This year's Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field took place three weeks earlier than normal, on Saturday, eliminating the competition for players with Perfect Game's own showcase even held at Petco in mid-August. As a result, the UA game had a strong cross-section of the top talent for the 2017 draft, with many players standing out in a rain-shortened seven-inning contest.
• The best high school prospect for the 2017 draft is Hunter Greene, who attends Notre Dame HS in Los Angeles, alma mater of Giancarlo Stanton. Greene would probably be a top-10 pick as a right-handed pitcher or as a shortstop, and showed off a little bit both ways in Saturday's game.
Greene has an inconsistent swing but big, raw power, finishing second in the pregame home run derby, and paired with his plus arm and good hands that make him a potential above-average defender at short, there's a big upside play on him as a position player. I'd be a little concerned about his size -- he's already 6-foot-4, 200 pounds -- and the fact that he's a below-average runner, but that's nitpicking because the option of putting him on the mound is so appealing.
Greene was 96-98 mph in his inning of work with a super loose arm and little effort. His delivery is too quick, so while he stays online, and threw strikes on Saturday, to remain a starter he's probably going to have to slow it down and get a consistent rhythm. But this kind of arm -- present plus velocity without substantial effort -- is rare. He threw a couple of below-average curveballs, working mostly fastball in the inning, and I think his arm slot and arm speed probably lend themselves better toward a slider anyway.
• Outfielder Jordon Adell of aptly named Prospect, Kentucky, appeared in the Under Armour game for the second year in a row. His body is still projectable and you could see he's added some strength by the improved carry off his bat in BP. Adell is a real quick-twitch athlete, reminiscent of the Upton brothers at the same age, and had a couple of hard-hit balls during the game, as well as a barely foul ball that would have been a home run. He stayed on a left-hander's curveball well before striking out later in the at bat.
• It might be a banner year in Kentucky between the high school crop and the talent at Louisville for next year's draft. Right-hander Joe Boyle of Goshen was 92-94 in a quick inning, throwing a 73-74 mph curveball for strikes but without much power to the pitch. He's 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, and gets great extension out over his front side.
• Just a month after a draft that saw three Puerto Rican players drafted on Day 1, this game featured two more Puerto Rican prospects, each of whom showed some top-three-rounds ability. Heliot Ramos was the game's offensive star, with a hard triple on a changeup away, a hard ground-ball single on a 95-mph fastball, and then a big home run on a 92-mph fastball. His hands are very busy at the plate but it doesn't affect his ability to get to velocity at all. Second baseman Ricardo de la Torre took an impressive BP and then singled on the first pitch he saw, a 98-mph fastball that he drove right back through the box to center field.
• Oklahoma lefty Mitchell Stone was intriguing primarily for his size -- he's 6-10, 240 -- rather than his stuff. He was 89-91 without great downhill plane, although you'd like to think from his height he could get that with some modest changes to his stride. He threw a slider and curveball, but the curveball was big and slow and probably not a real weapon going forward. He threw one changeup, notable just because so few kids threw any changeups at all in the game.
• Right-hander Alex Scherff, from the Metroplex area in Texas, was 94-97 without much effort, flashing a slider and changeup, but he doesn't extend well out front and hitters got a good look at the fastball.
• Georgia lefty D.L. Hall -- I'm not sure I'd want to be known as "D.L." if I were a young pitcher -- was 92-94 with a soft curveball at 76-77 that he could really throw for strikes. His delivery is somewhat cross-body but he starts on the third base side of the rubber and manages to land online to the plate.
• Best defensive play of the day was by 2018 graduate Joe Gray of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, making a leaping grab in center field on a ball hit back over his head. He's got a busy approach at the plate and inconsistent path, but he showed plus raw power in BP and his body is lean and has some projection.
• Royce Lewis of Aliso Viejo, California, probably isn't a center fielder but has great bat speed and hit the biggest home run of the game. He's more power than hit right now, but sets up with his hands pretty high so getting them closer to the zone might enable him to make better contact. He attends Jserra Catholic High School, alma mater of Austin Hedges.
• Right fielder Cole Turney of Richmond, Texas, showed huge raw power in BP and then doubled to the left-center gap on a 91-mph fastball, before walking in his second plate appearance. He can get a little too uphill at the plate but there's bat speed here as well as raw strength.