FIRST BASEMEN

Kris Bryant, R/R, 6-5, 190 (Bonanza HS, Las Vegas NV)
Balanced big man with above-average power, learning to hit, lacks other tools.

Ryon Healy, R/R, 6-5, 200 (Crespi HS, Woodland Hills, CA)
Great body w/projection; has power potential but long way off; Oregon sign; great fit. 

Jake Jelmini, L/R, 6-3, 200 (Mira Costa HS, Manhattan Beach, CA)
Angels Elite puts him on map; line drive-hitter, big frame, will need to show power.

Tim Kiene L/R, 6-4, 230 (Avon Old Farms, South Windsor, CT)
LHH power is his top tool; big body slugger reminds me of Jack Cust

Tyler Kuresa, L/L, 6-3, 185 (Oakmont HS, Roseville, CA)
Lanky, projectable, some hard contact w/wood; bat will be his tool. 

Jared Lakind, L/L, 6-2, 185 (Cypress Woods, Cypress, TX)
Top tool is left-handed power aboard solid frame.

Ty Linton, R/R, 6-3, 210 (Charlotte Christian, Matthews, NC)
Good hands, strong body, aggressive cut. Needs experience hitting. Lots of promise.

Eric Paulson, R/R, 6-0, 180 (Fremd HS, Barrington, IL.)
RHH power potential, but incomplete hitter with modest frame; college follow.

Christian Yelich, L/R, 6-3, 185 (Westlake HS, Thousand Oaks, CA)
Tall, lanky, and loose; has some LH pop; makes hard contact. Very projectable.

MIDDLE INFIELDERS
Sean Coyle, 2B, R/R, 5-9, 175 (Germantown Academy/Chalfont, PA)
Perfect fit as UNC-type 2B; Little guy with hands and speed; best college first

D’Monte Grissom, 2B-CF, R/R, 5-9, 175 (Whitewater HS, Fayettville, GA)
70 runner, spray hitter, great athlete; exception to rule about stocky bodies; strong hands 

Lonnie Kauppila, SS, R/R, 6-0, 170 (Burbank HS, Burbank, CA)
Stanford commit; Cardinal kind of player: maximizes average skills w/savvy

Matt Lipka, 2B-SS, R/R, 6-1, 192 (McKinney HS, Frisco, TX)
A grinder, lacks one dominant tool, should be a very good college player. Spray hitter.

Marcus Littlewood, SS, S/R, 6-2, 190 (Pine View HS, St. George, UT)
Good frame, good hands with wood, body projects, should be solid every day ML player.

Jacob Rice, SS, R/R, 6-3, 190 (Tulsa Union, Tulsa, OK)
Projectable, durable body, strong hands, inexperienced hitter, good arm.

Alex Silver, SS, R/R, 6-1, 185 (Bellaire, Houston, TX)
Above-average defender and arm, slap hitter, athletic, definite follow.

Tony Wolters, 2B/SS, L/R, 5-10, 165 (Rancho Buena Vista HS/Vista, CA)
Scouts love his 60 speed (4.1), defensive hands, and hard contact as seen at Aflac.

THIRD BASEMEN
Zach Alvord, R/R, 6-0, 180, (South Forsyth HS, Alpharetta, GA)
Wiry, good hands w/wood, some projection. College best, would like to revisit later.

Yordy Cabrera, R/R, 6-4, 190 (Lakeland HS, Lakeland FL)
Above-average power potential and arm to stay at 3B; body scares me; a beast.

Spencer Davis, R/R, 6-4, 215 (Woodlands HS, Woodlands, TX)
Great foundation for above-average contact and power, enough arm for corner INF.

Dominic Ficociello, S/R, 6-3, 170 (Fullerton HS, Fullerton, CA)
Sweet-swinging switch-hitting sleeper makes hard contact with projectable body

Chad Lewis, 3B-OF, R/R, 6-3, 195 (Marina HS, Huntington Beach, CA)
Right frame for a corner, RHH power is his tool; developing hitter.

Justin O’Conner, R/R, 6-1, 190 (Cowan HS, Muncie, IN)
Bounced back from injury at AC to show drive with wood; good frame.

Josh Sale, L/R, 6-0, 210 (Bishop Blanchet HS, Seattle WA)
LHH power is his top tool; future position is a question; college first may be best fit

Christian Summers, SS-3B, L/R, 6-3, 190 (Central, San Angelo TX)
LHH plus power and plus arm for 3B; right body, athletic, projects nicely

Aviles pitched for a week in California this summer, first at the Area Codes and then at the Aflac game. His fastball was at 88-91 at the Area Codes and his fastball command was below average. Aviles has a wiry and loose frame that has yet to physically mature. He can get downhill, but in this video, he had a hard time keeping his mechanics and repetition intact. I thought that Aviles was smooth, but not as explosive as he should have been for his body type and arm speed. He lacked a power curveball, at 75-76, and his change-up at 83 was too hard.

Aviles (Suffern HS, Suffern, NY) will be one of the top high school arms in his region in the 2010 draft. After his Area Codes outings, he showed more power in his quick look at Aflac. The house gun had him topping out at 93, which is where a 6-4, 190-right-hander should be. Aviles ditched the curve and change on the national stage, pitched at 90-91 instead of 89-91, and threw a hard slider at 88.

He’ll be interesting to watch. At this stage, he’s a two-pitch power guy, which means either college closer or long-term minor league project. I’m a big believer that power high school arms should remain as starters first until all options are exhausted. We’ll have more video and a complete report on Aviles later in the season. I have him as a rounds 3-5 guy at this point, but I did notice at Aflac that Aviles liked the bullpen tempo of get-it-and-throw-it. 

Rice is an intriguing prospect. Listed at 6-3, 190 at the Area Codes, the Tulsa Union HS prospect has strong physical features. A right-handed hitting shortstop, the guess here is that Rice will be playing third base or a corner outfield spot a few years down the line. He’s an average runner and has a slightly-above average arm, which is enough for this type of player. His athletic actions and hands are fairly loose and strong. It’s his bat paired with strength and athleticism that makes him a prospect. He dumped football to focus on baseball, which was a wise decision. We’ll have a full scouting report on him in the future, but Rice is worth keeping on the follow list.  For the record, I felt he was the best position player on the White Sox Area Codes team.

Center fielder Ryan Brett (Highline HS, Seattle) has proven that he has above average speed but will constantly have to re-prove himself because of his 5-8, 170 build. Facing right-hander Jason Adam a few pitches after Adam hit 90, Brett hit a hard single back up the middle. He broke for second on the next pitch and advanced to third when Adam’s pitch was in the dirt. Adam (Blue Valley NW HS, Overland Park Kan.), at 6-4, 225, has the frame to develop more power, but must develop his body and improve command and control. He does have good arm speed, so he’s got the basic tools. He was the only White Sox pitcher to touch 90 in this game.

John Pustay (Pine Creek HS, Colorado Springs, Colo.), a left-handed hitting 5-11, 170 outfielder, hit a solid opposite field double late in the game and showed plus 4.1 speed and aggressive play. His size might scare some pro teams off coming out of high school, but the skill set he presented here would be ideal for college baseball and the wood bat summer route. Mike Maddle (Tell City HS, Tell City, Ind.) followed with a hard-hit single to score Pustay, who also beat out an infield single in his next at-bat and stole second base.  He scored from second on a firmly hit single by Jackson Laumann (Boone County HS, Florence, Ken.) and showed his speed again. No points were deducted for Pustay’s enthusiastic belly flop slide into home plate. A last-minute roster addition playing in front of only a handful of scouts, Pustay made the most out of what opportunity he was given. If he can’t win over pro scouts, he’s going to make a college coach extremely happy.

Jacob Rice is one of the more intriguing position players on the White Sox. He has a good baseball frame at 6-3 and is listed at 190, with room to physically mature. He’s a good runner for that size, getting down to first base at 4.16 from the right side. He also shows signs that his wrists work well with a wood bat, as he flicked several consecutive pitches foul in one at-bat before grounding out. He ran well but didn’t make hard contact in the at-bat.

White Sox starter Dylan Bundy (Owasso HS, Sperry, Oklahoma), a husky, powerfully-built 6-2, 205 right-hander, hit 91, 92 and 93 mph with his fastball in the first inning, controlling it enough to get outs. He dropped in a change-up at 77 and a curveball for a strikeout at 74 to retire Perkins, showcasing his secondary pitches.

Bundy struck out the side in the second inning. Pitching with his fastball at 91-93, Bundy struck out Jacob Felts (Orangefield HS, Orange Tex.) and Jared Lakind (Cypress Woods HS, Cypress, Tex.) with fastballs. He finished off Dex Kjerstad (Canyon Randall HS, Amarillo) with the best breaking ball he threw in his outing.

Bundy struck out the final two batters he faced to run his total to seven in three innings, placing himself firmly as the best starting pitcher on the first day of the Area Codes.

Exit the hard-throwing and husky right-hander and enter the 5-10 left-hander with stuff bigger than his size.  Lefty Jordan Shipers (South Harrison HS, Bethany, Missouri) showed a disciplined, closed delivery and nice downhill plane on a fastball that hit 91 and repeated several times at 90. He showed the makings of a hard slider at 82 and finished with a flourish, getting a freeze-frame strikeout with a hard 82 curveball.

Right-hander Archie Bradley followed and immediately put his name on the 2011 radar screen. Pitching with better all-around stuff than Bundy and with a pitcher’s body more fitting a major league profile, Bradley hit 94, pitched consistently at 91-92 with command and control well beyond a typical high school junior, and showed a power 86 curveball with a good slider. Already listed at 6-4 and 220, Bradley, who will be 16 this month, looks like he has more to go in his development.

Bradley followed with another scoreless inning, striking out Spencer Davis (Woodlands HS, The Woodlands), then induced a pair of groundballs without hard contact. He completed his third scoreless inning with more consistent power stuff, getting a fly ball and a pair of ground balls. He retired Aflac invite Brian Rigara on a ground ball for his final out.

Rangers starting pitcher Austin Kubitza, a 6-5, 215 right-hander from Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville, Texas) topped at 92 in the first inning and pitched at 88-90 as he struggled to throw strikes and gave up two runs. Kubitza bounced back in the second inning, though he still fought to command and control. He hit a White Sox batter and then finished the inning with a strikeout against Jacob Rice, who had made solid contact in the first inning.

Rice (Tulsa Union, Tulsa, OK) is one of the position players who helped himself the most in this game. He scored in the fifth inning with aggressive and athletic base running, dashing for home on a wild pitch and scoring with a headfirst slide. Mike Maddle (Tell City HS, Tell City, Indiana) connected on a solid single past third base for an RBI single later in the inning.

White Sox outfielder Chuck Jones (Boonville HS, Boonville, Missouri) is frighteningly talented but maddeningly inconsistent. In BP he showed he can put a charge in the ball, but his frequency isn’t there yet. He got enough of a ground ball to roll a single into left field in this game, but in his next at-bat was twisted up and struck out by Rangers right-hander Tony Rizzotti (James Martin HS, Arlington, Tex.)

Rizzotti, a 6-3, 175 right-hander, is a promising right-hander who has enough stuff to compete as a college pitcher and could have some physical projection left to help him assert himself.

Right-hander John Simms (College Park HS, The Woodlands) hit 90 in his first Area Codes inning, also flashing a very good 79 mph slider for a called strikeout. Simms showed good arm speed and a slinger-type delivery. He looks like he has more physical projection and should be worth watching as the draft season unfolds.

The Rangers scored against left-hander Albert Minnis, who showed an 86-88 fastball with modest movement but not much polish. The left-hander has a physique reminiscent of George Sherrill, but will need another pitch. Spencer Davis and Matt Lipka hit RBI singles against Minnis in the eighth inning. Another run scored on an error. Overall, Minnis isn’t a bad find for lefty hunters, could be a draft out of high school, and would be an exceptional get for a Division I program. He finished strong, with a scoreless ninth inning, retiring Rigera and Perkins on a pair of ground balls.

Lipka was barely thrown out trying to take second on his RBI single, giving enough running speed to show one of his complementary tools. He’s a good middle infielder, about the same size as University of Texas and former Area Code Ranger Brandon Loy. But where Loy’s game is based on quickness, Lipka goes on strength for his size. He showed athleticism in the ninth inning to charge a ball, but his hurried throw, while strong, was in the dirt.

Scanning the scouting highlights from the morning sessions, in which some 200 hitters participated, here is a handful of noteworthy performers.

The hardest hit ball of the six-hour BP session was possibly hit by Anthony Bryant of Connally HS of Pflugerville, Texas. A left-handed hitter listed at 6-3, 215, Bryant got his loose and easy swing into a pitch to drive it on a solid line off the right-field scoreboard, just to the right of the 387-foot marker.

Braynt was part of a talent-laden Texas team in which several players had good BP sessions to start the showcase. Brian Ragira, a tall and lanky outfielder from James Martin HS in Arlington, Texas, showed his plus bat speed. Outfielder Kendrick Perkins, from La Porte HS, showed a nice and easy swing with power potential.

Shortstop Matt Lipka, a probable high school draft pick, showed a whippy swing resulting in several well-hit line drives, and catcher Jacob Felts had a good session with an aggressive cut that produced clean and hard contact.

From Southern California, outfielders Austin Wilson (Harvard-Westlake HS, North Hollywood) and Angelo Gumbs (Torrance HS) both had good BP showings. Wilson showed why his plus athletic frame and fast hands give him the ability to translate those skills into power. Gumbs is extremely aggressive and might have the fastest hands here. Outfielder Mike Lorenzen, with a gap-to-gap swing, had a good session, as did Valenicia HS SS Christian Lopes.

On the East Coast-based Yankees, left-handed hitting first baseman Tim Kiene, a 6-4 230-pound first baseman from Avon Old Farms in South Windsor, Connecticut, showed how he likes to get his arms extended and produce hard contact and power. Catcher Greg Brodzinski (6-2, 210) from Bishop Eustice (Turnersville, NJ) showed a durable body, no matter his modest height. Speaking of modest height, right-handed hitting second baseman Sean Coyle’s bat created loud shots and line drives. Coyle plays for Germantown Academy in Chalfont, Penn.

From the Washington Nationals, from Washington State, right-handed hitting second baseman Ryan Brett showed great hands and the ability to drive the ball. One prospect for 2011, Spencer O’Neil, is worth following for his lanky and projectable frame.

From the Reds, composed of players from Arizona and Colorado, Josh Alexander, Trevor Allen, Mike Benjamin, Jacob Brugman, and Kris Bryant had good rounds and are each draft quality players in the future. Aflac invite Marcus Littlewood needed a few rounds to warm up before finding his grove in his last swings. Left-handed hitting catcher T.C. Mark will be interesting to watch for his power potential.

Kevin Jordan, a lean and lanky and very athletic outfielder from Northside Columbus (Georgia), showed explosive ease in his swing and hit balls with authority. D’Monte Grissom (Whitewater, Fayetville, GA) is one of the best slap hitters here with a great deal of upside in front of him. Another line-drive hitting second baseman, Pat Kelly (Red Wing HS, Red Wing, Minnesota) showed modest pop for a player of his nature. Jacob Rice (6-3, 190, Tulsa Union, Oklahoma) found some balance later in his round and drove balls. Aflac invite Justin O’Conner (Cowan HS, Muncie, Indiana) also needed a few rounds worth of swings to find his groove, saving his best for last when he drove several balls hard from gap to gap.

The games are scheduled to begin at 4 PM PST when the Nationals (Washington) and Reds (Southwest) play a nine-inning game, followed by the Rangers (Texas) and White Sox (Midwest and Central states) playing nine.

Baseball Beginnings will have recaps and noteworthy performances and radar gun readings from each game this week.