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Five Tool WS Scout Notes
07/29/2022

Last week’s Five Tool World Series didn’t represent the official end to the Five Tool summer calendar, but the world series, which featured over 100 teams, is a fitting baseball way to signal the finish line is approaching. But even though we’ve reached the seemingly longest, hottest days of the summer when energy and performance is sometimes tougher to find, college coaches were still out evaluating and players were still performing.

During Thursday and Friday’s action at the Z-Plex Texas Sports Village in Melissa, Texas, I dedicated most of my in-person evaluation looks to the 17u class; and more specifically, I wanted to get eyes on mainly uncommitted – well, a few of them were uncommitted but that soon changed – players and a team in particular I hadn’t seen in the summer. With that in mind, let’s get to some scout notes from the event:

South Texas Sliders 17U Mayer

I was excited to see this team on the schedule because I hadn’t seen it yet and my excitement didn’t turn into disappointment. South Texas Sliders 17U Mayer made it to the championship game before coming up just short against Mississauga Tigers – Byron. There was a lot to like about this club on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, the list of standouts is a lengthy one, which isn’t surprising because the team hit .358/.485/.550 with more walks than strikeouts. The last part is especially impressive because some dangerous bats were aggressively put in motion with bat speed looking to do damage; keeping the bat on the shoulder when a good pitch to hit was incoming wasn’t in this club’s DNA.

In particular, left-handed hitting outfielder Aidan Lopez caught my eye and it wasn’t just because of his picturesque, athletic, one-handed swing finish. Currently uncommitted, the Eagle Pass prospect used good bat speed to get his barrel on pitches down in the zone and punished pitches near the middle. He hit .583/.600/.917 with just one strikeout and although he swung with noticeable intent, he did so with a steady head and good posture. Lopez’s athleticism and tools were noticeable defensively as well.

Sharyland left-handed hitter Diego Diaz showed some of the best hands in the event by hitting a pitch away and a little bit down over the left field fence and then in another game, the uncommitted prospect pulled his hands inside a pitch and drilled a triple off the wall in right field. In addition to showing some power, Diaz ran home-to-first in 4.25 seconds on the turn before motoring into second for a double. Although the five strikeouts suggest his hitting profile is a little more impact over contact, Diaz walked four times and slugged .647, a true representation of his extra-base profile.

Sign me up as a believer in Ridge Point’s Travis Vlasek, who looked like a future middle-of-the-order masher at New Mexico Junior College. Yes, it’s a bat-first profile, but the bat and intriguing raw power definitely stand out. Vlasek uses a simple, repeatable approach in the batter’s box and does a good job of keeping his weight centered to add some leverage and rotating with an angry barrel lagging just behind his hands before whipping into the hitting zone and doing damage. Vlasek struck out just once and hit .389/.450/.667 with a homer and seven RBI.

Theodore Falkenberg’s all-around tools, and especially his outfield arm, grabbed my attention and so did Kwinn Pfeiffer’s intriguing hitting ability from the right side, who absolutely mashed a homer to left field and leverages his athletic strength into his swing.

Catcher Isaac ‘Yman’ Yruretagoyena had the best, by far, transfer-to-throw that I saw. While his receiving skill needs to progress significantly, he moved well behind the dish and could be a catcher who makes a big jump defensively soon or at the next level. He’s certainly worth someone taking a chance and betting on. He caught a runner stealing at second base with a 2.06 pop time despite the pitch hitting the turf before he received it.

On the mound, I watched uncommitted right-hander Cade Smith (San Antonio Churchill), and although he didn’t miss many bats and gave up four runs in 5.0 innings, I was very intrigued by his long-term potential. With a short arm action and impressive shoulder flexibility/external rotation, Smith fired fastballs up to 89 MPH and a view from the side suggested there is certainly potential for more as the young prospect refines his delivery and utilizes it more efficiently. The fastball came out of his hand very cleanly from a three-quarters slot that showcased the length of his tall, thin frame.

Smith threw a slider 75-77 MPH and a changeup 73-74 MPH. Both pitches visually had the type of true shape accompanying those pitches traditionally, but the slider spin showed early and made the pitch easily recognizable; it was the type of look that a grip/release change could do wonders to because the execution and break were promising. I would think many pitching coaches would be excited to work with this type of arm because of the present arm strength, glove side command and the untapped potential.

I didn’t get to see this performance in person, but uncommitted right-handed pitcher Donovan Becerra touched 90 MPH with his fastball and racked up swings and misses with his sharp slider, featuring downward action.

Action 17U White

The most impressive pitching performance of the Five Tool World Series, at least among outings I saw, came courtesy of uncommitted lefty James Morio (McNeil). With an explosive fastball up to 88 MPH that often played above its radar gun reading, Morio punched out 13 batters across 5.0 scoreless frames and gave up just one hit against a talented Dallas Patriots lineup. Of his secondary offerings, Morio’s changeup (77-80 MPH) was the best and featured fastball conviction and some late tumble. As for the breaking stuff, his curveball (70-71 MPH) occasionally flashed with promising, true shape and was his best breaking ball because his harder slider (74-75 MPH) didn’t come out of the hand as cleanly. Regardless, the lefty possessed the makings of a four-pitch mix.

At 6-2, 160 pounds, the impressive athlete with physical projection remaining, who is a Black Belt in Tang-Soo Do, is absolutely worth betting on, should throw strikes routinely and should have future average or better command with three promising offerings and a slider that could make a jump. Additionally, Morio has a 5.32 GPA, is a two-time Academic All-District selection and his twin brother, Brandon, is talented on the mound, too.

Among the position players, left-handed hitting outfielder Kaden Kaspar (Rouse) stood out with his barrel control and hard contact to the pull side and the opposite way. Kaspar stepped into the batter’s box with good confidence and competitiveness and had athletic actions defensively.

Really liked the right-handed swing of Liberty Hill’s Kade Neuenschwander, who committed to Blinn College almost immediately after hitting .600/.636/1.100 with a homer. He showed a knack for getting to pitches in different parts of the zone, and although I didn’t get to see him pitch, he has promise on the mound, too.

Arlington A’s Braves

When I wrote these three guys down in my yellow, slightly sweat-stained legal pad, they were all uncommitted. Following the conclusion of the Five Tool World Series, all three standouts were committed within a week.

We’ll start with the tallest guy, 6-7 left-hander Ty Zahradnik. Now an Oklahoma commitment, the 2023 Keller prospect touched 89 MPH with his fastball, which featured some natural, late run to his arm side and opening his front half/shoulder a little early in his delivery allowed him to get his fastball to his glove side. Coincidentally, I saw Zahradnik a few days later in Sugar Land at the Texas Scouts Associate Prospects All-Star Game (more notes on that event later) and he showed a better feel for consistently spinning a true curveball with promise (70-72 MPH) to accompany his heater and a changeup that should help neutralize right-handers, especially with his fastball shape.

For such a tall, young pitcher, Zahradnik does a good job of staying gathered on his back leg, and a side view showed surprising arm speed through his finish. Skip Johnson is going to have a lot of fun working with this big guy.

Zahradnik’s high school and summer teammate Jackson Hill caught my attention during a February high school tournament, which is also the coldest baseball game I’ve ever attended. Although my eyelids were basically frozen that day, they didn’t deceive me because Hill’s intriguing all-around talent is turning into all-around impressive production.

Hill hit .438/.471/.625 from the left with impressive bat-to-ball skill and just recently committed to UTA. A lean, athletic prospect who plays center field, Hill uses a short swing and noteworthy barrel control to create quality contact at a high rate; he struck out just once in 17 plate appearances, and I have a hard time envisioning high strikeout totals for him in the future. The left-handed hitter covered all parts of the hitting zone, and showed a little pull side juice when he pulled his hands into a pitch and kept it fair over the right field wall. From a pure scouting perspective, Hill could develop into a player that leaves college with solid all-around tools and a lot of good production to point back to.

Kyzer Harrington joined Hill on the UTA commitment list after hitting a no-doubt bomb in front of UTA recruiting coordinator Mike Taylor. With a 1.325 OPS, more walks than strikeouts, and major ballplayer vibes with promising defensive actions, it’s not surprising UTA immediately made a move to secure his commitment.

Could Keller Central’s Riley Graham be the next to commit from the Arlington A’s Braves? He certainly helped his case during the Five Tool World Series. The left-handed hitter hit an absurdly good .692/.733/1.308 with two homers, two doubles and just two strikeouts. Although both his homers were impressive instances of pulling the baseball with authority, Graham didn’t sell out to get to his power and also showed he could cut down his swing to hit liners the opposite way or go up the middle. He has a bat-first profile, but the bat is strong enough to carry him.

Right-handed hitter Jaden Black (Keller) had my favorite at-bat I saw in person, and I wasn’t surprised to see he finished the event with a .455/.538/.727 slash line and zero strikeouts. The catcher and corner infielder battled deep into a competitive at-bat, sat on a 3-2 backfoot slider, and pulled a frozen rope for an extra-base hit. Black has noticeable bat speed and put the bat on the ball all weekend.

On the mound, right-hander Matt Hudspeth (Arlington Martin) sat 83-87 MPH with his fastball and touched 88 MPH while also showcasing a 68-70 MPH curveball and 79-80 MPH changeup. He landed his curveball with depth and an 11-5 look for a strike and threw his firm changeup for a strike, too.

Other notes…

– Dynamic 2024 two-way talent Andrew Ramos (Randall) was up to 91 MPH and threw 4.0 scoreless, dominant innings. He featured the bigger breaking ball and has shown a sharp, harder, true swing and miss slider in the past to go with a future average or better changeup.

At the plate, Ramos hammered the ball with authority all over the yard, again showcasing under control aggression and intent from the right side. In 12 plate appearances, he hit .700/.750/1.100 with a homer and zero strikeouts. He’s a major D1 prospect as a hitter and as a pitcher. Teammate and right-handed hitter Garrett Robertson is an intriguing athlete with developing skill.

– Dallas Tigers Micucci Left-handed hitting first baseman Krue Lowe (Wakeland) hit .778/.800/1.556 across 10 plate appearances, and the hits weren’t cheap ones. In a game I saw, Lowe nearly hit a homer out to left-center field and in the next at-bat, he blasted one that nearly went out to right-center field; he had some of the best bat-to-ball ability with impact that I saw.

Teammates Hayden Tanksley (physical two-way talent up to 85 MPH on the mound) and catcher Dawson Cleveland (physical, energetic, intriguing hitting tools, aggressive with his arm behind the dish) caught my eye as well.

– Alamo Drillers uncommitted 2023 right-handed hitter Drew Wenske (Shiner) didn’t post gaudy offensive numbers, but his short right-handed swing generated some pull pop and has a chance to translate to the next level. He also struck out four batters during 4.0 solid innings on the mound as a right-handed pitcher.

– Stix East 2024 Prospects Black right-handed pitcher Toby Schubert (Sachse) touched 85 MPH with his fastball and showed promising feel for spinning a tight curveball with depth. Physically, Schubert is a short pitcher right now, but is a high-waisted athlete with long arms who looks like he projects to grow physically.

Teammate Kaden Long (North Mesquite), a right-handed hitting outfielder, was the most intriguing 2024 prospect I saw. He does have some length in his swing, but it didn’t keep him from routinely putting the bat on the ball with signs of future extra-base impact and the occasional homer. Long timed pitches at an advanced level in the batter’s box, ran from home-to-first in 4.4 seconds on a turn, and showed what could be a plus left-handed arm in right field, which would be really interesting on the mound.

Right-handed hitters and high school teammates Joshua Martinez (John Horn) and Diego Washington also stood out by repeatedly making hard contact.

– Sticking with the Stix program but moving to the 2023 class, Levi Risenhoover (Euless Trinity) stood out by smashing a no-doubt bomb from the right side and leveraging his strength packed onto his compact frame in his short-armed swing. An aggressive hitter who will ambush early fastballs, Risenhoover isn’t afraid to put his bat in motion and hit .545/.667/.818. Playing center field, the uncommitted prospect flashed a strong, confident arm with some athleticism.

– I didn’t catch much of the 15U action, but I did get a quick look at North Texas Longhorns 2025 left-handed hitter Jody Murillo (Guyer). And it was immediately obvious he’s a really good prospect and player with one of the best, smoothest left-handed swings in the event that smacked extra-base hits down both lines. In addition to hitting an absurdly impressive .727/.786/1.455, Murillo is a two-way talent as a left-handed pitcher on the mound (seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings).

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor
Five Tool Baseball

Aidan Lopez, Andrew Ramos, Brandon Morio, Cade Smith, Dawson Cleveland, Diego Diaz, Diego Washington, Donovan Becerra, Drew Wenske, Garrett Robertson, Hayden Tanksley, Isaac Yruretagoyena, Jackson Hill, Jaden Black, James Morio, Jody Murillo, Joshua Martinez, Kade Neuenschwander, Kaden Kaspar, Kaden Long, Krue Lowe, Kwinn Pfeiffer, Levi Risenhoover, Matt Hudspeth, Riley Graham, Theodore Falkenberg, Toby Schubert, Travis Vlasek, Ty Zahradnik
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