Ryan
Duncheon Jr.

The ISU recruit continues to impress on both sides of the ball, last week, Duncheon was 8-for-17 with three doubles, triple, grand slam, five runs, and six RBIs. On the mound, tossed 14.2 total innings on the week, striking out ten, allowing two walks, and two hits.

Illinois State commit, currently slotted at No. 26 in the state’s junior class. Stands in a 6-foot-1, 191-pound frame with strength. Started in right field and batted third. Finished the day 2-for-3 with a home run, triple, two RBI, three runs scored and a walk. Right-handed hitter at the plate, showed easy power throughout the game, sending the home run over the right field wall and his triple to the left/center gap, quality plate discipline throughout. Also found an inning on the mound to close the game out, stretch-only delivery, quick and up-tempo mover, clean arm path with acceleration out front. Fastball sat in the upper-80s, touching 90 mph once, also mixed in a slider at 78 mph with sharp action.

Illinois State commit, currently ranked No. 26 in the state. Strong 6-foot-1, 191-pound athletic frame. Started on the mound and hit out of the three-hole. Duncheon was impressive on the mound as he struck out eight batters while allowing only one run, three hits, and no walks for a complete game. The right-hander operates from a tall/fall approach with a high leg lift with tuck. Clean, compact arm action from a ¾ slot. Fastball sat 88-91 while topping out at 92 with arm-side run. His changeup sat 83-84, keeping it low while it maintained arm-speed. Showed a slider that sat 76-78 with sharp action.

Illinois State commit, ranked No. 26 in the state’s sophomore class. Stands in an athletic and strong 6-foot-1, 191-pound frame. Started at first base and batted third for the Raiders. Finished the day 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored. His third at bat was a barreled fly out to deep center field, and his double came in the bottom of the seventh with a tie game, nearly ending the game with a walk-off homer, but hitting it off the middle of the left field wall. He’s a right-handed hitter with easy power, bat stays direct with a slightly uphill path, explodes through the zone. Also an arm to see this spring, Duncheon was a Future Gamer in 2024.

Verbally committed to Illinois State.

RHP/C Ryan Duncheon Jr. (East Peoria) is an intriguing two-way prospect in the state’s 2026 class. Standing in a strong and physical 6-foot-1, 191-pound frame. On the mound, he worked his fastball up to 88 mph with substantial carry through the zone (avg. 20.6” IVB), though we recently saw him up to 92 mph at the Future Games. Duncheon would mix in both a curveball and a slider, with both offerings spinning at an average of 2296 rpm, while rounding his mix out with an arm-side fading changeup at 80 mph. On the offensive side of the ball, he reached a max EV of 93.8 mph - which translated in-game where he swatted two loud doubles. Defensively, his strong arm translates from the mound to behind the dish out of the crouch where he made a couple on-the-money throws in-game. With Duncheon’s two-way ability, he is a must-follow in the state going forward.

2024 Future Games: RHP RJ Duncheon (East Peoria) continues to get better on the mound each time we see him. Standing in a strong 6-foot-1, 191-pound frame, Duncheon is an athletic mover down the mound. He works out of a stretch-only delivery with a loose, quick arm that works out of a ¾ slot. His fastball has life through the zone, topping out at 92 mph, while sitting mostly 86-91 mph with arm-side run at times. He also mixed in two separate breaking balls; his curveball showed 11/5 shape with feel to throw for strikes, sitting mostly 72-74 mph, and his slider showed more horizontal actions, sitting 78-81 mph. A must-know arm with more velocity on the way.

Positional Profile: C/RHP
Body: 6-1, 191-pounds. Physical, wide-shouldered build.
Delivery: Stretch-only; medium leg kick into balance point, drop/drive lower-half, explosive and intentful finish.
Arm Action: RH. Compact arm action, 3/4 slot.
FB: T88, 83-87 mph. Plays with substantial carry, also shows arm-side run. Occasional spin feel, and effective at the top of the zone. T2347, 2242 average rpm.
CB: 71-73 mph. 11/5 action, occasional spin feel. T2346, 2296 average rpm.
SL: 75-77 mph. Sharp with spin feel, short 10/4 action. T2540, 2296 average rpm.
CH: 80-80 mph. Plays with arm-side fade and downer fade. T1606, 1606 average rpm.

Positional Profile: C/RHP
Body: 6-1, 191-pounds.
Hit: RHH. Balanced setup, rhythmic hands load, utilizes lower-half, short stride. Pull-side approach with extra leverage, simple, repeats. Finished game play 2-for-6 with two doubles. 70.8 mph bat speed with 8 G’s of rotational acceleration.
Power: 94 max exit velocity, averaged 86.2 mph. 338’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 76 mph. INF - 87 mph. Loose arm action, 3/4 slot, athletic mover.
Defense: 1.87-1.95 pop times. C: Squatted stance, uphill tilt, athletic mover, quick first step. INF: Steady gather, fields ball to body, athletic mover, clean double play turn.
Run: 7.32 runner in the 60.

C/RHP RJ Duncheon (East Peoria, 2026) had a strong all-around showing at the event. A physical 6-foot, 193-pound prospect, Duncheon started his event with a loud showing with the bat. The right-handed hitter stayed on the barrel throughout his round and used the whole field during his round. Duncheon posted a max exit velocity of 91.6 mph and also had a max batted ball distance of 342 feet, which was good for second-highest for the event. During the defense portion of the event, Duncheon led all catchers in pop time (1.97-2.09) and was tied for the hardest throw from the crouch at 77 mph. During his bullpen, Duncheon posted an eye-opening 91 mph fastball to end his day, a three mph increase since we had seen him up to 88 mph in the spring. The stretch-only right-hander impressed throughout with his arsenal, showing a slider with 10/4 shape that sat 76-77 mph with an average of 2352 rpm, and a curveball with an average of 2344 rpm, sitting mostly 72-74 mph. He rounded out his four-pitch mix with a change-up that sat 79-81 mph with slight fading action. After his impressive performance, Duncheon received an invite to this year’s Prep Baseball Future Games where he will represent Team Illinois at LakePoint in Georgia.

Positional Profile: C/RHP
Body: 6-1, 185-pounds. Strong, athletic frame with strength throughout
Hit: RHH. Upright balanced setup, quiet stride, strong lower-half. Simple, direct hands, looks to elevate the ball with an uphill path. Stayed on the barrel, gap-to-gap power. 67.2 mph bat speed with 8 G’s of rotational acceleration.
Power: 92 max exit velocity, averaged 82.6 mph. 343’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 77 mph. Short, quick arm action, 3/4 slot.
Defense: 1.97-2.09 pop times. Soft hands, quick transfer, works quick out of the crouch, accurate throws to the bag. Soft blocker.
Run: 7.37 runner in the 60.

Positional Profile: C/RHP
Body: 6-1, 185-pounds. Strong, athletic frame with strength throughout
Delivery: Stretch-only, high leg lift with tuck, tall/fall down the mound, in-line.
Arm Action: RH. Long, loose, quick arm action, 3/4 slot.
FB: T91, 83-89 mph. Clean, firm out of the hand. T2363, 2154 average rpm.
CB: 72-74 mph. Sharp, 12/6 action. T2449, 2344 average rpm.
SL: 76-78 mph. Short, horizontal shape. T2448, 2352 average rpm.
CH: 80-81 mph. Mostly straight actions. T1902, 1665 average rpm.

Uncommitted. Threw four shutout innings on the mound in his outing on Friday afternoon. Duncheon stands in an intriguing 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame with strength throughout. He works a stretch-only delivery with a quick arm out front, working his fastball up to 87 mph, but sitting mostly low-to-mid 80s throughout the outing, producing spin rates up to 2400 rpm. He frequently turned to a mid-70s curveball with 11/5 shape and created multiple swings-and-miss in and out of the zone. A name-to-know in the state’s 2026 class.

Uncommitted. East Peoria 4-0 on the week with two wins over Farmington (15-1; 13-2), Normal West (13-10) and Bloomington Central Catholic (15-5). At the plate, Duncheon went 7-for-12 (.583) with a home run, three doubles, nine RBIs and three runs scored. He also threw six innings on the mound, struck out eight, walked one and allowed two runs. In their first win over Farmington he went 2-for-2 with a home run, double, four RBIs, one run scored and two walks. He also threw two innings on the mound and struck out four. In their second win over Farmington, Duncheon went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Positional Profile: C/RHP
Body: 6-1, 185-pounds. Well-proportioned frame with strength.
Hit: RHH. Wide base, hangs foot into a medium stride, hands work mostly short to the ball. Flat path, steep at times, uses the whole field, flashed bat-speed. 72.4 mph bat speed with 10 G’s of rotational acceleration.
Power: 94 max exit velocity, averaged 85.5 mph. 318’ max distance.
Arm: RH. C - 72 mph. Short to the ear, high 3/4 release.
Defense: 2.14-2.20 pop times. Soft hands, quick glove to hand, easy transfer, soft blocker, moves well.
Run: 7.85 runner in the 60.