Joey
Arend

OF/LHP Joey Arend (St. Charles East; Xavier commit) gave our staff an impressive two-way look over the weekend. At the plate, the left-handed hitter has an upside stroke with a projectable frame to pair at 6-foot-1, 168-pounds. He has loose, whippy hands through the zone that look to stay flat and keep the ball on a line, creating easy jump off the bat with his levers (T97.8 mph). He’s a fluid mover in the outfield, displaying soft hands that play through the ball. He has plenty of arm-strength, reaching up to 89 mph from a crow hop, also showing no trouble translating his arm over to the mound. Arend is an athletic mover downhill with a clean arm that has clear acceleration out front. His fastball sat 85-86 mph with arm-side run, and he landed it in the zone 67% of the time. He threw an upper-70s changeup with heavy fade, creating an average of -17.4 inches of horizontal movement. Arend landed his mid-70s slider for strikes 80% of the time, and it showed tight, sharp break.

OF/LHP Joey Arend (St. Charles East, 2025; Xavier commit) was one of the biggest winners at both the 2023 PBR Future Games and the Illinois State Games in early August, and continued to look the part as a future top-of-the-order bat. His prowess at the plate was reflected with a 2-for-2 performance early on Saturday, where he wasn’t retired in three at-bats. He maintained that momentum later on during the weekend, reflecting his standout summer on the diamond. Arend has a quick swing and a short path to the ball, allowing him to consistently pull the baseball with power. The left/left athlete continued to do damage on the offensive end, a reflection of this past summer for the committed prospect.

OF Joey Arend (St. Charles East, 2025) is another Team Illinois Future Games participant from this last summer who continues to show well. The recent Xavier commit, is an athletic, fluid mover with everything he does on the diamond and also barreled up a number of baseballs over the course of a couple of games. Arend has a smooth left-handed swing, stays through the zone a long time and shows a mature approach, staying within himself, letting the hands work and lining balls back up the middle of the diamond.

Verbally committed to Xavier.

Coming off an impressive performance at the PBR Future Games, OF/LHP Joey Arend’s (St. Charles East, 2025) advanced skill-set was on full display in Rantoul. Arend’s 6-foot, 160-pound frame has clear athleticism as he began the event running a 6.81 60 time. Fluid and smooth from the left side of the plate, Arend is consistently working in rhythm and on-time. He barreled his hardest hit ball 95 mph, per TrackMan. Arend found the barrel in game a few times too, including a missile up the middle on Wednesday night that jumped off his bat with authority. His athleticism continued to show in the outfield with his fluid footwork and strong arm to pair (85 mph). On the mound, Arend has a loose and quick arm, and his fastball plays with sink (15.6” HM avg.) at 83-85 mph. He also spins a curveball with some depth and sweep at 69-72 mph from a 1/7 angle, and he’s able to limit lift on a 73-77 mph changeup while generating well advanced arm-side run (19.1” HM) on average. Arend wrapped up this year’s summer circuit as a name that’s certainly trending up in the Illinois’ 2025 class.

Positional Profile: OF/LHP
Body: 6-0, 160-pounds.
Delivery: Medium leg lift, drop/drive delivery, open stride.
Arm Action: LH. Loose arm action, 3/4 slot with whip.
FB: T85, 83-84 mph. Hard running action. T2182, 2010 average rpm.
CB: 69-72 mph. Gradual 1/7 action, thrown for strikes. T1794, 1558 average rpm.
CH: 73-77 mph. Maintains arm speed, fade with late depth. T2025, 1842 average rpm.

Positional Profile: OF/LHP
Body: 6-0, 160-pounds.
Hit: LHH. Fluid, relaxed look in the box. Loose hands, works on-plane and creates whip through the zone at times. Balanced finish and middle/pull-side approach. Fluid intentful swing, stays in the zone, uphill path, intent to pull at times during BP. Made hard contact to all fields during game play. Finished game play 3-for-7 with a triple, three runs and two walks. 66.4 mph bat speed with 7 G’s of rotational acceleration.
Power: 95 max exit velocity, averaged 87.2 mph. 332’ max distance.
Arm: LH. OF - 85 mph. Loose, quick, one-hop to target, 3/4 slot.
Defense: Athletic actions, fluid footwork, plays through the ball.
Run: 6.81 runner in the 60.

OF/LHP Joey Arend (St. Charles East, 2025) offers upside and projection on a lean 6-foot, 160-pound frame. A left/left athlete, Arend ran a 6.97 60 with a 1.67 10-yard split at Wednesday’s workout, reaching a peak speed of 19.6 mph on our lasers. He sprayed line drives to all fields in BP from a  fluid, athletic, left-handed stroke and singled to right field in his first at-bat of the event. Arend reached base twice in game three, stole a base, scored a run, and was 4.43 down the line on an infield grounder. He hopped on the mound late in game one, pitching at 83-85 mph with his fastball from a fast, athletic arm, spun a low-70s slider with sweep, and faded a changeup at 77 mph.

Arend is yet another athletic, fluid mover that will occupy the outfield for Team Illinois this week. The 6-foot, 160-pound left-handed hitter, hits with fluidity and a presence in the box. He creates whip through the zone with loose, strong hands and the bat works flat throughout. Arend showed a line-drive approach with occasional sneaky juice off the bat, registering a peak exit velocity of 93.2 mph and a max batted ball of 329’. The 6.97 runner in the 60, flashes natural outfield actions, is an athletic mover with a loose arm that played at 83 mph. 

PBR Future Games: Arend is yet another athletic, fluid mover that will occupy the outfield for Team Illinois this week. The 6-foot, 160-pound left-handed hitter, hits with fluidity and a presence in the box. He creates whip through the zone with loose, strong hands and the bat works flat throughout. Arend showed a line-drive approach with occasional sneaky juice off the bat, registering a peak exit velocity of 93.2 mph and a max batted ball of 329’. The 6.97 runner in the 60, flashes natural outfield actions, is an athletic mover with a loose arm that played at 83 mph.

Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 21 in the Illinois’ 2025 class. 6-foot, 160-pound, wiry, athletic, left/left outfielder. Hit in the two-hole and played right field. Was coming off an impressive pitching performance the night before so he was careful with his arm throughout pregame and the game. Has fluidity and athleticism to all parts of his game. Ranged a number of times in right-field to make a few non-routine plays look relatively easy. Quick first step and easy range. Offensively, he has a calm, relaxed demeanor with fluidity and a hitterish look. Loose, athletic hands with an uphill path and sneaky barrel strength. Finished 0-for-3 but flashed future pull-side power potential with a deep fly out to right-field in his final at-bat. High-follow two-way prospect in the Illinois’ 2025 class.

A trio of left-handed hitting outfielders to follow from the day were Kolin Adams (Mount Carmel), Brady Schallmoser (Downers Grove North) and Joey Arend (St. Charles East). Arend, who topped at 89 mph from the outfield also showed intrigue on the mound,with a loose, athletic arm, mid-80s fastball and two above-average secondary offerings.

Positional Profile: OF/LHP
Body: 6-0, 160-pounds. Athletic build with room for continued physical development.
Hit: LHH. Balanced setup, slight leg kick trigger, fluid overall look and swing. Loose, athletic hands, intent and present bat speed; stays on-plane, works gap-to-gap with developing bat strength.
Power: 93 max exit velocity, averaged 86.5 mph. 329’ max distance.
Arm: LH. OF - 89 mph. Loose 3/4 arm action throws flash carry and were accurate to the target.
Defense: Bouncy feet, ranges with ease, steady hands, plays through in rhythm and directionally. Athletic outfield actions.
Run: 7.11 runner in the 60. 

Delivery: Clean delivery, toe lifted into balance point, works with tempo.
Arm Action: LH. High 3/4 slot, loose arm.
FB: T85, 84-85 mph. Showed run to arm side, plays down in the zone. T2290, 2084 average rpm.
CB: 73-75 mph. 1/7 shape, varies at times, gets on side but creates above average spin. T1810, 1764 average rpm.
CH: 77-78 mph. Well above average action, quality feel. T1915, 1872 average rpm. 

Arend, who topped at 89 mph from the outfield also showed intrigue on the mound,with a loose, athletic arm, mid-80s fastball and two above-average secondary offerings.

Positional Profile: OF/LHP
Body: 5-11, 153-pounds. Sloped, narrow shoulders. Plenty of room for continued physical development.
Hit: LHH. Balanced setup, fluid pre-pitch load. Short stride. Loose, easy hands. Stays through the hitting zone. Peppered hard contact to all fields. Upside swing.
Power: 89.5 max exit velocity, averaged 77.8 mph. 277’ max distance.
Arm: LH. OF - 84 mph. Short, quick arm action. High 3/4 slot.
Defense: Athletic actions, aggressive routes. Plays with confidence.
Run: 7.20 runner in the 60. Light footed, fluid runner.

Among the day’s biggest winners inside the freshman class: OF Joseph Arend (St. Charles East), who made his PBR event debut here. Arend has a very interesting 5-foot-11, 153-pound frame with loose levers and athleticism that complements his swing. He has an easy, loose swing that stays through the zone a long time and he peppered hard contact to all fields; easy overall swing with all kinds of upside as he adds strength to his stature. Arend ran a 7.20 in the 60 and looked like a potential leadoff-type at the next level. He is also a confident, aggressive outfielder, with athletic actions and strong arm that topped at 84 mph to home. Consider him a left/left 2025 to follow moving forward.