On Sunday, February 6, the Prep Baseball Report 20th annual Super 60 took place at The MAX in McCook, Illinois. This event is known as the premier preseason showcase prior to high school ball starting across the country and has regularly seen high-end names attend, such as Gavin Lux, Jarred Kelenic, and a multitude of other professional players.
This year’s group was no different and, in fact, several players certainly popped onto draft radars thanks to their performance. Prospects Live was on-site and, after speaking with several industry personnel in attendance, below is a list of the event’s main standouts.
BATS
Utah was well represented at Sunday’s Super 60, with INF Fisher Ingersoll (TCU) emerging as probably the day’s biggest winner. He boasts a lean, high-waisted and projectable 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame that can easily add 20+ pounds of mass over the next calendar year. Ingersoll easily repeated a short left-handed stroke with loft through the zone, maintaining balance and rhythm throughout his BP round. The potential projection in his frame paired up with how easy his operation is makes for a pretty enticing offensive profile down the road. Ingersoll’s hands worked on the infield, though he’s likely a third baseman at the next level. Still, it was an impressive look by one of Utah’s top prep prospects.
One of the nation’s top-ranked prospects heading into the event, INF Gavin Kilen (Louisville) emerged a winner after an enhanced all-around showing, starting with strength tacked onto an athletic frame. Kilen kicked his day off with a 6.71 in the 60-yard dash, his top time to date, and followed it off with an impressive showing in BP. He routinely worked off the barrel and sprayed line drives back where they came from, generating louder contact than previously seen. He took one of the event’s cleanest rounds of infield defense as well, flowing effortlessly throughout the diamond with the footwork capable of sticking up the middle in the long run.
Arguably the event’s loudest performance came from INF Maximus Martin (Rutgers). A chiseled 6-foot, 180-pound athlete, Martin jump started his workout by floating to a 6.63 in the 60-yard dash - one of the day’s fastest marks. He continued to impress by working with authority in batting practice, generating loud contact through his high-end bat speed. Martin’s max exit velocity peaked at 101 mph and his 94.70 mph average exit velocity was amongst the day’s best. He took an athletic round of infield defense as well, working low to the ground with clean funnels inward and a loose, powerful arm that peaked at 93 mph across the infield. Many tabbed Martin as a potential winner heading into the event and he left The MAX with exceeded expectations.
OF Gregory Pace Jr. (Michigan) certainly turned heads early in the workout when he blazed his way to a 6.35 60-yard dash on the lasers. That level of athleticism clearly showed in the batter’s box, where Pace flashed easy bat speed and tempo from the right side and occasional juice as well, reaching a peak exit velocity of over 100 mph. His speed obviously is a major asset in the outfield and his footwork during his workout matched up fairly easily.
Few have the physical projection that scouts dream of like OF Brendan Summerhill (Arizona), who at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds may have had the highest ceiling frame at the entire Super 60. Summerhill glided his way to a 6.54 in the 60-yard dash and that athleticism played in the outfield, where he comfortably roamed around the baseball with soft, nimble feet. He generates plenty of loft and leverage at the plate from the left side, working with a confident aura to him throughout both his BP rounds and flashing a clear middle-of-the-order type profile at times. Expect Summerhill to be a favorite amongst Midwest area scouts as they make their way to see him this spring.
Another Illinois native to make waves after the Super 60 was INF Estevan Moreno (Notre Dame), who may have ended up being one of the workouts biggest winners. Standing at 6-foot-2, 200-pounds, Moreno’s BP round was nothing short of physical, as he hammered baseball after baseball into the gaps with authority. His peak exit velocity (103 mph) and average mark (96.40 mph) were at the top of the event leaderboard, while his farthest hit ball finished a few feet behind the event leader. A shortstop, and sometimes even a second baseman, by trade, Moreno’s defensive home is likely to be third base at the next level. He’ll have no problem handling that, however, and his bat is more than capable of holding its own in that spot. Playing in a competitive conference and against stable Illinois prep competition, expect scouts to get quality looks at Moreno this spring and for his draft status to rise as a result.
Most known for his work on the mound, 3B/RHP Owen Murphy (Notre Dame) put together an impressive look as a position player last Sunday. Murphy worked with authority at the plate, thumping the event’s farthest hit ball and reaching a peak exit velocity of 103 mph. The ease and rhythm in which he was able to control his barrel while making loud contact is noteworthy and his swing is capable of catching barrels at all quadrants of the zone. Murphy’s a capable glove at third base as well with steady hands and the arm strength to stick there in the long run. Though his future may ultimately be on the mound, Murphy has certainly made a case for himself as a position player over the last year or so.
C Ross Highfill (Mississippi State) is a unique case in his own right as a compact, uber-athletic backstop with plenty of muscle attached to his frame. He ran a 6.50 in the 60-yard dash and followed it up with an easy, yet loud, round of BP. The smoothness in which Highfill’s hands work are noteworthy and his ability to produce loud contact while staying under control was noteworthy. There’s a real chance his bat can be an impact tool for him at the next level. Defensively, Highfill’s athleticism plays into his favor behind the plate as most catchers aren’t running in the same stratosphere as he is in the 60-yard dash. His arm ripped off an 85 mph max to second base as well during his workout, pumping several 83-84 mph throws in the process. Right-handed hitting high school catchers aren’t always super coveted, but Highfill did have a strong showing at this event.
ARMS
It was truly a breathtaking performance by LHP Jackson Humphries (Campbell) at The MAX on Sunday, one that almost certainly every scout in attendance would not leave the facility without remembering. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound southpaw showed an uptick in stuff, sitting at 93-95 mph with his fastball, while also honing in control of a clean four-pitch mix. He spun both of his breaking pitches at 2,600+ RPM on average and featured a changeup thrown at arm speed/slot in the low-80s, too. With a sustained showing of this type of stuff, it would be a real surprise if Humphries is not selected in the first 100 picks come July’s draft.
From Rhode Island, RHP Ben Brutti (South Florida) popped after a strong ‘pen, entering the event as more of an under-the-radar name. He’s a strong 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete with long arms that may even add more mass as he continues to physically mature. Brutti used that whip in his levers to generate a hard-running low-90s fastball, touching 96 mph on the stalker on his final bullet. His fastball defies the prototypical thinking of today’s game, flat fastballs that ride up in the zone, but the amount of late arm-side action it gets from a lower window makes for a truly effective weapon for Brutti. He complimented it with a sweeping slider that flashed boomerang-esque action at times, working laterally across the zone as a quality pairing. The development of his changeup will be what ultimately defines Brutti’s future as a starter or reliever, but his arsenal impressed during his 20-pitch showing.
It’s impossible to miss the physically defined 6-foot-3, 245-pound frame of RHP Aiden Moffett (Louisiana State) when he walks into a room, especially because he may not be done growing yet. Moffett has clear strength in his lower half, my guess would be that he can squat the house, but his high waist and long levers suggests there may be even more to come down the road. Moffett pumped his heater in at 93-94 mph throughout, reaching back for a 97 mph max on his final fastball. He supplemented it with two quality secondaries: an 88-90 mph cutter with hard biting action and a sharp, more vertically spun high-70s curveball that averaged nearly 2,500 RPM. Moffett has some polish left, particularly in his delivery, but he certainly caught scouts’ attention with this ‘pen.
The “spin king” as most people have touted him by this point, RHP Austin Henry (Wichita State) lived up to his moniker in every way possible. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound South Dakota native ripped off multiple 3,200+ RPM curveballs, including one that spun at a peak of 3,412 RPM. It’s a pretty astronomical tool that Henry has at his disposal, one that quite literally nobody else in the country has shown capable of doing. His fastball played at anywhere from 91-94 mph and, although he doesn’t spin it like his breaking ball obviously, it also has some interesting spin characteristics. Henry is fairly raw in regards to his strike throwing and delivery polish, but the clay is certainly there to mold him into an absolute monster three or four years down the road.
One of the day’s last arms was RHP Gage Stanifer (Cincinnati) and the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Indiana native certainly didn’t disappoint. Stanifer’s strongest pitch right now is his fastball, which is a lively offering working relatively easy out of a shorter arm window at 93-95 mph. He can certainly stand to add a few more ticks to his heater and it would be no surprise if, in two or three years, he’s approaching the 98-99 mph mark with his fastball. Stanifer featured a firm upper-80s changeup that played more like a two-seam fastball, flashing late arm-side run from a slightly lower arm slot. Still figuring out his secondaries, the Bearcat signee is an interesting projection arm, especially if his fastball continues to climb into the spring.