creates leverage and bat speed with an 81 mph Exit Velocity. He has the ability to hit the ball gap-to-gap with backspin and slightly above-average power. Jordan is a true athlete with smooth movements on the bases and in the field. His speed showed in game with a 4.51 home the first time and outstanding plays in the outfield. He had average arm strength for the position (79 mph) but made up for that with his quickness and accuracy.

Ben Marotske, OF, 2016, C.D. Hylton
Marotske is a 5-foot-10, 165 pound, athletic switch-hitting Outfielder. His stances mimic one another from both the right and left side. He starts from a tall balanced stance with very high hands. In both stances, he exhibits a lot of rhythm and balance. From the left side, he gets through the baseball with a more natural finish. From the right side, he tends to pull off the ball, sometimes sweeping the barrel in and out of the zone. In the field, Marotske is a plus defender with above average speed and very good instincts. He is a good route runner and has the ability to cut balls off in the gap. He has the ability to be a true center fielder at the next level.

Cody Schneider, OF, 2016, Hickory
Schneider is a 6-foot-2, 180 pound, Outfielder that hit from a tall athletic stance with high hands. At the plate, Schneider had a slight inward turn and stayed through the ball through extension. He was short to the ball and created a lot of bat speed with the 87 mph Exit Velocity. He showed the ability to have power in the future. In the field, Schneider has the speed to remain a center fielder but the arm strength to play the corner outfield positions. He's a good runner and a plus athlete with an above average arm (84 mph).

Kamron Smith, OF, 2016, Steward School
Smith is a 5-foot-10, 185 pound, Outfielder that starts from a slightly wider stance that is balanced with high hands in a high-back elbow. Smith showed a nice line drive stroke, that had balance and leverage. He created torque with a slight inward turn of the left knee that translated into a bat speed of 81 mph. He will have the ability to hit for power and average. In the outfield, Smith was a good route runner. He was able to gain ground on the ball through first step quickness and good fundamentals.

Tommy Tarasiuk, OF, 2016, Oakton
Tarasiuk is a 6-foot-2, 177 pound, Outfielder that starts with a wide stance that is balanced and has high hands. Tarasiuk had good rhythm and balance in his swing. He had a line drive approach that had leverage that created bat speed (87 mph Exit Velocity). He had the ability to hit the ball gap-to-gap with backspin. In the field, Tarasiuk moved well for his size. He had a good first step instincts and was an above average route runner. He showed average arm strength at 73 mph but was quick and accurate with his throws.

Top Prospect Games: Outfield Analysis

Related Content