Here are the players that stood out most during the 16 hours at City of Palms Park for PG National Day Two. . .
• Today's biggest arm—both literally and in terms of velocity—was righthander Taylore Cherry from Butler High in Vandalia, Ohio. Cherry, who stands 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds is a behemoth on the mound. But, despite his hulking size, he shows excellent body control and an effortless delivery. Cherry, who throws from a low three-quarter arm slot, sat 91-92 mph with his fastball and topped out at 94 twice over his two innings of work. Cherry threw a heavy fastball with some arm-side life and commanded both sides of the plate, challenging hitters inside. He mixed in a 79-81 mph breaking ball that he calls a curveball, but the pitch has slurvy movement due to his lower arm slot. He mixed in a couple 84-85 mph changeups and dominated in his outing, getting five strikeouts and a groundout, with a little dribbler of an infield single in between.
• Two outfielders from Suffolk, Va. made a strong impression today. Josh Henderson, who is home schooled, has a nice frame that looks a little bigger than his listed 6 feet and 184 pounds. His swing can get a little long, but he has good bat speed from the left side of the plate and cranked three home runs during his batting practice session. Kyle Moore from Nansemond River High is a lean 6 feet and 180 pounds and hits from the right side of the plate. He hit the first home run of the event, pulling his hands in on an 86 mph fastball and lifting it over the left field wall. Moore has shown great hustle on the basepaths, as well.
• Trey Williams came into this event as one of the big names to watch. The third baseman from Valencia High in Placentia, Calif. had an inconsistent batting practice, looking like he was trying to do too much. The Pepperdine recruit made up for it though in his first real at-bat by scorching an opposite-field home run to right-center off a 90 mph fastball from Florida righthander Kenneth Burkhead.
• Some good arms have come out of South Carolina high schools in recent years and righthander Jamie Callahan from Dillon (S.C.) High looks to be next in line. Callahan has a 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame with projection remaining. He throws from a high three-quarter arm slot and gets good downward angle on his 88-90 mph fastball that topped out at 92. Callahan can be a little slow to the plate, but varies his looks and showed a three pitch mix with his 79-82 mph changeup and 71-74 mph 12-6 curveball that showed good depth.
• Several hitters put on impressive displays during batting practice today. Shortstop C.J. Hinojosa from Klein Collins High in Spring, Texas hammered everything during his BP session. The Texas commit showed good bat speed, the ability to square balls up and some pull power. . . Shortstop Addison Russell from Pace (Fla.) High made a lot of hard contact and launched a big home run to left field. Russell is committed to Auburn. . . Shortstop Jesmuel Valentin Diaz from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy is a 5-foot-10, 175-pound switch-hitter that showed good bat speed and hit a home run from both sides of the plate. The Louisiana State commit also showed quick hands and good actions in the field. . . Outfielder Rhett Wiseman from Buckingham Browne & Nichols High in Cambridge Mass. showed big strength by crushing a pair of home runs to the gap in right-center field. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound lefthanded hitter swings very hard and looks like he could break a bat on his back during his follow through. A Vanderbilt commit, he looked a little clumsy in the outfield during workouts and showed below-average arm strength, but has an enticing power-speed combination. . . Outfielder Vahn Bozoian from Ayala High in Chino Hills, Calif. missed most of his junior year with a broken left wrist, but he's healthy now and was back to showing off his big tools. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound righthanded hitter showed above-average bat speed, thanks to his strong core built up from playing water polo earlier in his high school career. The Southern California commit hit two batting-practice home runs and showed a strong arm in the outfield. . . Catcher R.J. Ybarra from Riverside (Calif.) Poly High made lots of hard contact. He loses his front side a little bit in games, but showed some power with a towering home run in BP. The Arizona State recruit has a thick frame at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds.
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I agree with this list if you add in Ty Hensley's performance yesterday I was more impressed with his stuff on this day then Cherry's, both were big time. As for size there's no one out there except for Giolito that has the mound presence then Cherry does.
Posted by Jim | June 18, 2011 at 8:44 am | ShortcutHere's some Taylore Cherry video my wife and I shot at the Dayton Dragons' Fifth Third Field. I got two looks at him this year and both were exactly as Conor describes above, from sitting 92 to the slurve (I've seen it tight enough to be called a true slider) to the easy delivery.
Posted by Blackie | June 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm | Shortcuthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUvzhpuQ2VE
Giolito looks special, and I agree that he and Cherry are huge physical presences. Is Giolito not at PG National?
Posted by Blackie | June 19, 2011 at 1:18 pm | ShortcutI find Cherry to be somewhat deceptive. He's sitting "only" 92, which is less than you expect from the book's cover, and guys get more good swings on him than they should. OTOH, he's about the easiest delivery you're going to see for that size and build and he has a very good feel for pitching. I suspect his draft status will depend on whether or not his velo ticks up next year. I saw his first start (40 degree temps), and one of his last, and Conor's report might have well have been written about either. Cherry's been remarkably consistent, but it remains to be seen how much is untapped. Is there more power, or are we looking at a guy who's more of a Chris Volstad profile?
Blackie – Thanks for posting the video link. I actually had seen that before, too. Good stuff! No, Giolito wasn't at PG National, but I'm looking forward to seeing him at Tournament of Stars next week. Also, I think Cherry has more in there. We'll see…
Posted by Conor Glassey | June 19, 2011 at 10:28 pm | ShortcutGlad you liked the video, Conor. Gotta give my wife most of the credit, as she's the DP. ;-) Dayton isn't exactly a baseball hotbed, so I thought it would be great to get some video up and allow fans to see what Taylore has to offer. And yeah, you've got to think there's more in there with his current lack of effort.
Posted by Blackie | June 20, 2011 at 3:35 am | ShortcutLooking forward to the ToS reports, especially Giolito's.