Hendrick leads top PDP League performers on Day 2
Jim Callis
@JimCallisMLBBRADENTON, Fla. -- Scouts consider Austin Hendrick one of the best hitting prospects in the 2020 high school class, and his bat figures to land him in the first round next June. He has demonstrated why that's the case during the first two days of play at the inaugural PDP League at IMG Academy.
On Thursday, Hendrick produced the hardest-hit ball in PDP play so far, smacking a lefty-on-lefty homer with an exit velocity of 109 mph against Cardinal Gibbons High's (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Timmy Robbins -- one of the top-rated prep pitching prospects for next year. The right fielder from West Allegheny High (Imperial, Pa.) followed up on Friday with a pair of doubles, and the latter sparked the winning sixth-inning rally as Team Howard defeated Team Larkin 3-1.
Hendrick said he has enjoyed the first few days of the three-week PDP League experience, a collaborative effort between MLB and USA Baseball. Besides playing three games per week, 80 of the best high school prospects for the 2020 Draft also are receiving instruction from All-Stars and Hall of Famers such as Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Ryan Howard and Barry Larkin. The top 40 performers will get chosen to play in a July 6 High School All-Star Game in Cleveland as part of All-Star Weekend, and USA Baseball also will use the League to help select players for September's 18-and-under World Cup in Busan, South Korea.
"It's awesome," said Hendrick, a Mississippi State recruit. "You come down here and you try to be like a sponge. There's so much knowledge, so much experience."
Hendrick said the highlight for him has been working with six-time All-Star and 2011 World Series champion Lance Berkman, a coach for Team Howard. Berkman spent several minutes after Friday's victory talking to his players about the mentality of hitting.
"I love working with Lance," Hendrick said. "He's helped me a lot. We've been working on bat path and staying simple. Just trying to be as barrel-conscious as possible and being more consistent."
Max Carlson (Burnsville, Minn., High), Ben Hernandez (De La Salle Institute, Chicago) and Jason Savacool (Baker High, Baldwinsville, N.Y.) don't carry profiles as high as that of Hendricks, but the three right-handers made strong impressions on the mound. Hernandez finished Friday's opener with three perfect innings for Team Larkin, working at 92-93 mph with his fastball and showing good depth on his curveball.
Savacool earned the victory in the Team Jeter's 7-5 win over Team Jones in the nightcap, striking out three hitters with a fastball that ranged from 91-94 mph and two others with an 81-83 mph slider. Pitching for Team Jones, Carlson matched Savacool for Friday's high with five whiffs of his own, three on a deceptive changeup with fade and sink that played very well off his 89-91 mph fastball.
"It's my out pitch and I love throwing it to both sides of the plate," said Carlson, a North Carolina recruit whose older brother Sam signed with the Mariners as a second-round pick in 2017. "It's really effective, no matter where I'm throwing. It's a circle change and I just throw over the top of it.
"I think that made a huge difference in my success today. A lot of people were looking for fastballs, and even the pitches that I didn't execute perfectly, they were still swinging at them."
Other standouts
Turlock (Calif.) High catcher Tyler Soderstom (Team Jones) hit Friday's lone home run, smashing a hanging curveball from Biloxi (Miss.) High right-hander Colten Keith with an exit velocity of 99 mph. Soderstrom's father Steve was the No. 6 overall pick in the 1993 Draft and pitched briefly in the big leagues.
Besides Hendrick, Mountain Pointe High (Phoenix) second baseman Carson Tucker (Team Larkin) and Monsignor Pace High (Miami Gardens, Fla.) shortstop Yohandy Morales (Team Jones) were the only players to collect two hits on Friday.
In addition to the three pitchers mentioned above, fellow right-handers Christian Rodriguez (Orange, Calif., Lutheran High/Team Howard) and Ben Wiegman (Carmel Catholic High, Mundelein, Ill./Team Larkin) also threw three scoreless innings. Rodriguez showed the best curveball spin rates of any pitcher in the first two days, including one bender at 2818 rpm.
Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic High shortstop T.J. McCants (Team Jones) turned in the defensive play of the day, ranging up the middle to snare a hit and making a strong throw to take a hit away from McAllen (Texas) High second baseman Aaron Nixon, who has solid speed.