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Preseason All-State East - 10 Players That Popped
0 Playsin 1 hour
Brandon and Zach discuss a star studded event that saw a bunch of players take bold steps forward in their development.
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Transcript
Introduction & New Format
00:00:11
Speaker
Hey there, baseball fans. Welcome to another edition of the prep baseball North Carolina podcast. I'm Brandon Hall with me this week. Uh, Zach Barosky, our Eastern North Carolina rep covering the state scouting players, giving out info. We're going to do things a little different this week. We got way, way, way too much talk about just for one 30 to 45 minute period.
Weather's Impact on Baseball
00:00:30
Speaker
So we're going to split up. I got Zach with me today. We'll have Patrick with us later in the week. Zach, how you doing buddy? I'm doing good. You know, it's been a busy week. We got one more big weekend left and then we kind of get to get ready for high school season.
00:00:42
Speaker
So it's kind of getting ready for that. Yeah, with the weather the way it is right now, I'm kind of thinking I may shoot out tomorrow and see somebody I think combines playing at home and they've got Eastern Carolina Academy and, you know, Brett Johnson, who was at our super six to perform pretty well there this past weekend, playing for Eastern Carolina Academy. Combine has got a couple of guys have taken jumps based on video we've seen. So, um you know, the the run to 400 games may start a couple of weeks earlier for us if I can get out of the house tomorrow and get some stories posted. So a chance to be a good week.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's it's the hardest part when I was coaching is it was 75 degrees now and then the first game it'd be 35 and rain or 28 and just windy. So this is typical North Carolina for us.
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Well, we come off a good weekend, had
Event Recap: Greenville Success
00:01:24
Speaker
great weather, actually a little kind of augment one of the events and be outside a little bit to kind of ease some congestion in the indoor facility, be a little bit more time efficient, continue to kind of move players through. We were in Greenville, North Carolina, one of our best events of the year, the preseason Allstate East, hosted that next level training center in Greenville.
00:01:42
Speaker
i You know, we know what the facility is. We know who the people are that run the facility. Always a great time there. Sold out event and a lot of names that we will be tracking over the next year for, you know, college commitments, potential pro case, potential Super 60, potential future games, potential super sophomore games. You know, that list grew leaps and bounds after Saturday.
00:02:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, I thought it was phenomenal event. You know, we, we talk about it like while we were watching, you know, some of the guys go, it was just like, wow, like this is a loaded field. And as I said, we'll talk about some of the guys and like, even trying to put our list together right before this, we were sitting over here like, Oh, I don't know if I could shorten this list enough to get everybody that needs credit right now. No, we're not going to be able to, it's there's just way too.
00:02:28
Speaker
We can't get 10 guys or so and talk to them and make spin as we kind of get going. But just way too much talent, way too early in the week. and you know I'm kind of sleep deprived. I got back from Greenville about 120. By the time I got everything uploaded, um it was
Player Evaluation Methods
00:02:44
Speaker
about 4 a.m. And then we turned around and we were in Mooresville the next day. so Let's talk a little bit about the event. Um, just in terms of the way it ran, I'm getting feedback from families and from players. You know, they kind of see that the duck on top of the water that's gliding across, you know, a lot of positive feedback, you know, appreciative of that. You know, a couple notes from here and there for some players and parents, things to think about. But for the most part, you know, we were we were right on time.
00:03:09
Speaker
We're actually early going into BP. um You know, it made more sense once they kind of saw the way BP was going to run. We were running two guys at the same time and kind of split that big hitting area in the middle. Um, but on the back end, you know, you, me, Patrick, you know, there's a little bit of our staff, those feet underneath the water, you know, we're, we're scurrying, like all get out, trying just to keep the event moving and pacing. Cause you know, things can go off the rails a little bit. Um, did you feel like you got a chance to actually sit and evaluate guys or are you like me where we're going to be watching a ton of video over the next 10, 15 days?
00:03:40
Speaker
You know, I thought for pictures, I had a good chance just because of the way it's set up, you know, for we each had our own mound for hitting. I didn't get to see as much as I wanted, besides like through the lens of phone, because I was taking videos and stuff going back and forth. um So that part's a little hard for me. Obviously infielders, I'm shooting the ground ball, so I got a chance to see them. So overall, I think I got a good chance to see you guys um hitting, you know, i usually I go back on the video anyway. So that one's not as much of a miss to me as I'm just kind of trying to catch a couple of clips here and there just so we can have some social media stuff.
Dylan Palmer's Recovery & Potential
00:04:15
Speaker
Let's dive into some of the top performers from the event. Again, this list is really early. We're kind of just skimming the surface of what we've seen and kind of diging digging into. Haven't even begun to put player grades on guys yet, but just an overall, just these guys kind of popped. And we're going to start with an event leader, the the top exit velocity on the day. And it was good to see him back from an injury. Looks getting to be getting close to being in full go. He's going to be able to hit this year.
00:04:41
Speaker
and probably full go defense as it gets into the summer. Dylan
Brody Brandon's Dual Skills
00:04:45
Speaker
Palmer, outfielder from Eastway Academy, 2026. What were your thoughts as you saw Dylan for the first time in about eight months? Yeah, I mean, he made a name for himself at this event last year coming off Tommy John. And I mean, he was hitting the ball hard and it was loud and You know, even if you watch him, you see he's physical, but like it wasn't like a strenuous swing. He wasn't like, you know, trying to do too much. He stayed within himself. A lot of balls up the middle, you know, and he, I mean, it wasn't like one ball. Like there were multiple 103, 104, 105 and just bad speed through the, you know, top of the line, bad speed, you know, top of the line strength. And he, you know, he made a name for himself that you need to come see me.
00:05:32
Speaker
It's a little bit of that Riley Cuddy thing that we talked about last year. um yeah The bat speed is at such an elite level in BP. One, does it translate into games? you know Because we do see that at times. is Is the bat speed and what guys are doing in workouts and what they're doing in a controlled environment, can they replicate that when they're having to face you know in, out, up, down, spin, change, defenses in front of them? I think Dylan's shown in the past he does that.
00:05:57
Speaker
The second part is the bat speed so good. Does the bat stay in the zone long enough when there's differences in pitch speed to to really find the barrel? and And there is such a thing as almost having too much bat speed. There's ways to slow it down. There's easy ways to slow it down if that's a need.
Kellen Rogers' Improvements
00:06:12
Speaker
But I think one of the things we'll be watching with him over the next six months is where that barrel ability is in game and the ability to kind of produce the power we're seeing and workouts to the power we want to see in game action.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, like, ah like from where he was, you know, coming off rehab, you know, I thought he was light years ahead of where I thought he was going to be, you know, I thought he might hit a ball hard, you know, before he was really pull happy and he wasn't this, I mean, like I felt bad for the guy feeding the ball. Like that ball was coming out of his head the entire time at a hundred plus.
00:06:47
Speaker
We'll move to the next guy in the event. and And Zach, this was one of those guys that we talked about last week on the podcast. You made a proclamation. You said this is gonna happen. This young man's gonna do big things on the mound and in the box. You were wrong. There's there's no way to so disguise it. There's no way to come across. Your thoughts and feelings on Brody Brandon didn't happen. and And I'd like for you to have a chance to defend yourself here. Yeah, you know my God,
00:07:13
Speaker
I called 90, 90 a hundred. He would be the guy at the event that was 90 a hundred. He hit at 99.8 and it was on the last swing. And, you know, for y'all to don't know how Trackman works, sometimes you get a first number and then it recalibrates. And it was a lot of joy because it was 100.3. And then it recalibrated down to 99.8. And so we like, I've actually never met the guy. And if you probably left, you probably thought we were really good friends. Like I actually enjoyed being around him. Like we actually got a good bond, looking forward to going to South Central to see him.
00:07:47
Speaker
um And they're like, he's good. Like he's 87 to 91 through three pitches for strikes, you know, in the box, you know, it's a little awkward. It's more, you know, strength-based and he can really rotate. So that helps out in both. And I mean, like he's got a chance to be a two-way guy going forward.
00:08:05
Speaker
When we talk about how important that two-way aspect can be, especially as they're starting to look at Division I rosters and they're pairing those things down, we're talking about how are they going to get through practices? They're going to have to have two-way guys. And we're seeing some guys in some older classes start to commit because they are two ways. There's ah an added value to a guy that may be able just to play defense.
00:08:25
Speaker
He's a pitcher, and he's going to be ah an above average defender in the outfield. Let's let's bring him in. We'll see if we can develop the hit tool. But you're seeing that happen. and you know For me, Brody on the mound moves pretty easy. It's a stable head. It's a direct line. The arm's clean. It's strength, and then there's arm speed. you know So he's kind of got the the two-headed monster in terms of how is he going to create velocity. The body's fairly mature. He's not by by any name means completely done.
00:08:51
Speaker
But you know he's way ahead of the curve in terms of body development, physicality for his age. So you know what's the next jump? The next jump is going to be is that movement does become a little bit more elastic. There's even more quickness, has a chance to get out of it. And that's what we see on the hitting side too. you know When he's really on the barrel and he's barreled up, it is it's impact with transfer with what his body's doing and that rotation.
Tice Thompson's Catching Prowess
00:09:14
Speaker
It's not just that snap in the wrist.
00:09:16
Speaker
Um, you know, and again, there's a lot of different ways to hit. So it's not good, bad or indifferent. It's what we see. But I think he made a mark pretty quickly of, you know, future games is coming up and this is my name and this is who I am. And, you know, let's let's see if you guys can keep me off the roster because I was extremely impressed with what he did in that workout. And, you know, obviously we're going to be in the South Central because they're going to be pretty freaking good this year with the the amount of talent we've already seen to this point.
00:09:43
Speaker
Um, and as we talk about future games and one of the guys we had last year represent team and see at the super sophomore games. Um, you know, this is a short stop, probably gonna get a chance to play in a million field until you know, he proves either he can't or somebody beats him out. But if we move him to the outfield, it's a plus defender in the outfield probably already. Really athletic, left-handed hitter, excellent barrel field. And we talk about that snap and that whip. Kellen Rogers has that snap and that whip. What did you see from Kellen during the workout on Saturday?
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah, you know, like he's the one we got the coach around. So we got to kind of hang out. Um, and to me, like, you know, he's getting stronger. Like, you know, you kind of look in this video and he's like, he doesn't look that strong, but then you get beside him and you watch him do things. You're like, Oh, there's some actual like mature strength there.
00:10:32
Speaker
Like, even though like we go look at the Exaviolos 92, like he still hit the ball 345, you know, which is going out to most gaps in high school. So like he's starting to show he has that. I mean, he's smooth like there. I'm not sure there are many smoother guys in his class in North Carolina, especially def defense and offensively, just the way he moves. So he has that. So the fact that he might can lose a little smoothness and add a little strength is going to make him a deadly combo.
00:10:57
Speaker
And we we had a chance to see him against really good arms, you know, in ah in the super sophomore games, we're seeing some of the elite arms up and down the East Coast and. You know, it was barrels. It was positive at bat, after positive at bat, after positive at bat. You know, he's an advanced runner. The run speed plays at game speed. You know, he has a chance to get down the line. He goes first to third. He has a chance to score anything in the gap from first base. And even defensively, he takes good angles. You know, I think there's going to be some polish to his game with his glove, but it's already advanced. There's easy exchange. There's easy release. There's easy carry.
00:11:31
Speaker
Um, you know, you start trying trying to check boxes for what a prospect look looks like and has a chance to be in Kellen's right net range. And, you know, the, the the other check box, the mark that we're kind of tracking at this time of year is, has there been improvement? You know, we saw him in August, we were rounding a bunch in August and now we're seeing him in January and he's gotten, he's made improvement. The body's gotten stronger, the swing's gotten quicker, there's more impact through the baseball. And so that type of stuff plays and translates.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. Like for us, like we're on seven months and for seven months, you know, he's probably five to 10 pounds heavier. He didn't lose anything. You know, those are the things you're always looking for. Like, can you add weight without losing what made you who you were? And for him, he's doing it like he's not losing the quickness. He's not losing the flexibility in his body. He's still being able to keep the same rhythm. And if you can do it with this 10, you know, what would another 10 or 15 in the next two years really look like for him?
00:12:26
Speaker
As we continue to move through the list, we have another player, high-end prospect, highly-ranked young man that was at this event last year as an unknown. Didn't know the name, didn't know the name, and he showed up, and then he threw, and very quickly we were circling names, going, okay, there's a plus arm. And then we watched him in the box, and we went, okay. He got an invite to Super sophomore games. I think a small injury kept him out. We saw him at a scout day shortly after. Tice Thompson, catcher, we talked about South Central.
00:12:56
Speaker
catcher at South Central High School 2027. He can really, really exchange and throw the baseball and and offensively. I think the bats gotten quicker and the power has got chance to continue to translate.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I'm not sure what what's going on with the South Central guys and the 99 eights, 99 nines. Like I'm not sure what kind of, you know, coach, for credit we're gonna have to get you guys into the hundred club. You guys are real close. Like you guys might be the closest in the school to the hundred club. um You know, Tyson's physically imposing, you know, athlete um in the box, you know, there's intent, bad speed, you know, and it's fairly calm. Like there's not a lot of movement parts, especially for a young guy, which is great to see. He's getting his big swing off consistent.
00:13:36
Speaker
You know, in the box, it's an absolute hand cannon. Like, you know, you'd picture, watch out, duck, move, do not stand on the mound when the guy's on the bottom second base, it's going to hurt. I mean, it's a plus plus arm. Um, I actually think like the pot times are going to get better as he gets going. You know, we kind of talked about it. There's some mixed, there's some length in the exchange a little bit as he's moving and he's getting away with the arm strength. And I think if you learn just to kind of tighten up and quicken up, like, I mean, mid one eights, probably right around the corner for him.
Jacob Watson's Elite Spin Rates
00:14:06
Speaker
Yeah, we talked about that night. We talked about it maybe the next day, just in terms of constantly looking at that development piece. I actually went back and watched the video and the from the year before, and I think Tyson understands the workout you know aspect of what's going on. You know, there were a couple times where, you know, he allowed the exchange to really load his arm and to get his feet underneath him and let the ball rip, touching 83, I think, out of his crouch. Then there were times where he was trying to be a little bit quicker. The thing I liked is every every ball was accurate. You know, it had Kerry, it was an online And as he gets more and more in the game mode, you know, really trying to fine tune how he's going to exchange and release, there's enough athleticism there that we are going to see that release time drop. And I think he's going to be able to hold the arm strength.
00:14:47
Speaker
And that's when that Pop Times got a chance to really get into that creep into that special range. The other thing I liked about him is when he was receiving, he was an attentive receiver. It can be monotonous for those catchers and the bullpen. You kind of sit around, you wait, okay, it's your turn, you hop in there. And if you're not really engaged, you're just a pitchback. Ball comes to you, you pitch it back. Ball comes to you, you pitch it. But he was working on being in stance, being a good receiver, presenting a target, being a willing blocker.
00:15:16
Speaker
um you know and And these are for guys that he doesn't always necessarily see, I would guess. And he may have called a couple guys he knew, but he's catching you know some guys that he doesn't see a bunch. And he's he's engaged and he's trying to help and he's trying to present those guys in a really positive light that translates. you know you get those Because their job in college early on is just gonna be catch bullpens.
00:15:36
Speaker
you're going to get better by getting reps. just you know It's no different than BP, but everybody loves BP because you've got the attention on you. When you're catching bullpens, there's no attention on the catcher. Everybody's worried about what the pitcher's doing. But that's that guy's time to get 200, 300, 400 reps in stance, working on balls, keeping balls in frame, keeping balls in front, things of that sort. And and he's already got that ingrained in him a little bit. And again, you know old school pitching guy,
00:16:02
Speaker
It stands out to me because I would want to throw bullpens to that guy because that guy is going to help me get better. Yeah, no, I mean like he first like he had a guy missed arm side with change up and the first thing he did is grab him, give him a good location, say get it here, get it here. I'll catch it and i you you know you're right like.
00:16:20
Speaker
You know, catchers, if you want to be one thing, be somebody that we want to throw to. Like, be that big target. You know, I don't need a loud, jumpy guy. Like, be that big target where I'm like, I trust you. I can throw whatever I want, and I want to throw to you every game. I want to throw everything to you. I trust you. And that's where he's working towards, and he's really close to being that guy already at a young age. We talked about Tice being, you know, a name that kind of jumped at us last year, and that can happen with the rising freshman class.
00:16:50
Speaker
A lot of times we kind of have an idea of who a lot of guys are as they move into their sophomore and junior year. But there are spotlights and there are there are some guys that kind of kind of come out of nowhere. and We don't have a ton of notes on. This next player is a name we had. It's not a name we knew a whole lot about. It was a glowing recommendation. That's how we got into this event through the invite-only system. We had some people reach out to us and say he needs to be there. But let's talk about Jacob Watson, third baseman right here in the pitcher. Falls Lake Academy, a 2026 grad.
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah, but I ain't gonna lie, like I I won't sure who you were and you threw the first breaking ball and I'm that's right here. I know who you are now. Like I'm gonna go ahead and tell you 3000 spin and then I do you think like my like my stop what I was doing. I walk back, bro. I probably watched every pitch you threw after that, like.
00:17:37
Speaker
you know I ain't gonna lie, like you got some attention drawn. Bigger strong guy, but there's a lot of like quick movement in the body. It was 85, 87, I think we got them up to 89 or 90 on our other sheet. Somewhere in one of our events, we've seen a little bit better. I mean, in the box, it's just loose, 100 mile an hour, ex violet guy, he got a chance to be in that famous club, the 900 Club. um And like, I just, there was a lot to like, um, he threw a lot of strikes ball ran, you know, anytime you spend about 3000, like you got a chance. And I mean, it was the most usable 3000 spend we've seen in a while.
00:18:13
Speaker
And and that that's, it's an interesting point, you know, and trying to get to know who he is. And I see that 3000 spin pop up and and we're like every other bot, every other person looking at our numbers. When those numbers pop up and you see that, you go, is that right? And so then I go back into the iPad and I pull up every break in bully through and you're going,
00:18:32
Speaker
That's dead on. I mean, it's that every everything's calculated. It wasn't like it was a 2,200, 2,300, 2,200, 3,100. And then you're having to go, OK, did that that calculate right? You send it to the track man. They kind of go through all the numbers. They go, ah, that one's probably a throwout pitch. All of his numbers were dead on. And so now you're starting to talk about elite level spin. yeah know And he had some feel for it. And the the the tilt was sharp. It was late. It was direct.
00:18:58
Speaker
So you know that that's an out pitch. It's an out pitch waiting to happen. We don't have we don't see a ton of guys. That's an outlier.
Tanner Williams: Multi-Sport Athlete
00:19:04
Speaker
And when you start talking about tools that are outliers, now you talk start talking about players that have higher ceilings. you know there Are there some things Jacob's got to continue to get better better at? Yeah, the body the body needs to move a little quicker. you know He's got some strength to it. I like to see a little bit more elasticity in his in his hips, but he's got athletic arm, he's got athletic rhythm, and he's got something different that a lot of people don't do. And when you have that you know that ceiling, i like I said, he's got a chance to continue to get a lot higher.
00:19:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, I was like, he's a guy that you're going to watch for a year and hope it's 90 92. Because if he can get that 90 92 with that spin, he's got a chance to be an impact guy at the next level, fairly quick. You know, there's not going to be a lot of projection with him. Pretty much what you're going to see is what you're going to get. So for him, he's just got to continue to build and continue to grow and, you know, make his floor higher. Um, you know, he might not be the highest ceiling guy, but like he's got a chance to have a really low floor of a 90 92 with 3000 spin guy.
00:20:04
Speaker
So as we continue to move through this, you know, one of the things that we we sometimes see are are guys that are multi-sport guys. We'll see, you know, and the next thing I mean, we're going to talk about is the high school quarterback. I think he's still playing basketball and obviously he's playing baseball. So we see guys at different points because we do see guys that come in.
00:20:22
Speaker
that have been training now for three months basically to put up a number, which is great. That's fine. you're you're there there is It does adapt to game. There's some learning curve to how to get that training to adapt to a game. But for our events, it adapts really quickly. Then we also see players that this may only be the third or fourth time they've picked up a bat. you know They're still kind of easing into their arm. Now they're in great shape because they've been doing other things.
00:20:46
Speaker
But the baseball skill set and that that fine tune hasn't happened yet. You know, Tanner Williams is a player for us. We've known junior future games, invited the super sophomore games last year, but obviously was getting ready for football. Left handed hitter, very athletic, you know. ah For me, the body feel is is off the charts. He has great feel for where he's at in space, allows him to throw strikes, allows him to do some different things on the bump. But I love him in the box. There's feel for the barrel and there's quickness.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah, you know, we're going to go over with this first thing real quick, pork chop biscuits. He's already promised. Um, you know, that was first thing we had to talk about, about midway. Um, so we're, we're there. We've had that discussion. Um, he promised me pork chop biscuits. So we'll be going back to midway. Um, but in the box, you know, like he's just so smooth, like it's, you know, it's a next level smoothness that you don't see on many 20, 27, you know, you get a couple of seniors that are finally like, you know, they're 17, 18.
00:21:41
Speaker
And they're physical now and they they kind of understand their body, but you don't ever see like the type of smoothness that he has right here, just hitting with controlled. Uh, especially a guy, you know, I mean, going into sophomore year, like it's, it's just a different level. Um, you know, heart rate low, you know, like, I mean, we're talking about like the pork chop business, but like this before he's about to go hit and he's so relaxed joking around talking about his buddies in the center field behind the fence. Like he's so relaxed and calm knowing like he doesn't have to worry, like his swing is going to work and that's, you know, it's hard to do. And like, you know, I was a hitter and it's just.
00:22:17
Speaker
The calmness he has is something 99% of hitters want in the world. Yeah, it's it for me, it's ah it's a competitive columnist, too. It's not that he's just, it's carefree and whoopdy doing whatever happens. when When you watch him get in the box, especially when you're watching him in game, we saw him last year as a freshman, you know there's some leadership quality there. So still young, still got some things that you know in terms of growing and and and that stuff to do. And that comes with just time and and being around in different spaces. It's hard to be ah one leader as a freshman than be a a similar leader as ah a senior.
00:22:51
Speaker
There's different roles that leadership takes on. But he naturally embraces that stuff. And then you we love multi-sport guys. And you know you're trying to project where the ceiling has a chance to be. And then you start thinking about the reps he's behind versus other guys. And when he starts getting those reps, he's going to make up that time really quickly. But while he's behind on those baseball reps, the athletic reps and the way he's treating his body and the way he's recovering his body,
00:23:18
Speaker
is different than a baseball player who's just going at it for 10 to 12 months. And so there's some things, maybe some drawbacks in terms of really understanding swing and really understanding where your body is on the field. But there's such big advantages to that understanding your body in space and multiple dimensions being a basketball court, football field, or baseball field. And again, he's a young man that I've been following for a long time. I played with his dad in college.
00:23:47
Speaker
And so there there is a, um you know and we've talked about this, me, you and Patrick, there's a a natural bias there because I have such an affinity for his dad and his family that I've told you guys when we get to rankings and things like that, I have to step ah out of this one because I don't know that I am unbiased on that one because I want him to do well, I want to see him.
Dean Capelletti's Pitching Growth
00:24:06
Speaker
But we when we do our rankings, we take their names and we take schools and commitments off of the sheet.
00:24:12
Speaker
And his grades still play really high just based on what we're seeing. So, um, excited to get to midway, we'll, we'll still we'll have to flip a coin to see who's going to get that pork chop biscuit. does Is that what it is? Pork chop biscuit. Yeah. You know, my diet right yeah that may that may be you. Yeah. There's something about being a multi-sport athlete in a small town. So like, I, like that's something that like, you just can't actually like put into words a lot for a lot of people. Like.
00:24:35
Speaker
You know, there's some big school guys that, you know, do multi sports, but like being a multi sport athlete in a small town where everybody knows you, man, that's pretty cool. So that's part of it. Our next player is a player that I saw in in spring break last year. It's a right-handed pitcher and it is a player that we've had the name for a while and we always keep hearing about what he could be and what he might be and what he's going to grow into. And one of the interesting things about following high school players when you're not involved with them on a daily basis, when you're involved with these guys on a daily basis, whether they're 10, 11, 12, we probably all know people that we played with that were like this.
00:25:11
Speaker
They kind of get labeled. He's our shortstop. He's a leader. He's a gamer. He's a hard worker. And maybe he was at 10, 11, 12. And then maybe he hit 16. And he's kind of coasting on on what that is. um When we're outside of that, we get to we get to kind of make up our minds as what we're seeing. And I think our minds can change quicker because of not being inundated with their reps. Dean Capelletti, right in a pitch at West Johnson High School in 2026.
00:25:39
Speaker
He's a young man that's got some link to his body. I think he fought his direction in the last two years or so. But every now and then he put it together and balls would rip out of his hand and he'd spin it and he had good, good feel for what was going on. But every now and then his body, just because he was growing, was kind of out of whack and he really had to fight to compete to do those things. And you know, then you're you're fighting yourself and you're trying to figure out what the mind space of a player and how is he competing? and Is he fighting himself more than he's fighting the other team? What's what's going on in there?
00:26:08
Speaker
Well, sometimes they just need time. Sometimes they just need to figure out where their bodies at. Sometimes they just need to continue to grow and. Uberly impressed, is that a word? Uberly, uber impressed with with Dean and the way he handled this event, the way he performed in this event, and then he hung out and in his maturation away from the diamond a little bit. Having a conversation with him last year, having a conversation with him this year and watching how much he's grown as a human being, you know, really impressive outing for him in Greenville.
00:26:37
Speaker
Yeah. You know, bro, I'm going to have to take off that projection name on you. Um, this was production, right? This was a plus spin rate fastball. You know, there wasn't cut like it wrote like this thing, 2,500. I mean, 87, 89, you know, breaking ball was sharp, late till like my, my bad dude, like there ain't no projection right now. Like this this is a legitimate, I can go get out. My stuff's good enough. Here I am. I just made my name.
00:27:06
Speaker
college coaches come see me. And like, if you bring that stuff to the party, there's going to be a lot of people that come see you. He's going to be an interesting follow this year. Cause I do think guys are going to be kind of flooding in there to West Johnson to seem trying to put early evaluations on him. You may have some schools at some point trying to make an early run at these guys. It's not happening as much nowadays with the way the recruiting world's working, but you may have some guys sneak in there and try to do something early. You're also going to have some schools saying, Hey, we're going to see you now. We're going to see you at the end of the spring. We're going to see in the early summer and we're going to bring on a visit and we're going to make a decision.
00:27:37
Speaker
And so you know then the the deal becomes, you know what does Dean want to do? Does does he want to you know continue to kind of see how high this stock can
Andrew Caraccio's Dual Potential
00:27:45
Speaker
rise? So um it was really good. i And again, I think it's different. We talk about how stuff plays. his His fastball plays different. You can read the velocity, and there's a lot of guys that throw in that velocity. What his fastball, the numbers it's telling us it's doing with the rise through the zone, he has a chance to miss bats with strikes. He doesn't need chase out of the zone. He doesn't need guys.
00:28:05
Speaker
you know, just bad hitters kind of wailing at higher velocity pitches. He can throw a ball middle up and he's going to have good hitters swing underneath the baseball because what the ball is doing. So if he's able to continue that that ride and continue to ride the baseball through the zone, now he's got an out pitch with his fastball and allows more time for secondary stuff to continue to develop than secondary stuffs already making big strides forward. So interesting, you know, fun watch again, another place that will probably be this spring You know, and you'll be able to kind of hop in there. I'll be trying to see those guys during spring break and kind of watch and see how with the bullpen sessions matched up to what we're going to see in in spring games.
00:28:40
Speaker
um We'll move forward. We got another dual player to talk about, another super sophomore games player, another player that's taken jumps. you We took him to the super sophomore games, and he he had he had hit a little bit of a road bump right before getting to that that outing. He pitched well for us, team NC, a little bit limited in terms of what we you know were trying to do with him positional player wise. We had him kind of marked as a pitcher first at that time. But again, things can change.
00:29:08
Speaker
The recruiting world's changed. Dual guys are a little bit more important now than they were. Teams are going to have to recruit them. And, you know, Andrew Caraccio pro pro five baseball, left handed pitcher, first baseman 2027 impressed on the mound and and in the in the box. Yeah, you know, he what you first notice is he's like, he got the broad shoulder look, you know, he's just a very broad guy. um You know, on the mound, like 85, 86, you know, everybody's like, all right, I'm gonna let one go. Well, when he let it go, it was 88, and now you're 88 left-handed and letting it go. Six-two, two, you know, low twos, like, you know, you got a chance to pitch. And then, like, he got in the box, you know, he's always kind of had it. I mean, it's a really flat swing. um You know, like, he's a guy that, like, if he ever figures out how to develop some loft and, you know, like, I know we hit the ball in the air, boo
00:29:57
Speaker
But if you hit them all 102 straight down, okay, he starts in about 97 100 up in the air, like he's gonna lose some baseballs. ah He has the strength, you know he's got enough, you know the swings flat enough. If we start changing it, getting in a little plain into it, I mean, he's gonna go from hitting 100 mile an hour ground balls that the infielders don't wanna catch to 100 mile an hour fly balls that the trees are ducking out of the way of pretty quickly.
00:30:23
Speaker
It's it's an interesting watch when you're watching that video, the arm action. It's gotten so much better, you know, and kudos to him kudos to whoever he's working with. But a lot of times players have to make those decisions in terms of ah and he's always been a good player. He's always been ahead of the curve a little bit, but he's still willing to say these things have to get better.
00:30:40
Speaker
the arm action's already better. Like you said with the swing, I thought at times and in years past there was some steepness trying to create unnatural loft. He looked a lot flatter through the zone. I think the the loft will come with just reps and learning kind of where the barrel is. um and And while we're still watching him, you know, there's still things you look at and go, the back the back leg action, the the turn action,
00:31:03
Speaker
Those things can get quicker. Those things can become a little bit more violent, keeping a little bit under control, a little bit more direct. And then it frees the arm up better. It frees the swing up better. So as well as he performed, he's not up against his ceiling yet. And so there's work to do. and you know But he's already shown. You kind of put a check next to his name because he's shown an ability to do that. He's shown an ability to kind of make those adjustments and those um you know highlight the trends that he needs to get better at. And if he continues that action, we will see another jump in the next six to 12 months.
Corbin Kendrick: Young Standout
00:31:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's, that's the heart, you know, going forward, you know, you you don't want to label guys, but like you look at him, you know, he's a big kid, but he looked at his face and he looks so young. Like he doesn't have that old face. He doesn't have that, that pure strength yet. And so it gives you some hope and you're like, Hey, you know, again, 900 club is something I'm always going to talk about. It's a very important club for like,
00:31:56
Speaker
for me like I just think like that that separates later. It is it like there's not many and you know we had a couple guys point two away. Well, he's two miles away on the mound, which for him could happen. You know tomorrow like knowing you get the right day on the bullpen and like that's just the the separators are he his separators are narrowing. He's getting closer to becoming able to separate from people in his class.
00:32:21
Speaker
One of the fun things about being at the the event in Greenville for me is is greenville for me, Greenville is not easy to get to. yes It says 315 to 330. It always takes 345 to 430. It's just one of those drives that beyond theres there's a couple different ways for me to get there, but it's there's never a quick way.
00:32:40
Speaker
And so when I go in there, I'm always trying to go in and see if I can't knock out two, three, four games over the course of two days or even better one day. um But we need to go see J.H. Rose every year. you know Coach Vincent and and that that group does a tremendous job of development as has South Central, as has DH kindly. That region, that that league is going to be extremely competitive again this year. um But I get excited when we start seeing younger players. And maybe it's a player that doesn't have to contribute a ton to Rose this year because of what their roster makeup is going to be. But Corbin Kendrick,
00:33:09
Speaker
right in the picture at 2028. So our first look at Corbin, your initial thoughts as we were not getting him through the workout. Yeah, I mean, he's probably gonna be a front runner for first name on the super sophomore like this for us to come see. Not me 2028s, not me 2028s or 85 to 86, hitting balls 92 and throwing 90 from the outfield.
00:33:31
Speaker
you know he's you know He's not a big frame guy, um but everything he did was minimal effort, you know just very smooth. I mean, he's a hometown guy, you're kind of relaxed. like I don't know if you use that facility, but like to me, like for being a young guy with a lot of old guys and a lot of people around you, like he was mature beyond his years and just was completely calm.
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's an easy swing. yeah He's already got some strength in the body, but it's, it doesn't have an older look. I haven't gone back through and looked at all these guys' as age in terms of, you know, where he lands in the 2028 class. Because every now and then you'll get 2028 is going to graduate at 19 or 20 years old. He's 15. He looks, he looks like a freshman in the face, and then you're watching him move around and perform. And there is something to be said, if that's a facility he uses, there's a comfort level being in there. And he's probably done a lot of things that we were doing in that building. But You know, schedule yourself. You know, that's we were all over the place. You know, kudos to him for taking advantage of being somewhere. He's going to have a little bit of comfort if that's if that was the case and but he performed at a high level. And I think that's hard to do for freshmen. in These types of environments just because they're seeing they're seeing so many guys go ahead of them that are putting up numbers that are gonna be better than their numbers.
00:34:43
Speaker
yeah and And the players know they're watching guys run, they're watching guys move, they're hearing what the the vertical jump numbers are, they're watching guys throw. you know These guys are physically stronger than me. Uh-oh, what do I have to do? and And he had some ease to his game. There was just some some confidence and this is who I am and this is what I do and I'm gonna continue to get better. So I'm gonna just do what I do.
00:35:04
Speaker
and it was barrels and barrels and barrels it was a loud bp you know you saw during the video on the other side they had the second bp session set up but that group had already finished so all eyes were on him during that round that second round he had every single person in the building watching him hit and it was just barrel gap to gap bang bang bang bang bang And we can't underestimate, especially for younger players, that's hard to do in that environment with the people you're surrounded by and he performed. And ah you talk about that potential versus performance. I thought the spotlight was on him and he didn't shy away from it and he put up the numbers and that that matters.
Player Relaxation Strategies
00:35:39
Speaker
Yeah, no, it really does. I mean, I like, I tell a lot of people this, like, you know, we, we do a lot of these, a lot of us got facilities, like there's a big difference from hitting in your facility where you're comfortable to going somewhere. And there's 10 guys, or like, when I'm walking around, and like I go pull out my camera, I'm taking a picture of you. You just got nervous. You know what I'm doing. Like parents and like, I let listen, I love everything y'all do, but there's a lot of pressure on these guys that like, sometimes you won't ever see, like you don't know the three guys walked over to watch them take a swing sometimes because The way it's set up, you might not see it, but he he just saw all three guys move around. Well, they're not, he thinks it's going to them. He thinks they're going somewhere else. You know, you you just hear things or sometimes you just kind of wandered around and you're like, Oh, they're all on me. I got to swing good. I got to get my best swings off. And all of a sudden in my eight swings, I'm panicked for four of them. And that's just the difference that like.
00:36:28
Speaker
As you get older, youre it's easier to deal with, but like as you're young and youthful, like first time somebody watches you and you're like, Oh, I got to impress. I got to get these numbers and not hear the number for the first time. You're like, Oh, you try to be something you're not. Right. And it's. yeah you're You're hitting on something i and we think about as we're running these events. you know do we How is our demeanor affecting those players? you know we're We're trying to push through. At that event, we're trying to push 80 players through in basically five hours. And we have time constraints in the building, although Trent and those guys at Next Level do a fantastic job and work with us. But we need to be respectful of their time. So there are times when we're trying to get work. gay Go, go, go, go, go. We got to get to the next thing. Here's what's going on.
00:37:14
Speaker
But then when we get them in the in those sessions, our demeanor can completely flip because we may see that they're a little nervous. And so now we're joking around with them like we've known them forever. And they're going, who is this guy? I've never met this guy before in my life. And he's joking with me about 90, 100. He's giving me a hard time about my exit velocities. And he's doing it. and And a lot of that is just to see if we can't get them to just relax and perform and be in the mindset of, let's just be a baseball player versus, oh my gosh, I'm going to pro style workout. I have to put up numbers.
00:37:42
Speaker
Guys perform. One of the one of the tricks we we tell pitchers all the time is your best numbers come in the strike zone. All these guys want to reach back and get a number. Their best numbers come in the strike zone. Hitters, why is the field deepest in center field? We've talked about each event we've been to. Because that's where your best numbers are. And the way the numbers are going to live on the website, who cares if you hit a home run at a high school field that went 294 when you hit a fly ball out to center field at 396?
00:38:08
Speaker
Because two weeks from now, they're going to see 396 or they're going to see 294 as your distance. 396 plays better. you know Stay in the middle of the field because that's that's where our numbers live. And you know ah we we do make a concerted effort in those types of events to really work to massage players to see if we can't get the best out of them. Sometimes it comes across one way or the other. But you know we really do want players to put up their best days and trying to get them to relax into that.
00:38:35
Speaker
you know it's it's a little bit you know drawing back on both of our backgrounds as coaching um you know can we say something that triggers something and sometimes we can sometimes we can't sometimes we say the wrong thing we tell them hey just stop get me out of your head forget about everything i said now go do you and we'll give you a couple extra swings and let's go so Yeah, no, it's different being in the East. You know, there's a lot of guys that I know like central and the Easter, like two areas for me. And like, you know, some of these guys have no idea. I was a coach. Some of them have no idea. I was approached out. Like they're just sitting over here like, Oh, this guy's taking video for no reason. I'm like, I got a decent idea sometimes.
Brandon Bush's Athletic Growth
00:39:09
Speaker
And I just like, I understand how hard it is. Like, yeah, like there's, there's not many workout wonders where like,
00:39:18
Speaker
The guy wakes up, the guy walks out of bed and he's putting up numbers that like, you're like, Oh, wow. Like, you know, like we all talk about being the workout guy. There's not many of those. So for you, you're always trying to get your best swing, your best pitch. And it's, you know, it's stressful. Like I understand it. Like, and it's all for me is always trying to figure out how to stress you the least amount so you can become the the best player you are.
00:39:39
Speaker
We got one more player to talk about again, another super sophomore games player and a player that we had kind of earmarked is really athletic. Kind of starting to get it together, you know, we put guys on these rosters, not because maybe they're the the best player right now, but we have a belief in terms of what we're seeing and how they're reacting and what their numbers are and where they have a chance to be and.
00:40:00
Speaker
you know Brandon Bush, an outfielder from Haggard High School in the 2027 class, shows up. He looks taller, he looks leaner, he looks stronger, he looks quicker, and he was already a quick twitch athlete. And it's translating. What did you think about Brandon? Yeah, you know i i but I saw the ball flight a couple times, and I was like, God, who's hitting that ball? And then I looked over, it was him. And I was like, we had to talk at the ah top prospect games and kind of about, you know, making sure our bodies stay square and kind of working through the ball and staying behind it a little better. And he he did everything that we like talked about. And I don't know if it was cause of me or he just figured it out himself. Um, but I mean, like an average, actually average, uh, distance of three 16. I mean, that's a home run to left field. A lot of sweat, like a lot of places like that. Like it was really easy. He's getting some good extension. You know, he has some loft and it's pretty natural. It doesn't look like he's over swinging.
00:40:54
Speaker
You know, and then all of a sudden the arm starting to jump, you know, it was 91. It was an event leader from the outfield. Um, so you like he is, you know, continuing to take strides to become a, you know, I don't, I don't know what he ran, but like at worst he's a corner outfielder with a big arm. Best case, he ends up a center field. I'm not sure what we ended up running this time, but like,
00:41:14
Speaker
you know, there's there's there's a good chance that that barrel is going to play at all three outfield spots, which is, you know, a rarity for some guys, you know, like, you know, being able to hit, you got to be able to hit and play the outfield, but like, he's got a chance to play all three outfield spots for the way he's hitting. Yeah. Bush went 183 in the 10, which is excellent. 407 in the 30, which is, you know, right at that average to above average.
00:41:35
Speaker
you know slot and for a guy that's grown a little bit and a guy that's taken a jump that's that's ah a good time the thing I love about the video we we saw the video you got right there is the finish you know whether you're a one-hand guy two-hand guy or whatever the hand strength he has the barrel manipulation he has you can see that that physical man strength starting to come in just with the way he's manipulating the bat through the zone that barrel is not wavering, it's not collapsing through the swing. You know, he's got full control in the barrel, wherever he wants the barrel to go, it goes and it's going to get there with impact and he's finishing it, you know, like a grown man. So, you know, start trying to project that out. You know, he's going to be an exciting player to watch and that Wilmington area is going to be really, really good again. um You know, with some of the players that are that are coming through there, whether they were at this event or not, that's going to be a fun area to watch.
00:42:21
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, I think he's really good. Um, you know, it's a guy that continues to get better. Like he's every, we've seen him three times in the last year now. And it's, it's not like a little bit like, and I don't think you can always take significant jumps. So at some point we're going to kind of plateau and take small crawls. He's taken massive jumps. Um, you know, every time we've seen them, whether the numbers change and like, that's where people get kind of confused. Sometimes we're saying taking jumps, like,
00:42:47
Speaker
No, the the the ability to be able to repeat or the ability to be able to rotate or generate quickness. Sometimes the numbers might not dramatically change or they might not even be your best numbers, but consistently being able to get your best swing off or consistently improving or to stuff like that.
Additional Standout Arms & Wrap-Up
00:43:06
Speaker
Like that's a big part of it and he's starting to do that. You know, I would love to say you're always going to take massive jumps. You know, eventually we're going to kind of slow him down a little bit, but right now he is doing everything he can to continue to be a great high school player right now.
00:43:22
Speaker
As we continue to move through here, um, you know, that's 10 names. I know you came in without 25. We just don't, we don't have time for 25. We're going to lose our audience, but, um, you know, real quick, some other arms that stood up to me, Tyler, come on, come on. I'm butchering that name, Tyler. I apologize. I see it. I know how to say it. I can't get it out. It's it's a deficiency on my end. Um, you know, Tyler's a, uh, right-handed pitcher.
00:43:47
Speaker
um Apex Friendship, dirtbags player. He's taken some jumps. We saw Ben Dudash up the 83, I'm sorry, 88.3. Ross McLamb, Caleb Case, Leo Lipinski. Those guys I thought have have improved in one way or another from what we've seen. Any other event, any any other typical event for us, they're at the top, top end performers. It's what makes this event special as you're diving in, as coaches are diving into these numbers.
00:44:15
Speaker
there's going to be gyms in there that we just don't have time to talk about every time we talk. So, you know, probably going to be dialing these guys back over the course of the next several months, you know, talking about the performances we saw. From an offensive standpoint, I know there were a couple of guys you had mentioned, you know, anybody off the top of your head?
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah, Tanner Pope, left-handed hitter, a two-way guy, you know, probably didn't have the best fastball, but as he's what he was used to, but in the box, I mean, it was loud, you know, over a hundred. x yeah Yeah. Like, I mean, he just bashed baseballs and it's what he does. And it is a controlled left-handed swing with tremendous power, like powered all fields. Another guy was Jordan Bonner, more of a physical athlete. um And he looks at like, he's not a small guy. Like he had the events fastest 30, I think it was like three seven two.
00:45:00
Speaker
you know he hit about 97 and so you're like it's just different like he was also one player walking through the building that i i got the impression parents weren't real sure he belonged at that event like yeah he's like watch him what he he is that is a different build on an athlete he he's the most physical kid yeah he's yeah he's jacked out of his mind and that's like the you know like there's some swing stuff we even talked about it i thought he was getting out in front a little bit But like, I mean, a three, seven, two at six, one, two, 10, or whatever you are. Like that's a different level runner. yeah Tell me this, i and I'm dating, I'm dating myself a little bit. I don't think you dealt with this as much, but the the draft and follow, the old draft and follow rule where cops could go and and just go get an athlete, have one tool. And we're going to draft you in the 50th, the 70th, the whatever round. And we're going to send you somewhere and we're going to give you 5,000 at bats.
00:45:51
Speaker
At the end of 5,000 at bats, we're going to make a decision. But you look at the number of guys that were drafted and follows that became all-star caliber players at the big league level, potential Hall of Fame players at the big league level, that in today's age would not be drafted. Because there's not there's not room for them. They don't have a place to go and just fail for two years. And everybody put their arm around going, we know you're going to hit 120. That's fine. just Just give me good at bats.
00:46:16
Speaker
Work to get better. And when it clicks, bang, they're so athletic and they're so strong that everything else just takes off. um and And for me, he's a guy that in the old days, he would have been a draft and follow because some he's big, he's runs, he's physical. The swing produces loud contact, just a matter of where it happens.
00:46:36
Speaker
Uh, for me, uh, we got to just trying to speed jump. Sorry. Um, Gavin Jackson was over a hundred miles. How many times we've done an event where we we start talking about players and we don't have room for guys that were a hundred miles. We had two hundred mile an hour exit velocity guys. We had spent a ton of time. on we'll We'll get to them. Uh, Jonathan Piner.
00:46:53
Speaker
ah catcher has some arm strength was 98 eight exit velocity Tariq stone left-handed hitter outfielder he's gotten better defensively the swing has a chance to do damage I think he likes to hit I think he thinks he can really hit I do I think he can really hit he was fun to watch Preston Poole it's a long length lengthy catcher I think he's starting to figure out where his body is kind of figure out where his belly button is So as he starts to move, everything's back underneath him. Um, and I think the swing, he's got long arms, the swings would be a work in progress, but there's quickness and there's feel for the barrel of VP that typically translates with reps. Yeah. He also threw well, like, I mean, his growing starting, to I mean, it was like two seven, maybe two, like and everything for him has cleaned up. He now looks very physical. Yeah.
00:47:40
Speaker
Zach, this was good. I appreciate you taking the time to kind of go through these guys. you know That was a very, very quick 47 minutes. Yeah. And when we're going to continue to call back these guys. Later this week, you're going to see me but with Patrick Johnson. Patrick and I will go through the preseason Allstate West that was held in Mooresville, North Carolina on Sunday. Again, very, very talented group of players. Be a similar format to this. We're trying to break down some of that top talent. And then the big the big events come up this weekend. Preseason Allstate Central basically sold out at this point.
00:48:10
Speaker
You don't have to do a ton of sales in terms of, hey, we need guys to come. We've got a great roster. I'm excited to see those guys perform. And then on Sunday, our pro case, we've got 30 of the top players in the senior and junior class. I think we're going to have some guys have really, really loud performances there in front of the pro scouts that are there. For Zach Barosky, I'm Brandon Hall. This has been the Prep Baseball of North Carolina podcast we'll see at the field.