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Part two of the series covering Area Code Select West, the weekend event which saw 40 of the best high school prospects on the West Coast square off. Here are four pitchers that really stood out at Dodger Stadium last week.
RHP, Seth Hernandez, 2025
Seth Hernandez was name dropped by prospective future Vanderbilt teammate Billy Carlson in an interview as a guy he really enjoyed facing because of his talent, and it’s easy to see why. Hernandez was a very live arm in Sunday’s game action: his fastball sat 94-95 mph, and he topped out at 96 on one pitch, the hardest pitch recorded on the day. The fastball had some serious ride through the zone and some armside run and he threw it downhill effectively. The secondary stuff was a Slider in the 83-84 mph range and had late bite, giving hitters a lot to think about in their short glimpse of facing Hernandez. With a physically good frame to project on at 6’4” and only 193 lbs, he possesses formidable extension off the mound. As he builds a foundation in his early high school career, it offers a glimpse of his consistency which is rare for young arms, and makes it seem increasingly likely he won’t make it to campus come his senior year.
RHP, Justin Lee, 2023
Justin Lee is a name that has been well known on circuits before, specifically Perfect Game for a fastball running into the mid 90’s. Lee was extremely impressive with a three pitch mix on Sunday and absolutely dominated hitters, getting nothing but Strikeouts and weak contact. The Fastball was 92-94 but mostly 3’s and 4’s and good command. He started to catch even more attention with a nasty split that was 83-84 and absolutely fell off the table. The third offering was a breaking ball, high 70’s and touched 80, it had late break and all three pitches tunneled well as he had some very confused swings from batters. Lee also recorded at least one strikeout with all three pitches, a special “look what I can do” from the UCLA commit senior.
LHP, Boston Batemen, 2024
Big lefty with shoulder length blonde flowing hair, wearing a Brewers jersey and striking batters out with a nasty fastball-slider combo, you picture Josh Hader (before the Padres trade) right? Well what if I gave you his much larger completely non-related brother? Boston Batemen is a southpaw with a 6’7, 250 lb frame, an absolute monster. He pitched 1.1 innings with 4 strikeouts, allowing just a walk as the only batter to reach base. Batemen was closed off to batters in his delivery giving him great deception and pairs his pitches well, and featured a fastball that sat between 89-92, but thanks to his length and deception the fastball played up. He put his hitters away with a nasty slider that had a solid difference in speed, 78-80 but good depth and covered nearly the entire plate in horizontal break, recorded multiple strikeouts with it.
RHP, Cole Schoenwetter, 2023
Cole was the starter for the Dodgers team so there may have been some jitters to get out, but the talent was undeniable. With a fastball that had arm side run and ran as high as 95, he was consistently between 92-95 during the outing and had a lot of life. The curveball was a nasty sharp late biting breaker that fell off the table, though it wasn’t quite 11-5 or 12-6, sort of 12-5 but either way fell off the table and had good shape. The Curveball was also a firm offering, sitting in the upper 70’s and topping at 79. He had some command issues but had a good amount of swings and misses as well. It’s a good body that presents a lot of athleticism in the way he moves both on and off the mound.