RHP Tanner Witt, Episcopal HS [TX]
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DoB: 7/11/2002. Commitment: Texas.
Kevin Witt was a first rounder out of Jacksonville, Florida in 1994 before hitting 15 home runs over parts of five seasons in the majors. 26 years later, his son, Tanner, won't match him in terms of draft position (at least not out of high school), but he could absolutely outplay his dad in the majors. He's actually one of the better two-way prospects in the country, though his future is more likely on the mound.
Witt stands out most due to his projectability. With a very skinny 6'6" frame that has room for plenty more good weight, he figures to add plenty of velocity and power to his already solid stuff. He has a little bit of windmill action in his arm path, running fastballs around 90 but touching as high as 95 just before the shutdown. He pairs that fastball with a very solid curveball, one that shows good shape but which could use to add some power. His slider and changeup are both in the early stages of their development, but he has shown feel for them and could have a four pitch mix in time.
Though he's lanky, Witt is very coordinated on the mound and doesn't throw with a ton of effort, repeating his delivery fairly consistently. That gives him solid command and helps further project velocity gains as he fills out. Witt is also young for the class with a July birthday, adding another line to the list of reasons he could be an ace.
It's an interesting study here, because Witt has all these reasons why he should get better – he's tall, he's coordinated, he's young, etc. But aside from the brief velocity gains we saw this spring, he still remains a work in progress with a lot to prove. He's supposedly a very tough sign away from Texas, where he could go on to take all those projected steps forward and become a first round arm in 2023. If a team likes him enough to pony up the big signing bonus that will keep him from Austin, it will likely happen in the second round, though for a lot of teams he's likely more of a third round talent. Texas has a loaded recruiting class this year that also includes Jared Jones, Carson Tucker, Petey Halpin, and the arguably the top high school pitcher in the class, Jared Kelley, so Longhorn baseball fans could have a lot to look forward to.
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