- Full name Brandon Neely
- Born
- Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 205 / Bats: R / Throws: R
- School Spruce Creek HS, Port Orange, Fla.
Top Rankings
Draft Prospects
-
A year after Zac Veen went as the No. 9 overall pick in the draft, Spruce Creek High in Port Orange, Fla. has another player who could get drafted in righthander Brandon Neely, though Neely doesn’t have the sort of top-of-the-draft talent that Veen did before him. Still, Neely has a talented arm from the right side and scouts think he’ll throw plenty hard one day in the future, already getting into the 94-95 mph range now with the arm speed and physical projection that could have him in the upper 90s in a few years. On top of a lively fastball, Neely has shown both a curveball and a slider that have above-average potential, along with an 83-84 mph changeup that he flashes enough to project for a solid four-pitch mix in the future. He doesn’t use the changeup much now, and instead relies more heavily on his breaking balls. Neely throws a curveball in the mid-to-upper 70s and the pitch has good top-down movement at its best, but occasionally blends into his slider with more slurvy shape. Scouts seem to like the curveball variant better and believe it could turn into a consistent above-average pitch in the future. Neely is plenty athletic, with a delivery that’s on line to the plate, but scouts have noted that his fastball command will vary from day to day and they aren’t sure exactly why that’s the case. He’s committed to Florida and could be a difficult sign, but teams like him in the three-to-five-round range.