A bit chilled and windblown entering Rocky Miller Stadium on Northwestern’s campus to watch Southern Cal’s Mason Edwards, I left warm and fuzzy after watching the ace lefthander not only battle the Wildcats, but some tough conditions to operate his craft. Edwards sat 92-94 with his fastball, and it played up at least a grade with late life and electric carry (20-24” IVB) through the zone. He changed shape and speed on a pair of breakers with a 77-80 mph deep, buckling curve as his top one on this look. And for good measure he pulled the string on an 81-83 mph floating changeup for swing/miss. To date this season his arsenal has produced an overall whiff rate of 45.6% (97th percentile) with his slider leading the way at 64.6% (100th percentile) and his curve a tick behind in the 99th percentile.

Edwards’ delivery is a bit Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw-esque with shoulder tilt and some deception. I don’t love how he lowers his body and then jumps out of it while working down the mound during his delivery, but it does create a higher than unexpected release point which adds to his deception – Aroldis Chapman does a more mild version with his delivery. However, this process does create some risk to long-term consistency of repeating one’s slot, but at this point it has not affected his strike-throwing abilities. There are not many college pitchers of either dexterity who have multiple weapons that they also command. And Edwards’ season to date performance (4-0, 0.30 ERA, 30 IP, 6 H, 52 SO) speaks for itself. Intangible-wise, Edwards also passed the guts-n-grit test with strong body language and mound presence throughout his 10 strikeout, one walk performance in cold and windy conditions on the banks of Lake Michigan in mid-March. Heck, I even liked how he tossed out the game ball after the umpire walked partway to the mound and reminded him if you lick your fingers, you have to wipe. Edwards took that legal advice and continued to deal.

At the plate the Trojans were led by three-hole stick Adrian Lopez. The 6-foot-3, 220 pound righthanded hitter banged out three hits and four RBIs, including this long home run with an EV of 102 mph. He showed fair bat speed that has produced a max EV of 108.5 mph so far this season. Average is 109-111 mph so he’ll need to post stronger outputs as the season progresses.

Junior centerfielder and cleanup hitter Kevin Takeuchi is a potential top ten round draft pick with his combination of tools and performance. He easily tracked down fly balls on a windy day and hit lasers at the plate. His best bolt was a 107 mph double on a hard grounder that skipped to the fence – and please note that Northwestern’s turf plays slow. Takeuchi has made an obvious jump from his sophomore year when he hit .241 with a .357 SLG. To date he’s floating along with a .351 average and 11 XBHs in 67 at-bats for a .568 SLG. He’s also swiped seven bases in seven attempts.

Southern Cal’s leading hitter Maximo Martinez is another intriguing bat. He’s not the biggest third-sacker at 6-foot, 180 pounds, but he’s athletic, has good hands and enough arm strength for the left side of the infield. At the plate he showed fast hands and a good eye. The sophomore righthanded hitter bolted several baseballs, collecting two singles (94 and 107 mph) and a 105 mph lineout to shortstop. Martinez is currently slashing .340/.431/.520. He’s one to watch for the 2027 draft.

Jack Lausch’s home run to centerfield for Northwestern broke Edwards’ scoreless streak at 29 innings to start this season. The senior leadoffman barrelled the long ball at 96 mph and it was then wind-aided to a landing distance of 410’. Once a top three round prospect out of high school, the athletic Lausch opted to play football his first two years at Northwestern. He’s still making the adjustments to baseball and could hear his name called on day two this July. The Wildcats’ junior rightfielder Jackson Freeman is also getting some looks by the scouting industry this spring. He went hitless in this contest, but there’s a lot to like, especially with his bat-to-ball. The 6-foot-2 lefthanded hitter leads the team with a .371 average.

Graduate student lefthander Ryan Weaver was strong out of the gates for the Wildcats, working with four pitches that included an 88-91 two-seamer, 90-92 four-seamer, 78-80 slider and 79-83 low-spin changeup (1600 rpm). However, he lost some life on his two-seamer and the location of his four-seamer which resulted in a six-run fifth when the first five batters by USC timed up his heater for repeated squareups.

Alabama at Kentucky

After my brief stop at Northwestern, it was back in the car and onto Kentucky for what was supposed to be two games to view a pair of potential first round shortstops. However, with UK star Tyler Bell still experiencing some soreness due to his shoulder separation suffered in the first game of the season, he was limited to DH for just the third game of the series. He did, however, take batting practice and I/O on both Saturday and Sunday.

Scouts have seen a plus arm in the past, but on this look it was slightly better than average. Normally sure-handed, he miscued a couple balls each day during IO which, at this point, isn’t a huge deal since there’s plenty of season remaining and who knows how many reps he’s been able to take due to his injury. But, it is something to monitor moving forward. Overall, Bell does have strong tools and even better makeup, but sure hands and a dependable defender are a big driver of his profile and draft value. Despite his injury and a limited early season, he remains a first round prospect.

First baseman Hudson Brown had a big weekend in the batter’s box with a pair of home runs and repeated loud contact. He was denied an additional home run on Sunday when the constant 30+ mph in from rightfield wind knocked down what looked to be a no-doubter off the barrel at 106.4 mph. He totaled five EVs of 100+ mph, including a high of 110 on a single. His second big fly of the series got Kentucky on the scoreboard first on Sunday. It was a solo shot squared up at 108 mph for a distance of 409’ into a stiff wind. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound lefthanded hitter has leverage, strength and quality bat speed. There’s a bit of length, much due to his long levers, but there’s a very low whiff to his profile. He’s a redshirt sophomore, eligible for this summer’s draft. Brown looks like a top ten round prospect at this point with most of the season remaining to further increase his value.

Senior Jayce Tharnish impressed with both his passes at the plate and his defense in centerfield. It wasn’t easy playing the big field, especially on Sunday with winds exceeding 40 mph, but Tharnish was on route to the right spot, gloving whatever came his way. Offensively, the righthanded hitter combines an over aggressive approach (14th percentile chase rate), above average bat-to-ball (75th percentile whiff rate) with below average raw power (105.4 mph EV max) and good speed on the bases. He’s already swiped 14 this spring after tallying 33 in 34 attempts last year. After batting .403 at St. Bonaventure last spring, he’s off to a .373 start in a Wildcats’ uniform. Tharnish should be a highly valued senior prospect who should be considered in the top ten rounds, especially if power continues to develop from his athletic, 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame. Another senior prospect was shortstop Luke Lawrence. He dazzled on defense with a spectacular effort on Sunday, in addition to steady play all weekend. The lefty hitter also put bat-on-ball from the two-hole with a 4-for-9, two walk, three RBIs weekend and is currently batting .342 with a .457 OBP.

Senior reliever Nile Adcock showed a plus slider and a 92-94 mph fastball during his Saturday relief appearance. He struck out two of the four batters he faced for a scoreless inning and one-third. The righthander has punched out 13 in 8.1 innings this spring.

On Sunday 6-foot-3 sophomore righthander Nate Harris took a no-no into the seventh inning. His 92-94 mph two-seamer ran back across the plate to freeze lefthanded hitters. It may have been enhanced on this day by the high-speed crosswind, but nevertheless it was very effective. He mixed it with a fair riding four-seamer up to 95 and three secondaries with an 83-84 mph above average slider, 79-80 curve and rare 77 changeup.

Catcher Owen Jenkins is another interesting young prospect for the Wildcats. Strong and athletic at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds the righthanded hitter showed well in the batter’s box with multiple loud contacts and a 4-for-9 tally over the three games series. His top EV this season is 111.5 mph and he also throws plus and runs above average. Ranked 79th nationally by Prep Baseball during his senior season in high school, he’s one to watch for the 2028 draft.

The Crimson Tide’s Justin Lebron has the tools to potentially become a MLB all-star comparable to Fernando Tatis, Jr. But, he’ll need polish. He’ll also need to become better-engaged each game and throughout the season as he seemed bored with the game at times. A smooth-action defender who relies on his vast natural abilities and athleticism to make plays that range from the spectacular to the routine blunder, Lebron has 70-grade arm strength and run speed. The twitchy-strong righthanded hitter ran a 4.12 down the line and bolted 100+ EVs. His top EV last season was 110.5 and to date this year 109.5 mph. He has yet to lessen the concerns about his chase and whiff against the fastball, but has made noticeable improvements against the breaking ball this spring. In a small sample size to date this season his slider chase is just 2.7% and whiff 20%, compared to 26.8% and 39%, respectively in 2025.

Catcher John Lemm had a power trip to Lexington with two deep home runs and four RBIs. The senior slugger transfer from SIU-Carbondale went 4-for-12 overall at the plate for the series and is now slashing .328/.468/.590 this season. There’s some length to his swing with good bat strength and fair bat speed that has produced a 111.8 max EV to date this spring. Lemm also showed slightly above average arm strength behind the plate with fringe accuracy and POPs in the 2.10s.