With games ending at dusk, evenings have gotten shorter and shorter. Here are loose notes from the games of August 8th, 2017 at the Long Beach Area Code Games.
Jacob Pfenning, RHP: 6'7", long legs, FB/CB mix. Limited feel for the CB, floated w/ flat shape. Little hitch/hesitation at the end of his stride. Downhill plane.
Korey Holland, OF: Nice adjustment to curveball out of pitcher's hand, hit a sharp single to CF. Next at bat, caught up to a high fastball, got on plane and showed + hands, drilling another hit to CF. In the field, later showed a 40 arm, might be his only warts.
Christian Scott, RHP: Over the shoulder arm action, moreso on his CB. Swing/miss Fastball. Getting misses on CB more on change of speed than break. Pounded the zone w/ fastballs on the edges. Impact command for this tournament.
Carter Sakamoto, C: Decent defensive catcher with a light bat. Swing/misses on mediocre fastballs. 2.02 pop time, but accurate throws.
Tate Dearing, RHP: Easy. brief arm action. Tight release point. Soft secondaries. Long day at the office, hard/loud contact given up repeatedly.
Jarrett Ford, OF: Showed nice swing & weight adjustment to (+) curveball thrown his way.
Dustin Garcia, OF: Has plenty of range, natural CF. Aggressive in the field and at the plate. Lots of swing/miss in his approach.
Xavier Edwards, OF: Flashed more pwr than seen all tournament, getting a hold of a ball w/ carry out to the warning track in LF.
Koby Blunt, OF: Dropped bat and manipulated barrel enough to drive a low/inside spotted FB for a 2B down the RF line.
Anthony Siegler, C: Limited catching skill/impact. But consistent bat control demonstrated at the plate. Strong hands.
Angel Tiburcio, RHP: Big spin guy. FB 89-91, CB 77-81. Consistent life on the fastball, Big body, not greatly projectable, but already strong looking.
McKenzie Stills, RHP: Small, athletic righty. Slings the ball in arm action. Works FB/CHG mix, 89-91 on FB, CHG almost a knuckler at 79-81, no spin and gets a bit of run and a ton of drop on it. Also gets off the mound well with agility and ability to field.
Ian Bedell, RHP: Throwing gas. Gets down hill with a FB at 89-93 with moderate life. Snappy arm. Tired in 2nd inning, bounced back in the 3rd. Showed excellent balance in delivery and movements.
Hayden Jones, C: 1.89s Pop time, nice arm. 1.95 in game situation. Suffered speed changes at the plate. Swing/miss early and late.
Ryder Green: Unmistakable talent at the plate. Roasts balls. 2B off the wall at 102 mph off the bat. Showed some nice footwork around 1B bag too as a defender. Has something a little Mark Reynolds-y in his swing.
Christian Almanza, 1B: Nice, nimble feet around 1st. Heads up defender.
Alek Thomas, OF: Early on offspeed pitches, rushing a bit at plate. (Possibly given quieter first appearances earlier in tourney)
Shane Smith, LHP: Strong lower 1/2, works from 1B side of rubber w/ a long, smooth delivery. Works FB/CB combo from 3/4 slot. FB 89-91 w/ command of the low/arm side corner of the zone. Corrected own FB cmd after some LHH spooked him. Slower arm on CB, long way away to useability. Elevated FB well. Big body. Plenty to like.
Nolan Gorman, INF: 4.38s to 1B. Flashed ML leather at 3B, Squared up a hung slider on a GB to CF. Can adjust swing and isn't single-minded with his plan at the plate.
Joseph Ornelas: Shows nice transfer of weight in swing. 4.35 to 1B. Nice hands in the field and plate.
Kyson Donahue, INF: Shows the balance and body control, but doesn't apply it in the field or at the plate.
Boston Mabeus, LHP: Labored delivery on a big/developed body. Getting barreled up.
Sean Burke, RHP: Long stride well in front of arm. Loses weight forward early in delivery. FB 89 w/ + spin. Maybe extreme in delay allows more snap/flick of hand/wrist onto the ball.
Tanner O'Tremba, LF: Likely not sticking anywhere with a glove, but can rake at the plate. Power and contact in the swing. Adjusts to new pitchers and new stuff well. Footwork/stride is a mess on the basepaths and in the field.
Nick Nortcut, INF: Handled + velo, 92 mph w/ cmd was no issue. Squared up.
Steven Hajar, LHP: Gets low in delivery. Bends all limbs into a near-crouch and exploded out in release. FB 90-92, lite life. CHG around 80-81.
Noah "Bo" Naylor, C/LF/DH: Naylor can absolutely hit. Barrel stays in the zone for ages and carries power/weight behind it. Showed horribly at catcher though, poor receiving, blocking, awareness. Does have a nice arm, but that's like having paint without a brush/canvas.
Patrick Winkel, C: One of the few catchers who showed a consistency and a variety of average or better skills behind the plate. Balanced and agile behind the plate.
Ryan Holgate, OF: Consistent hard contact at the plate, impact bat.
Dominic Pipkin, RHP: FB/SL/CHG arsenal. 6'4" projectable body. Fairly low effort arm swing. Touched 96 mph twice. Calm in the field, low heartbeat presence. Mediocre spin, but that's not any sort of knock.
Tyler Ras, RHP: Pumping 93/94 with a sideways/leaning over-shoulder delivery. Uses tilt in his body to help generate force. Low spin, knuckling change in arsenal at 78 mph (1310 rpm).