This is introducing my new weekly, sometimes multi-week series of live looks that I’ll be conducting this spring and summer where I touch on a few players from either a game, showcase or even weekend series.
We start off with a quality high school matchup featuring Viera and Melbourne high that had multiple D1 commits and underclass that could be among the best in their classes.
C Alex Sosa, Viera HS
This was likely now a double-digit look at Sosa over the last few years, and it’s hard to not be continually impressed by the profile. Frame has become a lot more physical over the last year with adding significant lean muscle. Very athletic receiver behind the plate who will work both out of the crouch and one-knee and has an advanced ability to frame the outer edges. Blocking was equally impressive with a really quick glove in the dirt and ability to handle spin on a very sharp sweeper. There’s a real chance it's an above-average glove behind the plate long term. At the plate, Sosa showed a very advanced ability to spit on almost anything below the zone and went without a whiff acoss three plate appearances. Uses his lower half extremely well with a quick leg trigger and above-average bat speed that allows Sosa to attack fastballs throughout the zone with ease. Jumped on a pair of doubles to the pull side and has budding raw power from the left side that has easy home run pop currently. The NC State commit may already be the top prep catcher in Florida for the 2023 class presently, but I foresee a very strong rest of the spring that will solidify that claim as we head into the summer months and into draft season.
RHP Dylan Jordan, Viera HS
Jordan is a 2024 arm who's flown primarily under the radar to this point in next year’s class, but that is quickly about to change. The FSU commit was sitting 88-90 when I last saw him in October, but was a comfortable 92-94 in this outing out of the bullpen. It's a heavy sinker with hard arm-side run out of a highly deceptive low three-quarters slot that is very challenging to pick up. Filled up the zone with it while freezing hitters at the bottom of the zone. The main prize of the night for me was the slider. It was a truly advanced pitch for this stage in his development and can be an easy plus pitch down the road. Sitting 82-84 with more velocity to project down the road, Jordan can add and subtract sweep on this pitch that can create a ton of swing and miss, in and out of the zone. Flashed an upper-70s changeup with some fade as well. Command of all three pitches stood out throughout the outing, and could be a carrying tool. A name I threw out when talking with some peers and fellow evaluators was Chase Petty with potential for better command. It is the combination of stuff and command with projection that could make Jordan a top arm in the 2024 class.
Others to note:
Melbourne High School has a very good ball club that’s led by USF commit CF Jake Richardson, who showed an above-average glove in center while making a few standout plays that you rarely see as a prep. Couldn’t find any grass at the plate but the bat speed was explosive and athleticism stands out. 2025 SS Bryson Ayala is a name to write down for down the road. Ultra-projection at 6-4, 180 with twitch and above-average range at short. Showed composure and made plays look effortless. Big-time power potential in the bat as well.
