Prep Baseball Wisconsin Pitcher of the Week: Robert Barrera
April 30, 2024
LHP Robert Barrera (Union Grove, 2024; Illinois - Chicago) is one of the top southpaws inside of the state’s current senior class and he has put together a few quality outings so far this season for No. 22 Union Grove. His most recent one was without a doubt his best yet and it brought one of the more ridiculous stat lines we have seen this season.
On Thursday, Barrera toed the rubber in a Southern Lakes Conference bout against Wilmot and was spectacular. In his seven inning, complete game gem, every out that Barrera recorded was a strikeout, good for a whopping 21 Ks on the night. He also only allowed two hits and failed to allow a free base, en route to a quality 5-0 win for the Broncos.
It is easy to see why the Illinois - Chicago recruit has been so dominant this season as he features a fastball that we have seen up to 89 mph in our looks, with feel for a tight slider and a deceptive changeup, too. It seems like Barrera is doing all he can so far to help a talented Broncos squad that has been getting hot over the past couple weeks, and he just one of the handful of front-line arms they currently possess.
Scouting Report
Barrera is listed at an upside 6-foot-1, 195-pounds and he got to show off the big gains he has made on the mound. During his ‘pen, Barrera worked out of the stretch only, and is clean and fluid mover while on the mound. As for his repertoire, Barrera’s fastball topped at 89.1 mph and sat in the 85-88 mph range; and one of the more eye-popping things about this pitch is that is averaged 17.4’ of induced vertical break, too. As for his offspeeds, he featured a short wrinkle slider in the mid-70s, and a changeup, with some run to the arm-side, in the mid-to-high-70s.