OF Austin Hendrick, West Allegheny HS [PA]
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DoB: 6/15/2001. B/T: L/L
Commitment: Mississippi State
The Pittsburgh area isn't one of the country's premier baseball hotbeds, with its most notable recent products being Neil Walker, Ian Happ, and Alex Kirilloff. Now, they have a big name for the 2020 draft, as West Allegheny's Austin Hendrick may actually be an even better prospect than Kirilloff was in his 2016 draft year. A big performance over the summer made him easily the top high school bat in the country until Zac Veen's meteoric rise brought him into the same tier, and there are still a lot of scouts who would rank Hendrick ahead of Veen today.
Hendrick is a hitter, plain and simple. He has an explosive left handed swing that gives him some of the best raw power in the high school class, with a combination of strength and athleticism enabling him to whip the barrel around at high speeds. The hit tool isn't quite as refined, as there is some swing and miss in his game, but he's trending in the right direction there after a strong summer saw him make fairly consistent contact against high quality pitching. If that trend continues into pro ball and he can get to his huge raw power consistently, then his upside is as high as any hitter in this class. Defensively, he's actually pretty solid compared to a lot of other guys with his profile, as he can be a positive presence in right field with a strong arm, some sneaky speed, and enough range to make all the plays you need him to make.
The swing types are a bit different, but Hendrick reminds me a bit of now-Cardinals prospect Nolan Gorman as a hitter. Gorman was another left handed high school bat with explosive raw power and questions about his hit tool, but so far in pro ball, that hasn't been an issue yet as he mashed in A ball this year. Now, one negative in Hendrick's profile that wasn't present in Gorman's is age, as Hendrick is eleven months older relative to his class. His June birthday means he'll turn 19 a couple of days after the draft was originally scheduled to happen, presumably giving him extra development time already under his belt as compared to his peers. That said, the bat is so potent right now that the age can be more of an afterthought, and we heard very little about Bobby Witt Jr.'s June birthday last year before he went second overall to the Royals.
The stoppage in play might actually work a little bit to Hendrick's benefit. While guys like Zac Veen, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Robert Hassell were set to face stronger competition in the Daytona Beach, Los Angeles, and Nashville areas, respectively, Hendrick's weaker competition in Pittsburgh really wasn't going to give him a chance to prove much that he hadn't already proven on the summer showcase circuit. That wouldn't necessarily hurt him, but he would have had less of a chance to round out his profile and cement himself than some other guys would have. Now, everybody's stock is more or less frozen. That puts Hendrick as a first round lock, one with a very good shot to go in the top half of the round and potentially even in the top ten picks as arguably the top high school hitter in the country. His ceiling has him at 30-40 home runs annually with solid on-base percentages and defense, and a more middle ground projection of 25-30 home runs and decent on-base percentages still makes him a real asset in the lineup. He's committed to Mississippi State and he'll be eligible again as a sophomore due to his early birthday, though he figures to go high enough in the first round that that won't be an issue.
Summer batting practice and fielding
Summer game action
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