11-15-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6369 - Matthew Smoral (2012 LHP, Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team)- Smoral is a rare talent in that he is a 6-foot-8 LHP who works comfortably in the 90-94 mph range. More importantly, he generates that impressive velocity with a low effort delivery that he repeats well for his size. Smoral did a good job of getting ahead with a first pitch strike in Jupiter and located his quality slider (up to 84 mph) very well, throwing it for a strike 82.4% of the time. Smoral did struggle with locating his fastball later in the count, leading to six walks in five innings. When he missed, he generally missed low, as the sink on his fastball tended to pull the ball out of the bottom of the zone. His legitimate swing and miss stuff allowed him make up for the walks by piling up eight strikeouts, thanks to a gaudy 39.1% swing and miss rate, good for fifth best in the entire tournament. Smoral has pitched effectively at several high level events this year and is one of the top left handed prep pitchers in the impressive crop of 2012 grads.
11-15-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/11/top-50-position-players-in-northwoods.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter - Nate Theunissen 1B/OF Madison Mallards---Central Michigan Nate turned in a great summer this season. He hit .325 in 169 at-bats for the Mallards. He scored 26 runs, drove in 31, and was among the league leaders with 9 long balls this summer. He also walked 20 times for Madison. Nate went 2 for 4, with a home run in the All-Star Game, and he was ranked as the 68th best prospect in the league by Perfect Game.
11-15-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6369 - Walker Weickel (2012 RHP, Orlando Scorpions)- The tall athletic hurler possesses a legitimate big league fastball, living in the bottom corners of the strike zone at 90-94 mph with heavy sink. At 6-foot-6 Weickel is athletic enough to repeat his deceptive delivery well for a tall pitcher and the result is a consistent pounding of the bottom of the strike zone. The question about Weickel's ultimate upside lies in his secondary stuff, as his 74 mph curveball showed good depth and a lot of break. But to catch up with his fastball he will need to increase the sharpness of the break and command it better. Currently his curve is only an out pitch when he is able to spot it to the bottom corners for called strikes or entice hitters to chase. He's shown the ability to do both at times, but not yet on a consistent basis. The changeup has shown improvement and is a good complement to the fastball but his command of it is still a work in progress. Weickel sets up hitters as well as anyone in the country, but to reach his potential he will need to develop his ability to put away high level hitters to become more than a innings eating ground ball pitcher at the next level.
11-15-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6369 - DJ Davis (2012 OF, Royals Baseball Club)- Davis is a premium athlete who hails from the small town of Wiggins, MS (population: 3900) and could very easily have slipped through the cracks. That changed when he posted the best 60-yard dash time (6.38) at East Coast Pro and then batted second in a loaded Royals Baseball Club lineup that drew huge crowds for each of their six games in Jupiter. The strong compact left handed hitter posted a line of .375/.500/.562 and went 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts. Though a bit raw at the plate, as would be expected of a player with little experience at the higher levels of amateur baseball, Davis showed good raw hitting tools. With quick hands and strength at contact, Davis drove the ball with authority to both fields. Though he did show a bit of a stronger ground ball tendency to the pull side as a result of rolling over on high level breaking balls. As his skills at the plate progress towards the level of his raw tools Davis should make significant strides towards being a high level table setter with occasional home run power. That potential with the bat combined with his plus plus speed make him an exciting prospect.
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