Scouting Report - RHP - James Peyton Smith

 

James Peyton Smith

 

RHP 6-4 215 East Robinson HS (TN)

 

 

11-11-20 - Prospects Live Top 300 Prospect List - ​

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156. James Peyton Smith - RHP

Bio:

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215 lbs

Hits/Throws: R-R

Hometown: East Robertson, TN

School: East Robertson

 

An explosive righthander that draws comparisons to Max Scherzer, Smith features a mid-high-90s fastball, great feel for his changeup and the ability to pronate. His slider is still a work in progress but shows some strong characteristics. The delivery is violent with a serious head knock and some arm lag. Coaching will be necessary if he's to avoid injury in the future, but the package as a whole is super enticing.

 

 

7-21-20 -  BA -

 

James Peyton Smith, RHP, East Robertson HS, Cross Plains, Tenn.

 

Travel Team: Team Elite

Commit: Vanderbilt

Performance: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, 64 pitches (64% strikes)

 

In a lot of ways, Peyton Smith is the opposite of Carter Holton. Where Holton stands out for advanced pitch-making ability and feel, Peyton Smith jumped out with electric pure stuff.

 

His fastball got up to 98 mph and was consistently around 96, but there’s a lot of refinement that needs to happen outside of his fastball velocity. Peyton Smith has a lot going on in his delivery, with long arms and legs and plenty of length in the back of his arm action that could lead to inconsistencies with his control.

 

Scouts said he looked more like a thrower than a pitcher at the moment, and while his firm slider plays well off his fastball now, scouts think it’s just a fringe-average pitch presently. Peyton Smith has plenty of upside if he can iron out the delivery and firm up a 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, but there’s some reliever risk here as well.

 

 

7-15-20 - https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/profiles/TN/Peyton-Smith-5076148392 -

 

A Vanderbilt recruit, Smith has a big, durable frame at 6-foot-4, 212 pounds. His heavy fastball ranges from 93-98 and he mixes in a breaking ball at 76-78, flashing tilt. The changeup is straight at times, but also features cut, sitting 83-85. He stood out for Team Elite at both the PBR Classic and NPI.

 

 

PG -

 

James Peyton Smith is a 2021 RHP/1B with a 6-4 215 lb. frame from Springfield, TN who attends East Robertson. Outstanding young pitcher's body with long limbs, good present strength and plenty of physical projection remaining. Very fast arm from an extended 3/4's arm slot, has energy at release but repeats his mechanics well and shows athleticism in his delivery. Consistent mid-90's fastball, ball explodes out of his hand, mostly straight with occasional sink down in the zone but explodes on hitters at the plate, velocity plays up due to his throwing his secondary pitches for strikes. Threw both a slider and curveball but slider is the much better present pitch, maintains slot and tunnels the pitch well. Flashed quality deception to his change up with swing and miss potential in the future. Impressive combination of velocity, secondary pitches and ability to throw strikes.

 

Prospects Live -

 

James Peyton Smith - James Peyton Smith probably has the most violent operation in the 2021 class, but it’s hard to find many guys with better pure stuff. JPS’s FB probably doesn’t have desirable movement characteristics, but it should still have no problem competing for whiffs up in the zone given his release characteristics and velocity - he sits in the mid-to-upper 90s, and has a Max Scherzer-esque low ¾ arm slot. The key for JPS will be accepting that his fastball will probably be optimized up in the zone, and not down which might be hard considering the movement characteristics of the pitch resemble more of a two-seamer, so he might think the pitch plays well down. To go with his FB, he shows innate feel for shifting the spin direction of his CH laterally past 2:00. This isn’t too surprising given his arm slot, as vertical movement on CHs tend to go down (this is what’s happening when the spin direction shifts laterally) as releases get lower. So his CH might not be incredibly deceptive, as guys with his release characteristics usually are able to achieve similar movement profiles, but it nevertheless profiles as an above-average offering.

 

JPS rounds out his arsenal with a slider that appears to be heavy gyro, and should be optimized considering his release traits - very oriented towards 3B, making his SL play up glove side (the movement numbers might not be gaudy, but the pitch’s horizontal approach angle is more drastic than the actual spin induced movement due to the lateral nature of his release). While the stuff is electric, JPS definitely has some issues mechanically; he has a pretty nasty head whack and his arm is late at foot plant. He unsurprisingly displays great horizontal shoulder abduction which shouldn’t come as a shock given his velocity. It will be interesting to see how he trends this season, as he’s up there with the top arms in the class in terms of pure stuff, but the violent nature of his operation might see him get to school.

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