Premier Baseball Kansas City partner, Optimal Prospects, is a developmental service that helps athletes by providing training programs and professional training equipment. Another aspect of helping athletes on their journey is guiding them in their recruiting/scouting process. One way that they are able to do that is by providing unbiased, objective results based on scouting data and advanced metrics. In the pursuit of helping athletes with their development, Optimal Prospects has been tracking many training facilities throughout the nation, identifying ones that use progressive training methods and ones that produce elite players. They identified Premier Baseball KC as one of the top training facilities in the country, and found we host uncommitted showcases and pro days for own homegrown players. This was a perfect match for them to help provide analytics and scouting reports for our players at these events.
Optimal Prospects came to Kansas City Kansas, at one of the older sites in the city, Bishop Ward High School, for this showcase. The stadium had a retro feel, with a grandstand that rose up above home plate at a steep grade to give optimal viewing for anybody in the stadium. It’s like Fenway park in reverse, as right field has a short porch with a taller wall that shot straight out to a deep center field, before rounding true back to left field.
This location set the scene for a efficiently ran showcase with a lot of talent attending. The athletes got maximum reps and minimal downtime between skill events in the pro style workout, followed up with a game.
5 that stood out:
Will Stephens – A 2019 from Park Hill high school. Will got people’s attention with his big projectable frame. The 6’3” 210 lb RHP, took the mound and pounded the zone early with his fastball and put people away with both his fastball and breaker. He showed good velo at 88-89 with an easy loose motion, the type you could project easily adding velocity to, and a sharp slurvy-type breaking ball. Although it was a bit slow in velo comparatively, it still spun tight and broke late. Showing spin rates above 2500 on both, the large righty showed the stuff to get a lot of swings and misses at the next level.
Austin Gerety – The 2019 RHP/INF comes from a small town in western Kansas with a 3A program and most likely gets overlooked at that level. He was a big strong kid that still could make gains on his body. He showed exceptionally well at plate and defensively. He had 3 in-game extra base hits. He hit 8 of 15 HRs in BP rounds, and showed pop while staying controlled. He showed great game awareness and baseball IQ, was always in the right spot, and took extra bases. He was aggressive in all aspects of the game. If you ask him, his best attribute is pitching, which he wasn’t even able to show due to being 11 months out of TJ surgery.
Hudson Leach – The 2020 RHP/C did it all. He showed well in the pro style workout and then followed it up in the game. He showed very well at the dish and behind it. He was athletic in the batters box, took aggressive swings, and had 2 doubles in the live game. He showed pop in BP, putting multiple balls out. Leach showed good arm-strength and a quick transfer on his pop times down in the 1.8’s. The physical Leach showed athleticism on the mound, good arm-strength sitting 83-86, and good breaking ball shape. He generated a lot of swings and misses, striking out 4 of 5 batters faced in the game.
Ayden Mertz – The 2020 RHP, was extremely athletic on the mound. He was fast-paced, keeping the tempo up and putting pressure on the hitters as he attacked the zone over and over with the breaker and fastball. He used a low ¾ arm slot that was very loose, and he turned the corner quickly. He sat 84-85, getting up to 86 (showed 87 in the bullpen). His fastball had late sink and snuck up on everybody getting swings and misses and multiple K’s.
Cam Careswell – The 2021 1B/OF/LHP showed the potential of a big time prospect in the workout. The 6’2”, 195 lbs Careswell looked like an SEC linebacker out there on the field. He ran aggressively with power, 6.78 and 60, coming off an ACL surgery. He moved well defensively, getting to balls easily and showing enough arm-strength. His physicality in the batters box, as well as his putting balls out of the stadium with ease was catching people’s eyes. The raw tools and potential was there, and he showed well is the skills portion. Careswell still has time to catch up to the higher velocities on the in game action.
Below are all the results from the showcase. For more information about Optimal Prospects please visit their website.
Pitchers
| # | Name | Grad Year | Scouting Notes | Fastball Velo | Change Up Velo | Breaking Ball Velo | Additional Pitches | FB spin rate | BB spin rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M 22 | Dawson Paine | 2018 | Big bodied lefty, soft throwing, attacked zone with FB and CV, very effiecient in working hitters | 71-73 | 60 | 57-59 | |||
| M 1 | Owen Chaffin | 2019 | undersized righty, moved armslots around threw FB and CV from multiple arm angles. Threw all pitches from all arm angles for strikes. fastball had sinking action from both spots was 82-85 over top, 78-80 sidearm | 82-85 Over 78-80 side | 74-75 | 66-69 over 62-63 | 2100 | 2100-2200 | |
| M 13 | Jordan Jones | 2019 | Big athletic body, 3/4 armslot, spun breaking ball well in and out of zone | 76-80 | 73 | 68-71 | |||
| M 21 | Rylie Rokusek | 2019 | Tall with long levers, low loose armslot, deceptive coming from way behind R handed hitters, with a lot of sink. struck out 4 of 5 hitters faced, generated a lot of swings and misses | 82-83 top 84 | 69-71 | 1900 | 1600-1700 | ||
| G 11 | Carter Jones | 2019 | lefty, hid ball very well, commanded breaking ball good 11-5 shape and threw it early and often got swings and misses with breaker | 72-75 | 65-69 | 1900 | 1900 | ||
| G 21 | Hunter Edwards | 2019 | Tall Righty, with long levers, short arm stroke, with a low 3/4 release, very projectable frame and a lot of velocity left to get out | 82-84 | 77 | 66-69 | 2100 | 1800 | |
| G 22 | David Kephart | 2019 | Tall long levered, deceptive motion with low 3/4 arm slot. ball had a lot of late life. punched out 4/5 hitters. Slurvy breaking ball that had late break and shape | 84-86 | 74-75 | 72-73 | 1900 | 2000 | |
| M 4 | Dom Davies | 2019 | Stiff thrower, efficient arm spiral, body will continue to move better | 75-79 | 66-69 | 1900-2000 | 2100 | ||
| G 23 | Will Stephens | 2019 | Big athletic body, broad shoulders. Projectable with plenty of room to grow. Easy motion, downhill and repeated well. Pounded zone with fastball and breaker, breaker had late break. | 88-89 | 84 | 72-73 | 2400 | 2300-2500 | |
| M 6 | Dylan Lankford | 2019 | athletic lefty, great mound presence. efficient and attacked zone, fastball had late life | 80-82 top 84 | 61-63 | 1700-1800 | 1800-1900 | ||
| G 12 | Castor Dodd | 2019 | Big strong kid, good arm strength, needs to get more efficient through body. attacked zone and forced contact | 78-82 | 69-70 | 73-74 | 1800-1900 | 2100 | |
| M 11 | Hudson Leach | 2020 | physical kid, athletic on the mound, good armstrength and good breaking ball shape. generated a lot of swings and misses | 83-86 | 73-76 | 69-72 | |||
| G 10 | Ayden Mertz | 2020 | Undersized kid, very athletic on the mound, low loose 3/4 armslot, late life on FB exploded on the hitter, spun breaking ball very well, slurvy shape. K’d 4 of 6 hitters | 83-86 | 74 | 72-74 | 2100-2200 | 1800-1900 | |
| M 12 | Chase Torkelson | 2020 | big long kid, high 3/4 armslot with some good arm side run, body really runs away from arm and exposes ball early and causes arm side misses, but gives him more armside movement | 79-81 | 64-66 | 2000-2100 | 1800-1900 | ||
| G 14 | Mason Carr | 2020 | tall lefty, stiff body, short arm stroke high 3/4 armslot. worked efficiently forced contact | 78-80 | 69 | 65-66 | 2100 | 1800-1900 |
Hitters
| # | Name | Grad Year | Scouting Notes | 60 time | position velo | exit velo | pop times |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M 22 | Dawson Paine | 2018 | Big lefty, athletic for size. Short compact swing, created decent pop when squared up but needed more consistancy with it. | 7.75/8.0 | 72-77 | 75-86 | |
| M 2 | Jacob Kindhart | 2019 | Athletic catcher, set up well very quiet behind dish. quick transfer, needed better armstrength. had good AB’s, saw a lot of pitches every time up. | 7.5/7.9 | 69-71 | 74-80 | 2.05-2.18 |
| M 13 | Jordan Jones | 2019 | Big athletic at position and in box. Good hands for size, kept short compact swing and still created good launch out of it and created good exit velos while still having good barrell awareness, will be able to hit for power. | 7.4/7.47 | 72-75 | 87-90 | |
| M 3 | Alex Rodriguez | 2019 | Moved well in short ranges and made plays. short to ball singles type hitter. Showed good awareness on basepaths and quicker than his 60 times showed on bases. | 6.91/7.03 | 77-80 | 74-81 | |
| M 4 | Dom Davies | 2019 | Needs to get more aggressive at plate, tried to get too robotic. Reacted well in game defensively, made plays and showed some good arm stregth especially from backhand side. | 7.5/7.75 | 75-78 | 76-80 | |
| G24 | Austin Gerety | 2019 | Coming off TJ why didn’t show on mound. Showed esceptionally well at plate and defensively. Had 3 in game extra base hits. hit 8 of 15 HR’s in BP rounds, showed pop while staying controlled. Showed great game awareness and baseball IQ, was always in the right spot. Took extra bases was aggressive in everything he did. Showed plus arm strength from position up to 92. | 7.09/7.13 | 86-92 | 83-89 | |
| M 6 | Dylan Lankford | 2019 | Looks like a player, tracked balls well in outfield and positioned himself well. Had great first steps on balls. Went deep in AB’s and ran well. | 6.78/6.85 | 76-79 | 75-85 | |
| G 2 | Brock Stewart | 2019 | Was solid in every aspect, made plays, had decent AB’s, and ran okay. | 7.03/7.03 | 75-76 | 76-85 | |
| M 7 | Jacob Nevels | 2019 | Plus runner, and transated well to outfield, made plays and got to balls nobody else would have. Arm strength was good and BP was solid, needed to see better in game AB’s. | 6.56/6.68 | 74-80 | 73-83 | |
| G 3 | Gabe Howayek | 2019 | Barreled the ball every AB, unfortuneatly right at people, gap to gap hitter, played quicker than 60 times showed. | 7.2/7.25 | 75-76 | 75-84 | ` |
| G 4 | Will Eldridge | 2019 | Very athletic, looked the part, coming off of labrum surgery. | 6.85/6.97 | 73-82 | ||
| G 12 | Castor Dodd | 2019 | Big strong kid, showed great position armstrength. Put some good AB’s together and showed well in BP gap to gap. | 7.2/7.25 | 83-89 | 77-84 | |
| G 13 | Peyton Bridge | 2019 | Good frame, recieved well and had a good transfer. Was aggressive at the plate. | 7.5/7.69 | 68-72 | 74-83 | 2.03-2.10 |
| M 11 | Hudson Leach | 2020 | Showed very well at the dish and behind it. Was athletic in the batters box, took aggressive swings. Had 2 2B’s in the live game and showed pop in BP putting multiple balls out. Showed good armstregth and a quick transfer on his pop times. | 77-78 | 83-89 | 1.82-1.90 | |
| M 8 | Zach Brown | 2020 | Gets after it, does everything with intent. Very raw, but a suprising athlete. | 6.94/6.95 | 78-80 | 76-85 | |
| G 5 | Corbyn Meyer | 2020 | Strong athletic kid. Commanded the game from behind the dish. Moved well, recieved well and threw it well. Good approach and swing. Was on base 3 of 4 times at the plate showed high and consistent exit velocities. | 7.3/7.4 | 71-73 | 82-91 | 1.96-2.13 |
| G 15 | Cam Careswell | 2021 | Big strong and fast. Looked the part and tested well in metrics. Impressive power in BP rounds hitting out 5 of 15 with relative ease. | 6.78/6.9 | 75-77 | 76-82 | |
| Drew Collins | 7.4/7.4 | 64-65 | 74-81 | 2.23-2.3 | |||
| Angel Balboa | 6.78/7.03 | 74-77 | 68-78 |
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