Brody
Kaylor

Kaylor is one of the top talents in the Channel League for the 2026 season, and the two-way standout showed just why on the opening day of Channel League play. Taking the ball for the Bulldogs in search of their first win of the young season, Kaylor did not disappoint with a strong 5.1 innings of work. The righthander has an abbreviated operation with a short, quick arm action similar to what you would expect from a natural SS who is developing his overall pitching profile. While the motion may not be picture perfect, the arm talent and feel to pitch is sound with Kaylor. He worked primarily off an 85-88 MPH FB, which touched 89-90 consistently early in the outing and has arm-side running life, which is especially effective at the bottom of the zone. He mixes a 79-80 MPH CHG, which is thrown in a splitter-like fashion, and when executed properly, dives with life vertically off his FB shape while still generating arm side action with a SLV like 74-76 MPH breaking ball, which is effective to the glove side to give him an east/west attack profile. Kaylor collected five Ks over the 5.1 innings of work, with several coming on SLV’s for called looking third strikes. While the work on the mound alone would have been impressive, that would discount what the RH-hitting Kaylor does at the plate as the Bulldogs' cleanup hitter. I’ve long been high on what Kaylor can do in the batter's box, but his frame has added strength, which was evident at the LA PSID event in January, and has ticked his bat speed-impact through contact up. Those improvements to his swing and frame have created a loud start to his Sr. season at the plate with four home runs (two came today, including a massive no doubt blast over the CF fence). For good measure, he stayed on a 2K breaking ball down and in during his first at bat to pull it through the left side for a single, and finally was intentionally walked to load the bases in his last plate appearance. 

Brody Kaylor, Buena High (CA), 2026
Positional Profile: SS/RHP Mechanically sound INF with right side approach and power potential at the plate.
Body: 6-1, 199-pounds. Tall, physical and lean build with more toom to fill out.
Hit: RHH. Tall, balanced stance with high hands. Subtle rock onto the backside before a short forward stride. Flat, level swing with direction to the right side. Looks for balls deep in the zone to punch to the right side with authority. 70 mph bat speed with 10 G's of rotational acceleration.
Power: 98 max exit velocity, averaged 76.0 mph. 136' max distance.
Arm: RH. INF-90 mph. Quick arm motion out of a short arm circle. Release point is from a low 3/4 slot, but can throw from lower angles as well.
Defense: Strong base with athletic footwork and active hands. Ranges comfortably to both sides. Consistent gather to the chest.
ATH: 7.50 runner in the 60. 1.60 and 3.89 in the 10 and 30 yard splits.

This was Kaylor's debut on the Prep Baseball California event stage after well over a year of very strong live looks at the talented two-way from Buena High School. While he just went through the position player workout for the day the arm talent was easily on display to go with a strong frame which he controls well. Standing 6'1 and checking in at 199.3 he easily passes the eye test to stick on the left side of the INF with potential for SS, but can comfortably handle a move to 3B. Kaylor has quick feet on the dirt with ability to play laterally, move downhill with comfort and make any long throws to his backhand side with ease using his 90 MPH INF arm velocity. His throws have low carry out of the hands and he is relatively accurate presenting a strong defensive profile for him in the future. At the plate Kaylor showed strong bat speed with a strong ability to generate torque posting over 74 MPH of bat speed with 14 Gs of rotational acceleration and an ability to hit the ball with authority. His max EV was over 97 MPH while he produced a 40% hard hit rate. His swing is uphill with potential for loft and power which has shown up during live looks, but can be polished to be more consistent in reaching his impact potential. His position player profile is one to take note of for college programs with arm strength to handle the left side of the INF dirt and has experience playing the OF to handle RF in the future with impact upside from his RH hitting profile.

Kaylor jumped out quickly to me in the first look at him back in November of 2024 and now in my third look at him he continues to convince me of the quality of that first look, but also adds more intrigue with each viewing. During INF/OF I made a point to get up the line and watch his throws from SS to see the ball flight from what projects as a solid arm (up to 89 MPH on the mound) and he showed low carry out of the hand with a true ball flight (no fade into the ground, tail to arm side or cut to glove side) with feel to throw from different slots. Then during the game the 6’2” Kaylor showed his athleticism and comfort playing downhill to both his glove side and throwing hand side which is necessary for any player to stick at SS. Three times he went to the throwing hand side downhill on medium pace grounders and fielded them cleanly with a quick transfer and ability to redirect his body with his feet to uncork an accurate throw with carry for outs. The throwing hand side play is a vital one for a HS SS to project to potentially stay there at the college level and Kaylor is convincing me he has this type of profile. His day wasn’t loud at the dish showing some rawness against lower velocity from a LHP early in the game, but did make a quality adjustment in his final trip against firmer velocity from a RHP to uncork on a foul HR to LF and then stung a drive to straight-away CF which would have gone for extra bases, but was run down by the Bonnie CF. All in all even without a loud results day from Kaylor I left the park feeling his profile continues to tick up.

This was my second extended look at the RH hitting SS for the Bulldogs including a solid look during the 2024 Winter Baseball schedule. Slotted into the leadoff spot Kaylor gave me a trio of at bats to dive into his operation at the plate and while there is some rawness at present with his approach/timing the swing itself is quick with a flatter path through the zone that plays to his present gap to gap profile. Kaylor was slightly late on a pair of FBs and missed a 2K CB in his first at bat that evidenced the growth needed for his offensive approach to tap into his potential, but the upside is there with a strong overall operation in the box. His actions at SS are interesting with quickness in his feet, confidence in his hands and the ability to play both one or two handed as needed while moving laterally/downhill with body control. The arm strength is solid looking like he has the long term future to handle SS if he can polish his consistency at the spot.