Up To 100 MPH, Jack Bauer Enters Rare Velocity Range For Prep Lefthanders

Image credit: Jack Bauer (Tracy Proffitt/Four Seam Images)

Editor’s Note: Just a few days after this piece was published, Bauer upped the ante and reached 102 mph with his fastball.

Back in September 2023 at Prep Baseball Report’s inaugural All-America game in Milwaukee, scouts were mostly focused on the 2024 high school class. The game pitted some of the top 2024-eligible prep players in the country against some of the best 2025-eligibles.

One of those 2025s was Illinois lefthander Jack Bauer.

Two summers away from his own draft, the lanky southpaw worked a quick four-batter inning in which he threw a fastball in the 92-95 mph range, generating swings and misses with it, a slider and changeup. He got a pair of groundouts, walked a batter and struck out Griffin Burkholder—who went on to sign for $2.5 million in the second round with the Phillies—with an 83 mph left-on-right changeup.

A year later during Bauer’s time to shine on the showcase circuit, he continued to show loud stuff, but he struggled with his control. He was one of only two lefthanders to touch at least 95 mph at Perfect Game’s National showcase—along with No. 8 player in the class Kruz Schoolcraft—and one of only four players at the event to throw a breaking ball with a spin rate north of 3,000 rpm—along with righthanders Reid Worley and Stephen Christopher and lefthander Patrick Dudley.

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Bauer’s pure stuff, physical projection and handedness made him an intriguing prospect no matter the results. However, his scattered control throughout the 2024 circuit with every major league scout in the country bearing down on him capped him at just a 155 ranking on our preseason top 200 list. At four Synergy Sports-logged events from June through August, Bauer walked 16 batters and struck out 11 of the 43 batters he faced. He also threw each of his pitch types for strikes less than 50% of the time.

On our first in-season update of the season, however, Bauer was one of the most notable up-arrow players in the class. He jumped more than two rounds, from No. 155 to No. 68, and is solidly in play among the first two rounds in the class.

That ascension is almost entirely driven by his newfound velocity. After topping out around 95 mph last summer, Bauer early this spring has touched 100. While he’s only pitched in a handful of abbreviated outings, scouts have reported a prep lefthander who is now sitting around 96 mph.

LHP Jack Bauer (@LWEastBaseball, 2025; Virginia) had one of the loudest looks of the spring so far.

Former #PBAAG23 participant

FB: 98-100 mph early, settled in at 93-97.
SL: 80-81 mph, tight, had feel for the pitch.

Line: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 6 K@ShooterHunt | @PB_DraftHQ pic.twitter.com/c4GXlUg3rl
— Prep Baseball Illinois (@PrepBaseballIL) March 26, 2025

That’s a significant jump in velocity, and it’s also come with shockingly little effort in his delivery to get to it.

From conversations with scouts in reporting on Bauer’s newfound top-end power and generally “loud stuff” profile, I’ve likened him to former power-over-finesse prep lefthanders Maddux Bruns and Alex Clemmey, without much pushback.

Bruns was the 29th overall pick by the Dodgers in 2021 and Clemmey was the 59th overall pick by the Guardians in 2023. Both prep lefties touched 98 mph as high schoolers and both signed for more than $2 million. Both pitchers had repertoires that featured 70-grade fastball projections with secondaries that flashed or were consistently plus-or-better at the time. They both also had track records of spotty control.

But even Bauer’s new top-round talent designation could be light for some scouts. After all, it’s difficult to find a high school lefthander who has touched triple-digit velocity in recent seasons, let alone one who can do it while also boasting innate feel to spin a breaking ball in the 3,000 rpm range.

In an attempt to contextualize just how rare Bauer’s 100 mph radar gun reading is for high school lefties, I examined the scouting reports of every BA 500 ranked lefthander from the 2018-2024 draft classes. Where applicable, I also cross-referenced that list of players with high school pitching data from Synergy Sports to find each player’s max known fastball velocity.

Of that group of players, including Bauer, there were 15 lefties who touched at least 97 mph. But Bauer appears to stand alone in the prep lefty triple-digit club:

year	player	home state	rank	max fb velo
2025	Jack Bauer	Illinois	68	100
2022	Brandon Barriera	Florida	17	99
2024	Cam Caminiti	Arizona	21	98
2023	Cameron Johnson	Florida	43	98
2023	Alexander Clemmey	Rhode Island	49	98
2022	Noah Schultz	Illinois	51	98
2024	Kash Mayfield	Oklahoma	25	97
2023	Thomas White	Massachusetts	19	97
2023	Paul Wilson	Oregon	51	97
2022	Robby Snelling	Nevada	21	97
2022	Jackson Ferris	Florida	34	97
2021	Maddux Bruns	Alabama	48	97
2021	Jac Caglianone	Florida	122	97
2021	Brandon Clarke	Virginia	233	97
2020	Ronan Kopp	Arizona	270	97

This methodology isn’t an exact science. It’s certainly possible that some pitchers have hit higher fastball marks than their listed velocities, either in bullpen sessions or non-scouted outings that go unrecorded. We don’t have the same precise data of high school players around the country that we do for pros. Even Clemmey mentioned having touched 100 mph in high school, though that’s two ticks higher than Baseball America ever heard at the time.

So while it’s impossible to say definitively that Bauer is the hardest-throwing high school lefthander, he’s certainly one of the hardest-throwing high school lefthanders.

Below are top velocities mentioned in draft reports for all high school lefthanders drafted in the first round since 2000. Perhaps Bauer will become the first of this group with an “official” 100 mph mention this July:

year	pick	player	max fb velo
2022	23	Brandon Barriera	99
2024	24	Cam Caminiti	98
2022	26	Noah Schultz	98
2021	29	Maddux Bruns	98
2024	25	Kash Mayfield	97
2016	12	Jay Groome	97
2015	17	Brady Aiken	97
2014	1	Brady Aiken	97
2007	10	Madison Bumgarner	97
2018	16	Matthew Liberatore	96
2017	3	MacKenzie Gore	96
2017	21	DL Hall	96
2015	14	Kolby Allard	96
2006	7	Clayton Kershaw	96
2002	15	Scott Kazmir	96
2001	24	Macay McBride	96
2018	7	Ryan Weathers	95
2017	13	Trevor Rogers	95
2014	12	Kodi Medeiros	95
2012	7	Max Fried	95
2011	33	Kevin Matthews	95
2009	14	Matt Purke	95
2009	18	Chad James	95
2005	20	Mark Pawelek	95
2000	9	Mark Phillips	95
2014	28	Foster Griffin	94
2014	31	Justus Sheffield	94
2013	7	Trey Ball	94
2013	28	Rob Kaminsky	94
2013	33	Ian Clarkin	94
2010	27	Jesse Biddle	94
2009	11	Tyler Matzek	94
2003	9	John Danks	94
2002	4	Adam Loewen	94
2002	17	Cole Hamels	94
2001	20	Jeremy Sowers	94
2000	10	Joe Torres	94
2021	7	Frank Mozzicato	93
2016	30	Cole Ragans	93
2006	12	Kasey Kiker	93
2004	17	Scott Elbert	93
2000	4	Mike Stodolka	93
2005	22	Aaron Thompson	91
2019	26	Blake Walston	“Low 90s”
2016	7	Braxton Garrett	“Low 90s”
2002	31	Greg Miller	“Low 90s”
2000	19	Sean Burnett	“High 80s”