Breaking Down The 2016 East Coast Pro Showcase

TAMPA—Hundreds of scouts took in the 2016 East Coast Pro Showcase, which concluded on Thursday, developing more detailed evaluations of the top high school prospects in the nation. Because of the timing of ECP (immediately following the trade deadline), high-level evaluators are able to attend it with minimal conflict, something that cannot be said of events that are held earlier in the summer, prior to the draft signing deadline.

Helmed by Giants crosschecker John Castleberry, ECP has become the industry standard for showcase baseball, an event that parallels the Area Code Games (set to begin Saturday in Long Beach) as the top amateur scouting event, in terms of the talent on the field and the ranking of the decision-makers in the audience.

Immediately following the conclusion of the final game, Castleberry expressed gratitude to those who helped him organize and administrate the event. The high-pressure, intense work schedule of a scout is difficult enough to manage, and numerous individuals added ECP to their workloads. Castleberry said Royals scout Sean Gibbs and A’s scout Rich Sparks were instrumental in the event, and he singled out the tireless work of Lori Bridges, whose around-the-clock efforts allowed information to flow from the field to the scouts seamlessly. Lori’s husband, Braves scouting director Brian Bridges, also contributed, said Castleberry, as did dozens of scouts who organized the individual teams and identified prospects that the industry needed to take a closer look at.

“I give the guys who do this, the scouts, a hell of a lot of credit,” Castleberry said. “I mean they just really bust it. They work at it to get the best guys (on the field).”

This year’s event operated about as smoothly as possible, with only two weather delays, neither of which lasted longer than a half-hour. As was the case last year, the staff of the Tampa Yankees, who host the event, stepped up.

“Julie Kremer does an outstanding job running this,” Castleberry said. “And her assistants and the grounds crew—they were awesome.”

The Yankees staff provided water for scouts in the sweltering, upper 90s heat and served lunches for the scouts, who had little time to relax given the tight schedule and the must-see talent at the event. The Yankees also provided security for the event.

For as well-run as the event was this year, it was the talent that will be remembered. In each of the past two drafts, the No. 3 overall pick was an ECP participant, with Ian Anderson (Braves, 2016) playing for the Rangers in 2015 and Brendan Rodgers (Rockies, 2015) playing for the Rays in 2014. This year, the field included numerous potential first-round draft picks, both for the 2017 and 2018 classes.

“I was shocked how good it was,” Castleberry said. “Everybody was rolling out arms. We’re seeing guys at 92-95 (mph), we’re seeing lefthanders at 96, 95. Not just the name guys, but there are some guys I know I didn’t know about (before the event). Some of these guys—and we all do the circuit, we do the ToS (Tournament of Stars) and all that—some of these guys weren’t at those events.”

East Coast Pro allowed teams to identify talent and begin to prepare for the spring follow season. Here are a few standouts from each club.

Cleveland Indians (Mid-Atlantic)

MacKenzie Gore (Whiteville, N.C., HS) showed athleticism and a deep arsenal of stuff. Kier Meredith (Glenn HS, Winston-Salem, N.C.) showed game-changing speed and the ability to put the ball in play.

Miami Marlins (Deep South)

We knew lefthander Jacob Heatherly (Cullman, Ala., HS) was good, but he showed major league starter traits and excellent pure stuff at ECP. Catcher M.J. Melendez continues to improve his ability to use his raw tools, both at the plate and behind it.

Baltimore Orioles (Georgia and North Florida)

D.L. Hall (Valdosta, Ga., HS) had what might have been the best outing of any amateur pitcher this summer, showing two plus pitches and a third that could be average or better. Cole Brannen (The Westfield School, Perry, Ga.) had a solid week, showing impressive timing in game action to go with his natural athleticism. The Orioles might have had the most pure talent of any team at the event. Luis Campusano (Cross Creek HS, Augusta, Ga.) showed defensive tools behind the plate; Hunter Ruth (F.W. Buchholz HS, Gainesville, Fla.) showed a live arm, Baron Radcliff (Norcross, Ga., HS) showed some of the best lefthanded power in the class. Mark Vientos (American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.) has elite bat speed. Drew Waters (Etowah HS, Woodstock, Ga.) impacted the ball well despite a less-than-conventional swing. Bryce Hutchinson (Spruce Creek HS, Port Orange, Fla.) showed drastic improvements in his athleticism and breaking stuff before leaving the game with a cramp. Underclassmen righthanders Kumar Rocker (North Oconee HS, Bogart, Ga.) and Ethan Hankins (Forsyth Central HS, Cumming, Ga.) showed off their jaw-dropping athleticism and size. There were several others who were intriguing.

Texas Rangers (Northeast)

Third baseman Nick Egnatuk (Immaculata HS, Somerville, N.J.) and shortstop Andrew Papantonis (Delbarton HS, Morristown, N.J.) established themselves as high-follows for the spring, driving the ball with authority throughout the week. Chris McMahon (West Chester, Pa., Rustin HS) showed outstanding arm strength. Nick Storz (Poly Prep Country Day, Brooklyn, N.Y.) mowed through hitters and showed the potential for two plus pitches. Quentin Holmes (Monsignor McClancy Memorial HS, East Elmhurst, N.Y.) infected the team with his hustle and aptitude, also showing surprising gap power to go with his plus-plus speed and elite center field defense.

Tampa Bay Rays (South Florida)

Tim Elko (Hillsborough HS, Tampa) showed that he doesn’t care how good the pitching is; he’s going to drive the ball. Alex Toral (Archbishop McCarthy, Southwest Ranches, Fla.) tapped into his raw pull-side power. Joe Perez (Archbishop McCarthy, Southwest Ranches, Fla.) showed improved athleticism in his delivery and reached 97 mph. Ray Gil (Gulliver Prep, Miami) flashed line drive ability and bat speed. Gilbert Rivera (Miami Killian Senior HS) stung the baseball a few times.

Kansas City Royals (Midwest)

Righthander Mason Hickman (Pope John Paul II HS, Hendersonville, Tenn.) mowed through hitters, showing the ability to manipulate a breaking ball and generate late sinking action and plane on his fastball. Righthanders Jeff Criswell (Portage, Mich., Central HS) and Chandler Ferguson (Jefferson HS, Lafayette, Ind.) intrigued. Steve Mann (Detroit Country Day School) showed well in center field.

Beyond the pure physical talents, there were several fascinating stories to emerge from the event.

Two-Sport Star Radcliff Emerges

Georgia outfielder Baron Radcliff opened eyes with his power and arm strength, fitting the classic right field profile. Radcliff’s father Vic Radcliff was a fourth-round pick out of high school in 1995 and played in the Royals farm system.

“He knows the process. He’s always telling me what I’ve got to do to take the next level,” Baron said of his relationship with his father.

Radcliff is also an accomplished quarterback, and he missed football practice to attend East Coast Pro.

“I play football a lot so a lot of these guys have way more at-bats than I do and get to practice way more than I do, but I just take it by the time and do as best as I can,” Radcliff said. “But I think that the after this high school football season’s over I’m gonna really transform my abilities and take it to the next level.”

Radcliff says he will not play football after high school. Last week, he committed to play baseball at Georgia Tech.

Toral Rises To The Occasion

Alex Toral has long been known for his elite raw power. He has a compact swing, but has not seen the ball land in the outfield as often as he’d hoped coming into the summer. East Coast Pro was important for him, and he stepped up, turning on a high fastball from D.L. Hall for a home run.

“It’s crazy. I mean, a lefty-on-lefty matchup, especially with a great pitcher like D.L. Hall,” Toral told Baseball America’s Will Bryant. “It’s crazy, it’s a dream come true honestly and in front of a crowd like this to perform like I did today, I’m blessed to have performed this way.”

Toral also said that he made some mechanical adjustments after a disappointing showing at the Tournament of Stars in June.

“At Tournament of Stars, I knew that I didn’t have the best week . . . and then in Georgia (at the Perfect Game WWBA 17U Championship) I feel like I made the adjustment I usually make,” Toral said. “I hit the ball well in Georgia and then coming in here at (the Under Armour All-America Game) I had some good at-bats and just coming in here I felt really confident. I mean I’ve been hitting the ball really hard all week. It’s nice to see one fall, you know, lately I haven’t been getting the balls I needed.”

Melendez Learning How To Use His Tools

When Marlins hurlers Blayne Enlow and Jacob Heatherly were pounding the zone in the low 90s and showing elite breaking pitches, it would have been easy not to notice the catcher. That’s because M.J. Melendez’s receiving has improved significantly. He was at ECP as an underclassman and showed his explosive quick-twitch ability then, but he continues to refine his game, looking better each time Baseball America sees him play.

Melendez recognized that he needed to calm down his front side a bit, so he’s reduced his leg kick in an attempt to make more consistent contact. At ECP, he showed the ability to impact the ball to his pull side, ripping one home run in the event.

“With two strikes, I just don’t do it,” Melendez said of his leg kick. “I just don’t stride. I widen my stance a little bit and try to throw my hands at the ball.”

Melendez also spoke about his home run, hit off a righthander who had an excellent changeup that was designed to punish lefthanded hitters such as Melendez.

“So that at-bat I swung at two changeups—the guy had a great changeup. I thought, ‘I really gotta sit on this changeup’ and if he throws a changeup I’m going to try to at least foul it off, make some contact. So that’s what I was thinking. And then I called time because he was in a groove, so I was trying to not keep him in that rhythm, try to flake him a little bit. So I stepped in, waited a little bit, called time.”

“Also, what went through my head, I’m thinking ‘I’m a catcher I don’t think in this situation I’d call a fastball inside,’ but another catcher might think ‘Since he’s leaning in over the plate he might be thinking changeup again, so I might try to bust him in.’ At that point I spread my leg, two strikes, got a little closer to the plate and I just tried to see it out of his hand. I thought if it’s a changeup, I’m just going to try to foul it off. Fastball, I’m going to throw my hands on it, just get my barrel to the ball. And that’s kind of the sequence of things and it worked out in my favor.”

Melendez, the son of new Florida International head coach Mervyl Melendez, shows rare aptitude for such a young player, and he’s established himself as the top prep catching prospect in the class thus far. He is moving from Alabama to Florida, and said that he is still deciding which high school he will attend, though he had narrowed his decision down to two powerhouse programs.