Morgan
Hester

Another strong two-way performer in the 2028 class hailing from the Central Valley based Kingsburg High home of the uber talented Jensen Hirschkorn. Hester is an interesting player who showed off plenty of present ability to like both in his position player and pitching profiles. Solidly built at present Hester stands 6' and weights 180 lbs. with the type of frame that can handle another 20ish lbs. in the future that will pack impact on everything he does on a baseball field. Hester moves well for a corner profile with a 7.38 60 yard time on the chilly morning that gives you enough positive vibes that he could handle an OF corner to add versatility to his LH throwing profile as a 1B primary at present. He moved with fundamental actions at 1B during defense showing solid hands, consistent footwork, flashing ability to play with some tempo and the arm to be a solid thrower at the position. His batting practice was intriguing both for the swing operation and the quality of the batted ball data he produced. Hester had some of the better bat speed on the day up to 68 MPH and you could sense there was more in the tank as he got acclimated to the colder weather on the day while showing off quick hands north of 20 MPH and the torque at present with 14+ Gs of rotatational acceleration. The RH hitter peaked north of 89 MPH with his EV while averaging north of 82 MPH with a max distance at 328' and an interesting 87% fly ball/line drive rate during his batting practice rounds. Much like his swing you could sense there was more in the tank for Hester with his batted ball data and as he continues to mature there is enough here in the foundation to dream on a potential middle of the order bat in the future. To cap his day Hester took a turn on the bump for a bullpen session which flashed some interesting present ability. The southpaw flashed a FB that lived at 78-79 while touching 80 MPH in the cold weather from a high 3/4 almost over the top release point at 6'8" above the ground. His CHG showed the best on the day of his two offspeed offerings with a 75% zone percentage living at 72.5-73 MPH on the pitch with similar arm side action and vertical separation off the shape of his FB. Hester flipped in the making of a vertically shaped CB in the 63-65 MPH range with an average of -13.8" of IVB on a pitch that has a solid foundation with room to improve as he matures. Impressively, Hester repeats his release point on all offerings living at 6'8" of release height giving an uncomfortable angle for hitters coming out of the higher release point.