Tournament of Stars Day Two: Crouse Shows Explosive Stuff

CARY, N.C.—Hans Crouse (Dana Hills High, Dana Point, Calif.) was one of the select underclassmen to attend last year’s Tournament of Stars. This year, Crouse is back, and he’s added significant muscle and velocity. Crouse showed explosive stuff on Wednesday.

“I feel really good out there,” Crouse told Baseball America. “I was here last year, so I’m comfortable with the whole process and I’m just having fun.”

It’s easy to have fun when you Crouse’s stuff. His fastball ranged from 94-97 mph, and he showed flashes with a tight, upper-70s curveball, which has the makings of an above-average offering.

Crouse’s delivery will lead some evaluators to approach him with caution. His arm action starts with a wrapping motion in the back, and his back elbow is highly elevated. Crouse also cuts off his front side, with his landing foot finishing closed and pointed to the righthanded batter’s box. This leads Crouse to throw across his body with significant recoil and a head whack at release.

At times, when Crouse coiled his shoulders to wind up his upper half, he waggled his shoulders, a move he learned from watching Giants righthander Johnny Cueto.

“Johnny Cueto is one of my idols,” Crouse said. “I just modeled it after him, picked it up after watching him throw and just fell in love with doing it.”

Crouse is the hardest-throwing pitcher at the event thus far, and he could end up having the best fastball velocity of any prep pitcher in this year’s class, but another Southern California native might challenge Crouse.

Hunter Greene (Notre Dame High, Sherman Oaks, Calif.) shined at last week’s Perfect Game National Showcase, and he didn’t let up in his first outing at the Tournament of Stars. After showing mostly a fastball and breaking ball last week, Greene busted out a very promising changeup on Wednesday.

“I felt good about my changeup,” Greene said. “It’s tough to have only two pitches against competition like this. You’ve got to have all your pitches ready to go.”

The righthander’s fastball reached 96 mph, and he showed exceptional command of the strike zone, navigating the corners well while pitching at 92-95. His breaking ball backed up at times, but also showed hard and late 11-to-5 snap at times. Greene’s curveball certainly has some projection to it. His changeup registered in the upper 80s, and showed fading action. He has a chance to develop command of a potent three-pitch mix.

While the SoCal arms were impressive, several players stood out on Day Two:

• Righthander Tanner Burns (Decatur (Ala.) High) showed promising stuff again on Wednesday, reaching 96 mph with his fastball and showing outstanding feel for his exceptionally tight curveball. Burns weighed in a 5-foot-11 and 208 pounds, giving him an unconventional body for a starting pitching prospect.

• Outfielder Quentin Holmes (Monsignor McClany Memorial High, New York) showed very promising all-around tools. He went 3-for-4 on Wednesday, with two singles, a triple and a run-producing sacrifice fly. His lone out came on a ground ball to shortstop, and Holmes reached first base in 4.11 seconds, a plus run time from the right side of the plate. Holmes ran well in the outfield and showed impressive range and solid reads of the ball off the bat in the outfield.

• Shortstop Nick Allen (Francis Parker School, San Diego) had a very strong performance on Wednesday, going 2-for-5 at the plate with a single and a double. Baseball America recorded two run times (from the batter’s box to first base) for Allen at 4.26 seconds and 4.29 seconds. Allen’s 5-foot-8 frame is not necessarily conducive to power, but he has shown an impressive feel for making contact thus far. Allen’s best tools are at shortstop, where he has quick-twitch hands and arm strength, and he shows the internal clock and instincts to make plays that few high school shortstops can make.

• Lefthander D.L. Hall (Houston County High, Warner Robins, Ga.) pitched in the low 90s and showed flashes with a sharp curveball. It was a stronger performance for Hall than the one he had at Perfect Game’s National Showcase last week, when he had poor command.

• Outfielder Kier Meredith (Glenn High, Kernersville, N.C.) showed impact speed on Wednesday. On a jailbreak bunt, Meredith reached first base in 3.60 seconds, and then he beat out an infield single on a chopped ground ball up the middle, reaching first base in just a smidge under four seconds.