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#DudeWatch: Five Tool Names to Know (11/5)
11/05/2021

Whether it’s the fall, high school season or the summer, there are often weekends when the Five Tool staff is simply covering a lot of good, entertaining, interesting baseball, which creates a seemingly endless stream of social media content. Occasionally, that makes it unintentionally easy for coaches, scouts and even us to, for lack of a better word, overlook standout performances, tools or skills.

The #DudeWatch aims to shine some light on those players by combing through our vast list of video clips to pick interesting ones to highlight for fans, coaches, and scouts. Here’s a look at this week’s list:

#DudeWatch: Five Tool Names to Know (11/5)

I’m going to go way out on a limb here: a player hitting three homers during one day of action is pretty, pretty good. Dallas Patriots right-handed hitter Cade Ladehoff smashed three bombs last Saturday during the Five Tool Texas DFW Halloween Classic. A 2023 prospect who attends IMG Academy, Ladehoff adds leverage to his swing with his lower half and clearly isn’t afraid to swing with some intent. Want to hit the ball hard? Swing hard.

Hitters know they’re doing it right when they can hear audible, “oooohhhhh” reactions off the bat. Plano East 2023 standout Dasan Harris did a lot right in the batter’s box for Dallas Tigers 2023 Arias. An athletic long-strider who clearly possesses length and plenty of projection, Harris’ athleticism shows in his swing, which features confidence in his active hands.

There’s an art to the subtle bat flip, and I suspect Dallas Patriots 17U Barras’ Callen Singhania has practiced this a time or two. What’s even more impressive to me: notice how still his head is. Sometimes, we’ll watch power hitters gear up to unleash some intent and bat speed with a head whack too. The uncommitted Jesuit prospect does a good job of keeping his still.

Singhania didn’t just stand out with the glove. At the expense of Harris, who we mentioned above, the Singhania made an outstanding, fearless, well-timed full-extension dive in center field to complete an excellent catch. Athletic.

Keller 2024 right-handed hitter Fisher Polydoroff represented one of my favorite sayings in baseball: hitter hit. For Stix Baseball 2024 Porpsects Black, Polydoroff used a big leg kick to time pitches and trigger his hips and hands to do damage. The ball jumped off the sophomore’s bat this weekend, and he’s an athletic runner too. Check out that perfect slide into third base. He used the turf to his advantage like a seasoned veteran.

Sticking with guys who use a leg kick in the box before they hammer baseballs, Carlsbad (California) right-handed hitter Peter Knorr hammered the baseball a lot this past weekend for North Country United. An uncommitted prospect in the 2022 class, Knorr’s loud performance at the Five Tool California SoCal Classic should boost his recruiting profile. It also helps when teammates yell, “oh my God!” in the background after you hit the ball.

Knorr showed an intriguing look on the mound too. As you can see in the delivery, the righty uses his athleticism to present a bit of a unique look to hitters with his torso positioning and looks like he has some more velocity to add in the future.

While we’re on the subject of unique pitching looks, Canes Baseball San Diego lefty Liam Myers, an uncommitted prospect from San Pasqual (California), benefits from the one he shows to hitters. The hides the baseball well and hitters don’t truly pick it up until after his foot plants because of his arm action, delivery and his hand positioning. The 2023 prospect pounded the zone with his fastball to his glove side and racked up swings and misses with a curveball that flashed with spin, depth and bite.

Back to Texas on the mound, Dallas Patriots 16U Brooks left-handed pitcher AJ Ripley utilized a simple, clean approach on the mound to fire fastballs by hitters with some feel for an interesting breaking ball too. Considering his current build and the way his delivery works, Ripley should be a candidate to continue adding velocity moving forward and looks to be one to follow in Texas for 2024.

Stix Baseball North 2022 Prospects Black’s Jackson Huffman spent last weekend sending liners screaming to all parts of the field with a short swing. He hammered the ball to left field, right field and up the middle. The Marcus High School lineup should enjoy having this guy during his senior season.

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor
Five Tool Baseball

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