Some notes from amateur players I've seen over the last few weeks, covering four different states ...
Prep right-hander Quinn Priester, of Cary-Grove HS outside Chicago, is one of a handful of high school pitchers with a real chance to go in the first round, even with the industry's general trend away from taking those guys in the first (often to pay them over-slot bonuses with later picks). Priester threw last Thursday in a home game that his team won in five innings via mercy rule, and he was strong for the first four innings before giving up harder contact in the last inning he pitched.
Priester was 90-94 mph with his four-seamer Thursday, pitching without a strict pitch count for the first time this year and also pitching in the best weather he's had to date, with an above-average curveball at 77-78 that he used for called strikes, especially third strikes, to hitters on both sides of the plate. He did throw just a couple of changeups in the mid-80s but didn't use or need it much. He dominated for three innings, striking out six of nine batters and allowing just one baserunner, but gave up more contact in the fourth and some hard contact in the fifth.
Priester really looks the part of a mid-rotation starter, from build to delivery to strike throwing. He repeats his mechanics pretty well, with just minor variations in where his hand is when his front foot strikes, and his 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame already carries plenty of muscle from his core through his hips both for durability and to help him generate velocity from his lower half. I'm not sure if the fastball was playing down in his last inning (it doesn't have much movement) or if he was just throwing more strikes because his team was about to win via mercy rule, and that is enough to push him into the second tier of prep arms after Matt Allan -- but I think he'll go somewhere in the last half of the first round.
• Nasim Nunez also has a chance to go in the first round this year as one of the best defensive shortstops in the draft class, high school or college, even though there are questions about his size and his hit tool. He's an easy plus defender with great actions and soft hands as well as a 6 arm. He's new to switch-hitting, a natural right-handed hitter who's been hitting left-handed for about a year or so to try to take advantage of his speed, and when hitting left-handed his swing is less consistent and his pitch recognition is not as strong. On both sides, he shows good hand-eye coordination but his weight is off his back leg early enough that he's probably going to max out at 4 power without a change. Because he's a no-doubt shortstop, he profiles as a potential regular, but to be more he'll have to get a lot stronger and/or make better use of his legs to drive the ball.
• Lefty Hunter Barco faced off against hitter Tyler Callihan in a late-season matchup for the two Jacksonville prospects on the 18th at the Bolles School, with a strong crowd of scouts and directors present. Barco struggled to find the plate most of the day, walking five batters in four-plus innings even though his delivery was consistently online. He was 90-94 with good tailing life with an above-average split-change at 81-83 that he used to pull the string on hitters on both sides of the plate, while his slurvy breaking ball was fringy and he seemed unable to get a consistent shape on the pitch. The bigger issue was his command and control, much of which seems delivery-related -- he loses momentum going backward before gathering to stride towards the plate. He's committed to Florida but could be someone's over-slot signing in the second-round range.
• Callihan can really hit, as I've said in a few places now; if he had a clear position he'd be a top-20 pick for sure, even with the lack of athleticism and non-projectable body. He can turn on velocity, he has plus raw power, and he can drive the ball the other way. He's also not a slug, running at least within shouting distance of average when he's underway, even though it's not pretty. But he is definitely not a shortstop, where he started that game, and I don't think he'd play anywhere other than first base ... unless he can work out behind the plate, where he played the last two innings and was not awful. He's only caught a little bit, and he would need a lot of work there, but I think there's a 5-10 percent chance he can become a passable enough receiver with real instruction. He'd be a potential star back there, and somewhere in the sandwich/second round it'll make sense for some team to roll the dice on that specific upside scenario.
• Sammy Siani is the second Siani brother to land on my draft prospect rankings after Mike made my top 100 last year and took home a $2 million, over-slot bonus as the Reds' fourth-round pick in 2018. Sammy is a similar player to Mike but is strong and has more power, while he's probably not quite the runner or defender Mike is. Siani's Penn Charter faced off against Malvern Prep a week ago, and Siani saw all of six pitches in four at-bats, striking out once and hitting two hard line drives for a single and a double. It's a very sound, balanced swing and he has good bat speed as well as the wrist strength to drive the ball the other way. He's adequate in center but his arm is below-average and it could push him to left.
• Malvern Prep also has a draft prospect in Chris Newell, a Virginia commit who's expected to head to school in the fall. The left-handed-hitting outfielder has raw power, hitting from an extremely wide base that forces him to lunge at many pitches and leaves him vulnerable to breaking stuff away from him. UVA has done well developing hitters in the past 15 years -- far, far better than they've done with pitchers -- and I could see Newell going there and producing enough to be a top-two-rounds guy in three years if he won't sign for third-round money this year.