Brooks Brannon

Brannon was a standout at Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., during the fall of 2021. At the event, he hit .429 (6-for-14) with a double and three walks. He continued that sort of standout performance this spring, where he homered 20 times and drove in 91 runs to help push Randleman (N.C.) High to a 2A North Carolina state championship over N.C. powerhouse Whiteville. A physical, 6-foot-1, 210-pound backstop who is close to physically maxed out, Brannon has plus raw power in the tank and swings like someone who knows he does—constantly looking to do damage. He wasn’t on the summer showcase circuit and so scouts don’t have much track record with him facing high-end velocity, and he has also expanded the zone and swung and missed at times with noncompetitive swings against below-average secondaries. Behind the plate, he shows above-average arm strength and clocked pop times around 1.95 seconds last fall, but he needs to improve his actions behind the plate as both a receiver and pitch blocker. There are tools here for Brannon to be an impactful player, but he needs to iron out some of the details of his game to fully capitalize on them. He’s committed to North Carolina but could fit in the third-to-fifth round range.