Southern California is known to have loads of baseball talent, especially among the prep ranks. Starting off with the first edition of Socal stars, a series of live looks that will showcase standouts among the high school ranks. Starting the series will be a pair of power house schools who squared off, featuring a pair of names that were both seen at Area Code select back in February.
2023 Kehden Hettiger, C, Sierra Canyon
In a game 1 matchup facing Notre Dame’s ace, Hettiger continued to shine, showing off a strong swing from the left side that led to a double that took one bounce off the wall for a double.
There is a lot of appeal thanks to his body, long and lean with plenty of room to grow, he already shows good power, there are hints of him already being + in game power, and he makes enough contact to get to that. As he continues to fill out, there will continue to be more power there. Hettiger is a switch hitter but the left side is where he possesses the most pop, although he is a serviceable hitter from the right side of the plate. The upside of a switch hitting catcher who can hit for power is always high, especially since Hettiger is likely to stay behind the plate. He’s a good receiver, showing the ability to stick tough fastball’s low in the zone, he also has good body awareness and blocks the ball well. He has an average arm but solid footwork, although he needs to continue to develop transfers and the accuracy of his throws. Either way, the glove can stick behind the plate and offers high upside as he grows into his body more. He reached on a walk and HBP as well as the double.
2023, Justin Lee, RHP, Notre Dame
Many eyes were looking at Lee in this one, and understandably as the fastball has been up to 95 before. Unfortunately, the game saw a delay of over an hour from when he first got loose, which might have hurt him, alongside pitching in a cold and wet environment. After a tough start that saw the first 3 batters reach and 2 runners score in the first, he settled down and cruised through the next few innings. Lee has serious strikeout stuff, and even though his velocity was down, the fastball was 88-91 for most of the outing. He relied more on his slider than usual, but showed good command of it to both sides of the plate, stealing strikes on the corners and getting swings and misses.
The pitch has solid shape and is consistent and plays very well off his fastball. His bread and butter is a splitter, which he showed less than usual but continued to have good downhill movement and get swings and misses and weak contact. Even though the velo was down from where he has been in the past, it was impressive command that allowed him to navigate through the start, and he has the potential to be a starter thanks to this command and his pitch mix. Justin Lee currently ranks as the #189 player in the most recent Prospects Live Top 300 draft prospects.
