A righthanded pitcher, Greg Perkin was the Diamondbacks' 16th-round draft pick in 199 and pitched in the Arizona system until 2002. The nephew of Baseball America Scout/Correspondent Dave Perkin, Greg Perkin traveled to Oak Ridge High in Conroe, Texas, on Tuesday to observe Jameson Taillon of The Woodlands (Texas) High, a righthander who is the top High School prospect for the upcoming June draft. Greg Perkin filed this report on Taillon:

HOUSTON—All the hype surrounding this young pitcher is well justified. Taillon delivers the ball from a three-quarters arm slot with a fluid, effortless ease. There seemed to be no over-exertion during any part of his delivery or follow-through, which suggests he has full control of his body while throwing.

Taillon impresses with the methodical nature of his pregame preparation and by his calm demeanor in front a large gathering of scouts and college coaches.

He throws three pitches: fastball, knuckle-curve and changeup. The latter two are merely complements to his hissing, sinking fastball, which ranges from 94 to 99 mph.

Taillon uses a knuckle-curve grip, which gives the thrower a chance to put more velocity on the ball while maintaining its reverse, tumbling spin. He throws the pitch at 79-85 mph and is using it well. Taillon’s fastball and curve are already well above average big league pitches.Taillon only threw two changeups (using a three-fingered grip), at 86-88 mph, but both had significant drop and sink.

His fastball control wavered a little bit, but his velocity readings remained constant from the windup and stretch. He never got tired, and his mechanics remained solid thought out the game. Taillon will need to learn to use all of his frame, particularly his legs, in his delivery, but he should find guidance at the next level to solve that concern.

Taillon’s mound presence is intimidating, but he never showed up his opponents or his team and was truly humble and workman-like. This despite the fact that the spotlight was clearly on him throughout the evening.

Taillon made good decisions as to what pitches to throw in which counts and excelled at knowing his opponent in the batter's box. He didn’t overthrow to late lineup hitters and didn’t overthink his approach to clearly overmatched batters.  

The event was truly impressive: an 18-year-old pitcher with big league stuff and professional composure.