Elijah
Mcneal

It was my first time watching Mcneal, and he showed his ability to play defense and do his job at the plate. For a SS, he has a big 6’3 frame, however, he is extremely athletic and makes great plays on defense. He makes fielding ground balls look easy, as he showed in warm ups & in game. What stands out the most is his good reads, balance, soft/quick hands, and strong arm. During warmups on his flips to second he was extremely quick, fluid, and had great reactions. In the game, he had a nice play going to his left, delivering a strike to first base flashing his arm strength. He is a fun player to watch at the position. At the plate he went 2-3 on the day and mostly had runners in scoring position in his at bats. In his swings he does a great job at trusting his frontside as he lets the ball travel and looks to go opposite field. He has quick hands and works on the inner half of the baseball which showed good results in this game. He had a situation with bases loaded and infield in. He recognized the situation and instead of trying to swing for the fences, he shortened his swing to simply hit a ground ball to the right side. This shows he has great composure not letting the moment be too big for him, which can be the difference between a win or a loss. For Mcneal to take his game to the next level, he will consistently have to find the barrel to drive the baseball. At times, he may trust his hands too much, which doesn’t allow him to get extended in the zone completely, as some of his hits were on the end of the bat.  Overall, Mcneal is an extremely athletic SS that knows his job on defense and in the box.