Steven
Genovese III

Genovese took the ball to open the game for the Vikings, and as a name who had been generating some buzz for me with people I know in the Santa Clarita area, the talented sophomore showed plenty to love about his profile on the mound. First and foremost, it starts with a sound delivery that has low effort with a clean move down the mound to foot strike. He stays taller in his posture with a short, but clean arm path that allows him to pitch downhill, suiting the shape of his pitch arsenal. Genovese consistently was able to repeat his move down the mound, the sequence of his body operates at foot strike, maintains his arm slot/release point on his trio of pitches, and was in or near the strike zone at a high rate. The pitch arsenal for Genovese is fronted by a sound FB that lived at 84-87 MPH with arm side life and sinking action when at it’s best, he touched 88-89 MPH early in the outing, but settled more into that 84-87 range for the duration of his 4+ innings of work. The CHG was the more effective of his secondaries with the shape/velocity on it tunneling off the FB shape and coming in the 76-78 MPH range, which should separate more as he adds velocity to his FB in the coming years. Genovese demonstrated a solid feel for the pitch, landing it for strikes, keeping it down with the misses, and using it to both RHH and LHH with confidence. His breaking ball has a solid shape to his glove side, but the life on it can be improved in the coming years, as it lived at 68-72 MPH, but does flash potential at its higher velocities. As noted earlier, Genovese does throw strikes at a high rate, but his command of where he is locating those strikes will be something that will need polishing in the future to find more outer/inner thirds of the plate and less of the middle of the plate, which resulted in some hard contact. But, to his credit, he limits the ball getting in the air, producing more GB contact and soft GB contact than anything hit hard in the air off him. As well, he competed during traffic on the bases, not losing control of the strike zone, under- or over- throwing under pressure, but rather executed his pitches to the best of their present qualities. The foundation for Genovese is sound at present, but there is plenty more to come as he matures, and he will be another name I keep tabs on as the 2028 class keeps developing.

Genovese earned the win against Saugus in a 14-3 victory, working 6.2 innings while allowing minimal traffic, striking out three with one walk and one hit batter. He kept hitters off balance throughout the outing.

Steven Genovese III, Saugus High (CA), 2028
Positional Profile: 1B/RHP
Body: 6-2, 155-pounds. Wiry frame with room to add strength.
Delivery: Quick and fluid leg kick. Stands upright throughout windup and release of the ball.
Arm Action: RH. High three quarters release. Quick arm path.
FB: T79, 78-79 mph. Over the top fastball. Issues missing up in the zone. T2217, 2140 average rpm.
CB: 62-65 mph. Sharp vertical break with minimal horizontal break. Consistently keeps it low in the zone. T2238, 2159 average rpm.
CH: 68-68 mph. Traditional circle change-up that plays off his straight fastball. T1856, 1770 average rpm.
ATH: 8.20 runner in the 60. Quickly gets into upright running position. 18.00 max vertical.

Steven Genovese III, Saugus High (CA), 2028
Positional Profile: 1B/RHP
Body: 6-2, 155-pounds. Wiry frame with room to add strength.
Hit: RHH. Slightly open stance that evens out when he strides. Medium bend in his knees. Holds bat away from his back shoulder. Lowers hands in load for quick swing that produces a lot of fly balls. 59.9 mph bat speed with 9 G's of rotational acceleration.
Power: 84 max exit velocity, averaged 75.3 mph. 283' max distance. Consistent fly ball hitter projects as gap to gap power with added strength.
Arm: RH. INF-69 mph. High three quarters release across the infield.
Defense: Simple footwork that keeps his body moving throughout the play.
ATH: 8.20 runner in the 60. Quickly gets into upright running position. 18.00 max vertical.