OF Steven Bermudez Takes Over 2018 Raw Velo 2nd Place
What was previously a two mph cushion for 2018 OF/LHP Alejandro Rodriguez (Alexandria, VA) was cut in half over the weekend by 2018 OF Steven Bermudez (Temple City, CA).
Bermudez recorded a raw velocity of 92 mph at the March 13 Under Armour Baseball Factory National Tryout at East Los Angeles College to enter second place on his own, just one back of the leader. He wasn’t finished with his assault on the 2018 leaderboards, however. A switch-hitter, he posted 93 mph exit velocity from the right side of the plate to tie for sixth place in that category.
Though he’s behind a large group of players at 87 and 88 mph, SS Langston Ginder (Huntertown, IN) notched 86 mph raw velocity to tie the eighth best number we’ve seen so far from the class of 2018. A left-handed hitter with a good combination of bat speed, strength and feel for the barrel, Ginder recorded 85 mph exit velocity to qualify among class leaders in that measure.
Eight players in the class of 2019 qualified among the leaders over the weekend, including four at 82, one at 81, and three at 78 mph.
2019 SS John Moses
Among those at 82 mph was SS John Moses (Union, GA), a right-handed hitter listed at 5-foot-11, 155 pounds. He generated excellent bat speed and showed a knack for delivering the sweet spot to the ball, as evidenced by a perfect 12 instances of hard contact out of 12 batting practice swings.
82 mph raw velocity was just one of multiple qualifications among 2019 leaders for 2B/RHP Jeb Jenkins (Amarillo, TX), SS Rhett Maynard (Amarillo, TX) and SS Maycin Smothermon (Amarillo, TX). Jeb Jenkins joined the leaders in four categories, including fastball velocity (81 mph), exit velocity (80 mph) and 60 yard dash (7.19) in addition to 82 mph raw velocity. Rhett Maynard entered the top five with 88 mph exit velocity, and added a 6.97 60 yard dash for good measure. Maycin Smothermon added 78 mph exit velocity and a 7.12 60 yard dash to his 82 mph raw velo for qualification in three total categories.
Also a qualifier in three categories was 2019 SS/C Matt Lelito (St. John, IN). He notched 81 mph raw velocity, ran 7.09 in the 60 yard dash and recorded a low pop time of 2.20
Left-handed hitting OF Cade Olsen (Amarillo, TX) added a 6.95 60 yard dash and 81 mph exit velocity to 78 mph raw velocity, while C Brett Cobb (Canyon, TX) posted a low pop time of 2.18 in addition to 78 mph raw velocity. SS Caleb Hayes (Culpeper, VA) rounded out the 2019 qualifiers at 78 mph and missed inclusion among top 2019 runners by one hundredth of a second at 7.26.
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