Headed North: 2021 RHP/OF Phil Fox (Hempfield Area)
April 21, 2020
It's that time of the year again as we look at who's poised to scale the rankings in 2020. Let's pack up and head out as we look at:
UPCOMING EVENTS
| SHOWCASE | STATE | DATE | LOCATION |
| 2020 Spring Video Scout Blog / FREE (PA) | PA | 05/01 | Pennsylvania |
| 2020 Northeast JUCO Day | PA | 06/03 | Dutchess Stadium |
| PBR Junior Future Games | NATIONAL | 07/29 | LakePoint Sports |
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Headed north
BASE CAMP
A prime athlete with explosiveness in everything he did, Fox featured a lean and fluid 5-foot-10, 165-pound frame with present strength and noticeable twitch in his actions. The primary right-handed pitcher commanded 85-88 mph fastballs down in the zone with small arm-side run out of a slow-tempoed windup using a strong lower half and quick, high ¾ arm-slot. Countered with a sharp 71-72 mph curveball that showed wipeout slider action, hard biting across the zone. Mixed in a 76-78 mph changeup thrown with advanced sell while demonstrating natural cut. Overall impressive pen with advanced arm-speed on all pitches allowing for anything to be thrown in any count. The right-handed hitter begins with a balanced, even stance utilizing a leg-hang to initiate a powerful quick-twitch swing through a slightly uphill path in the hitting zone. Generated repeatable pull-side lift with noticeable strength in the lower half creating advanced hip drive through the baseball. Recorded an impressive 88 mph bat-exit velocity during batting practice and ran a 6.74 60-yard dash showcasing his athleticism. The outfielder displayed advanced footwork setting up advantageous hops with downhill momentum towards the target. Showed off fluidity in his routes with ability to cover ground during defensive evaluations yielding accurate 90 mph arm-strength with easy carry from his position out of a high ¾ arm-slot.
THE ASCENT
Each time we see Phil Fox it seems as though he moves even more efficiently than the last time we saw him. From July to February, Fox increased his fastball velocity by 5 mph (83 mph to 88 mph) and showcased refinement on all of his pitches adding velocity and shape to the curveball and changeup to give him three pitches with movement in the zone. A hard worker every offseason, the RHP/OF looked as though he added some muscle in the lower half allowing for an 88 mph bat-exit velocity and a short, repeatable swing that plays in-game. Not to mention he can burn in the outfield running a 6.74 60-yard dash while taking quality routes to the baseball. A dynamic player in all that he does, Fox only continues to see his needle pointing north heading into next year.
REACHING THE SUMMIT
"In order to continue moving himself up the rankings, Fox will need to show that he can hold velocity and depth in his pitches into the later innings. It has been impressive how he’s gotten stronger while maintaining flexibility and explosiveness in his movements and it should be interesting to see if added weight (5-foot-10, 165-pound frame) can benefit the actions even more. A legit two-way guy at the next level, Fox will need to show that he can not only produce offensively, but carry an offense. With a quality approach at the plate and ability to get his swing off consistently, he has all the makings of a top of the order guy at the next level with present gap to gap pop and natural lift to the LCF gap."
PLAYER COMPARISON
*Note: Many times coaches will ask our staff "Who does he remind you of?" Player "comps" are a popular tool in the scouting/recruiting world and we have decided to add that niche to our feature articles. Sometimes it's within the physical build, the numbers, the actions or a combination of all three.
2018 RHP/OF Dennis Snyder (Cedar Cliff/Mount St. Mary’s)