Top performers from Everett's PDP Event

July 12th, 2018

EVERETT, Wash. -- The first pitch of batting practice at Everett Memorial Stadium north of Seattle on Wednesday morning was a home run off the bat of Corbin Carroll.
Scouts who came to the Pacific Northwest's installment of the Prospect Development Pipeline -- a joint effort between MLB and USA Baseball to help amateur players showcase their skills -- weren't too surprised.

Carroll, a class of 2019 outfielder and UCLA commit, has been rising on the prospects boards due to his five-tool potential. One scout said he could even be the top prospect on the West Coast, drawing comparisons to and .
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Listed at just 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, the Lakeside High School outfielder definitely wasn't the biggest guy at the showcase, but one scout says his size won't hurt him at all.
"The best hitter in baseball's five-four," he joked. "OK, five-six."
At the PDP, athletes are put through a range of speed and agility tests, including a 30-yard dash that uses gate-analysis technology to not only time the runners but also measure the efficiency of their strides. This data is shared with all 30 MLB clubs for evaluation, and with the athletes in order to help them improve.
Here are seven other standouts from the showcase, all of whom are in the class of 2019:
Josh Mears, OF/3B
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Mears immediately stood out from the pack in Everett. Scouts called him a physical specimen with a lot of tools. He runs very well for his size, put on an impressive show of hard line drives and long fly balls during batting practice, and came up with some strong throws from right field as well.
Nate Weeldreyer, RHP
Weeldreyer put on one of the day's top pitching performances. Scouts' radar guns showed a fastball that could touch the low 90s, a changeup in the low 80s and a slow curve ball that registered in the mid 70s. The righty stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 188 pounds.
Owen Cobb, SS/2B
Scouts called Cobb's batting session just OK, but he continued to pad his resume as a strong defender with his glove work at shortstop. The Stanford commit showcased good range and enough arm strength to make all of the plays that could be demanded of him as a middle infielder.
Cole Hinkelman, OF/1B
Another Stanford commit, Hinkelman continued to show how strong he was with his batting practice performance, during which the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder hit more deep fly balls to center field than any of the other hitters. Scouts were not impressed, however, with his arm action when he took throws out of right field. One scout struggled to come up with a player comparison, saying only that most of the guys that came to mind were more athletic than Hinkelman.
Brandham Ponce, 3B/OF
Ponce will be a bat-first player, one scout said. He showcased good bat speed and strength at the plate, but looked stiff and upright in the infield, despite a strong throwing arm.
Christian Cooney, OF and Kyle Dernedde, SS/2B
Because prospects from Oregon don't generally run the national circuit, they're less likely to show up on rankings boards and more likely to fly under the radar, scouts said. Nonetheless, this pair of Oregonians put on impressive hitting shows and caused several scouts to start taking video when they started taking their hacks as members of the penultimate hitting group. Dernedde is committed to Oregon State.