Shon Carson, Ricky Opressa, Christian Lopes, Sonny Gray, Mark Appel, Ethan Carter

Shon Carson, of, Lake City HS, Scranton, S.C. We frequently excuse players who don’t perform well at high-level baseball events if they are primarily football players. In most cases, they have the necessary raw tools, but not the high-level repetitions to compete. Carl Crawford was so athletic in high school that he was drafted and signed by Tampa Bay 12 years ago simply for showing up and showing desire, not for his present baseball skills. Carson isn’t in Crawford’s class athletically, but he was one or two at-bats away from earning MVP honors at Perfect Game’s World Wood Bat Association 17-and-under national championship last summer, and later scorched the East Coast Pro Showcase. Now, to pry him away from his football commitment to South Carolina . . . http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=5302  







Ricky Oropesa


I wasn’t paying too much attention to Oropesa or Rendon as profiled below, but it’s hard not to notice Oropesa’s frame. I’ve seen him plenty of times before, as his power potential is one of the best pure tools available for this year’s draft. His swing can still get plenty long, but he also shows the ability to shorten his stroke at times and can muscle even poorly hit balls further than most. I know some still list him as a 1B/3B, but his future is clearly at first base. He’s a good overall athlete with a strong arm, and plays first well, but doesn’t have the first-step quickness necessary to play the hot corner. http://www.5tooltalk.com/2011-notes-2-26-11.html 





Christian Lopes, SS, Edison HS, Huntington Beach, Calif. - Skinny: A phenom as a freshman, Lopes has matured into a solid prospect, not a superlative one. His speed is average but Lopes is a slick defender, with fine fielding skills and a powerful arm. As a pro, he will probably be shifted to third or second base. Lopes may have more hitting talent than any player in the local HS class, but his progress at the plate has been hampered by constant tinkering with his stance, stride and swing. Committed to: USC http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/highschool/02/21/top.prospects.mlb.showcase/index.html#ixzz1FAb22OhT  





Friday’s game was a true pitcher’s duel, and both sophomore (Stanford’s) Mark Appel and (Vanderbilt) junior Sonny Gray brought some good stuff to the table. Personally, I thought Appel had better stuff, but I mean that as a compliment to Gray. Gray definitely didn’t have his A-plus stuff on a very cold Friday night, but he still managed to sneak his way to six strikeouts and give up just one run on three hits. To me, that’s the mark of a good pitcher – a guy who can silence a potent Stanford lineup when he is having control issues with his fastball and he frequently missed the strike zone with first pitches. Gray brought scouts out in droves to see his performance (there were probably 15 to 20 teams there), and even though his pitches weren’t great, his pitching was. http://collegebaseball360.com/2011/03/01/college-baseball-notes-on-vandy-stanford-fullerton-tcu  






Second week out, weekending 2/27/11, and got to see a righty I saw in HS in Virginia, RHP Ethan Carter from Louisburg College, sturdy 6'5 225 lbs and has a nice arm and some projection left but a lot of work to refine as well. FB is pin straight mostly, at 87-92, most fb are 89-90 but very easy to read, will get hitters chasing the high FB and breaking ball not explosive but adequate to get hitters out on occasion. Right now he would project to be a 21+ rounder for me and from the scuttle butt, he wants to go pro but also is weighing other D1 offers. Louisburg has a nice program and will have some fine D1 players, pro wise, Ethan is the only one that stood out for me. - http://xmlbscout.angelfire.com/