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Quick Hits: Indy Preseason ID

February 20, 2025
Cooper Trinkle
Indiana Scouting Director

Our fourth stop on our Preseason ID tour took us to Roundtripper Academy in Westfield, Indiana on President's Day. The event featured 33 prospects who showcased their abilities in front of our staff while gaining access to Prep Baseball's unrivaled data capturing and scouting coverage. Several Indy-area prospects performed well and are highlighted below.

Find the full stat breakdown, here. 

+ A pair of sophomore arms showed off jumps within encouraging bullpens' in RHP Cole Sabelhaus (Brownsburg) and RHP/C Gavin Denton (Western). Sabelhaus is wiry with all kinds of room to fill out, in a 6-foot-1, 170 pound frame. He played catch in the low-80s while showing above average feel for the fastball and spin. He is a really good mover evident in the 6'4" fastball extension and silky patterns, and the arm works with a loose whip to a high 3/4 slot. I was impressed with the ease of operation, command, and pitch shape - and then Sabelhaus threw in a wrinkle by reaching back for 87 and a pair off 88s, for strikes, to conclude his 'pen. He is a really interesting follow with several traits to bet on. The slider is a softer sweeper in the upper-60s that likely sharpens if thrown firmer, while his curveball showed two-plane shape and played more in the low-70s. The changeup, though not commanded, was the best present pitch from a metric perspective - sitting in the mid-70s with over a foot of arm-side fade. 

+ Denton, a strong, 5-foot-11, 200 pounder, offers a fast arm and an up-tempo, athletic delivery where he creates quality hip-to-shoulder separation. His fastball flashes carry at times, playing at 84-85 mph, and he'll drop down to a low 3/4 slot for a sinker that plays with 18" of arm-side run at 81-84. The secondaries slot somewhere in the middle of his OTT fastball and low 3/4 sinker slots, with his 75-77 mph changeup creating 18.8" of fade, on average, and his low-to-mid 70s slider showing some sharpness spinning in the 22-2300s. There is upside to Denton as a backstop, as well, offering plenty of arm strength with a 79 mph arm from the crouch and pops from 2.08 to 2.18. He showed average hands receiving, playing light on his feet from the crouch in pens. Offensively, there is present strength evident in an exit reaching 98 mph. There is some length to the path, but the barrel worked on-plane and allowed him to work from gap-to-gap. 

+ A pair of Westfield juniors impressed in '26 OF Nick Fero and '26 LHP James Kovacs. Fero is a good athlete with a muscular, 5-foot-11, 185 pounder. He is a multi-sport athlete that turned in a 6.97 60-yard dash and a really solid 10-yard split of a 1.67. Fero took a solid round of batting practice, setting up wide with an arm bar load that happens as he strides. The handsy, accurate swing worked on-top to produced low line drives with peak exit of 93 mph. Fero is a fundamental player with the athleticism to continue to make jumps. 

+ Kovacs executed the best bullpen of the day, showing feel for the zone with his entire asenal. The 5-foot-8, 175 pound southpaw pitched at 81-83 on a fastball that showed some carry (avg. 16" IVB), a plus 5 mph tick compared to his bullpen at the same event last year. He showed the ability to sink it, as well, at 79-80 with 10" of ASR. His low-70s change played with big fade (-14.6" avg) and was executed to the arm-side of the plate. To round out his mix, he showed a low 70s sweeper that spun in the 2200s with 16" of horizontal, and he landed it at a 75% clip. The delivery is up-tempo with repeatability as he works in-line and lands square. The arm action is of moderate length and he keeps the ball moving throughout a full circle. 

+ An unsigned senior that showed well at this event was LHP Bryce Haney of Triton Central. Haney went 7-1 for Triton Central last year, striking out 66 in 48 innings of work. At this event, the 5-foot-10, 170 pound southpaw pitched at 82-84 with a ride/run heater that averaged 17" of IVB and 15" of ASR. This should work above barrels with his 72-74 change tunneling well off of it. He kills spin on the change while getting some depth with it and a averaging almost a foot of arm-side break. His 72-74 slurve gives him a pitch to the glove-side, though lacks bite and plays more cutter-like. Haney threw strikes throughout with a balanced delivery and uphill shoulders as he gets to a tick above a 3/4 slot. 

+ '26 OF Daniel Phillips (Brownsburg) showed in a positive light with lots of strength in the left-handed batters' box. The 6-foot, 185 pounder showcased some bat-to-ball with a clean path and exits jumping up to 96.7 on the high-end. There is some drift in the lower-half that can be cleaned up but the barrel strength is a positive trait that has continued to improve over the last couple of seasons. Phillips is a versatile defender that can play 1B or a corner outfield spot with average arm strength. 

+ '27 RHP Sam Swaim (Terre Haute South) was an intriguing watch with a physical, 6-foot-4, 195 pound frame. The projectable righty gets to a big inward turn at balance point before a drop and drive move down the slope. He lands slightly closed with a one-piece rotational move to finish. The arm action has some funk to it, working with length out the glove before coming back to the ear and unfolding to a high 3/4 slot. He sat in the low-80s with some heaviness to the heater, spinning north of 2400. His best pitch is his breaking ball, spinning it at over 2700 on average at 70-72 with big two-plane shape. The curveball averaged over 15" of sweep and over a foot of depth, a swing-and-miss offering that was also his best commanded pitch. Swaim is an interesting follow with outlier spin and a frame to bet on. 

+ Another arm to keep tabs on from this event is '26 RHP Jackson Lambert (Brownsburg). Lambert toed the rubber with an ultra-projectable look considering his high-waisted, lean, 6-foot-3, 175 pound frame and easy effort patterns. It is a low intent operation with a moderate lift to balance point and a more-rotational move as he gets to heel-strike. The arm is loose and works uninterrupted to a 3/4 release. Lambert pitched at 80-81 at this event, though there are several traits to suggest that he has plenty of velo left in the tank. The fastball plays with some sink and tunnels with a well-shaped slider at 67-69 and a sinking change at 68-70. 

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