Zach
Daniels

8-1-2018: Numbers can sometimes be deceiving, and that’s certainly the case with Daniels, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound, sophomore for Kalamazoo. Daniels was a heralded athlete out of high school in Georgia, but like many young players, scuffled in his first season at Tennessee, hitting .161 with a whopping 40 strikeouts. This summer at the NWL, Daniels is hitting just .250, but has five homers and has shown better plate discipline. In essence, the tools are all there for Daniels to be a potential breakout candidate for the Volunteers in 2019. Daniels caught my attention walking into the ballpark with his play in the outfield during drills. He had good instincts and everything just looked natural and easy for him. He also showed a solid arm to home and third. He looks the part as well. He has an impressive lower half and there’s still more strength to come in his upper body. After being the most impressive prospect during outfield drills, Daniels carried over that performance to the Home Run Derby, where he led all hitters with three home runs, the longest a 375-foot shot over the left field wall. In the game, Daniels showed a consistent approach, driving a 91 mph fastball from New Mexico’s Justin Slaten into right field early in the game. The only time Daniels showed a chink in the armor was later in the game against hard-throwing Evansville righthander Adam Lukas. In this particular at bat, Daniels was overpowered by Lukas, who ran his fastball up to 95. Daniels’ swing needs to improve, and he needs to cut down on his strikeouts with the Vols in the spring. But he ended the night as an intriguing prospect with plenty of upside. The speed, athleticism, arm strength, body and power is all there — he just needs to put all the pieces together. Perhaps the All-Star Game performance was a nice springboard for Daniels as he closes out his summer before heading back to Knoxville this fall. (K Rogers)

3-20-2018: Another talented freshman is LF Zach Daniels. He is a quick twitch athlete with both plus run and plus bat speed tools. He flew out to center field with 6.94 seconds of hang time on the batted ball. Flashed an average arm with carry, but well below average throwing accuracy. It may take some time for his bat and baseball skills to develop, but his athleticism is obvious (Seifert)