Every summer, the Midwest Scouts Association, which is made up of scouting personnel from all 30 major league organizations, invites 50 high school players from throughout the region to participate in a two-day event in Kansas City. The event features a showcase portion at the Kansas City Royals’ Urban Youth Academy, as well as a seven-inning doubleheader the following day at Kauffman Stadium. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get a snapshot of how many of the top high school prospects in next year’s draft class look going into their senior year, with a handful of incoming juniors in the mix as well. The players are listed here in order of my preference based solely on my look from this particular event. With that, let’s take a look at some 2025 draft-eligible Midwest prep prospects.
Position Players
Landon Schaefer, SS, Fayetteville, AR
College Commitment: Arkansas
Schaefer is committed to his hometown Razorbacks, but he’s going to get a lot of attention from amateur scouts leading up to the 2025 draft. He has a lean, athletic frame that leaves plenty of room to project on both his body and his tools. He hits out of an upright, square setup, and uses an abbreviated leg kick to trigger his long stride. Schaefer has a deep hand load that produces a 45-degree bat angle, which generates loft as he whips it through the hitting zone with above-average bat speed. He flashed above-average raw power to the pull side during batting practice and consistently did a nice job of incorporating his lower half in his hacks.
Defensively, Schaefer shows soft hands that look more than capable of staying up the middle on the dirt. He controls his 6-foot-3 frame well when ranging laterally, and while he isn’t overly twitchy, there’s a hint of quick-twitch in his movements, which are smooth and fluid overall. Right now, Schaefer has fringe-average arm strength at best, but given how projectable his frame is and how good of an athlete he is, it’s safe to anticipate that he’ll have at least average arm strength in the future. While there are some concerns to point to regarding whether he stays at shortstop long-term, the actions, body control, and hands he displayed give me confidence that he’ll be at least an above-average defender at second base if he ultimately moves off shortstop. Overall, it’s a well-rounded profile that brings value on both sides of the ball, and I think there will be quite a bit of buzz around Schaefer prior to next year’s draft.
Jackson Akin, SS, Lee’s Summit, MO
College Commitment: Oklahoma
Akin has a very projectable, lean, long-levered physique, and it’s apparent his frame still has significant long-term strength potential. He hits out of a slightly open, semi-crouched stance and uses a simple stride to get to a square position at launch. Akin has an easy, rhythmic hand load, and a bat path that stays in the zone for an extended period while also creating loft. His solid bat speed and path showed above-average raw power during batting practice, both to the pull side and to the center of the diamond.
During Akin’s live at-bats, he was at times prone to expanding out of the zone against spin, but the projectability of his hit and power tools is appealing. Defensively, Akin showed average hands, with his compact arm path currently producing fringe-average carry on his throws. He’ll likely come off shortstop in the future, but the projection in his offensive profile is the main attraction.
Cole Pladson, OF, Clay Center, KS
College Commitment: Oklahoma State
Pladson hits out of a square, balanced stance with a high-hands setup. It’s a repeatable operation in the box, with a leg lift stride and a rhythmic, medium hand load, and his high back elbow during his load creates loft in his path through the zone. Pladson does a nice job maintaining a still head throughout his swing and also shows feel for manipulating the barrel in the zone. He showcased solid-average bat speed and raw power, which showed up in game action for a pull side homer.
Pladson showed fringe-average arm strength during the defensive portion of the workout and ran a 6.64 second 60-yard dash. It’s an intriguing profile that looks to offer a projectable, well-rounded offensive skill set. Pladson is a prospect I think has notable helium potential. He’s a name to keep tabs on throughout this fall and next spring.
Cash Williams, C, Choctaw, OK
College Commitment: Tennessee
Williams has an athletic, medium build with room to add strength in the future, but he doesn’t have an overly projectable frame. Williams gets his money’s worth with every swing he takes, whether it’s in batting practice or against live pitching, and even though he takes big hacks, his swing isn’t out of control and he isn’t completely lacking in barrel awareness. Williams uses a big leg kick and lengthy stride to generate leverage, with the amount of loft in his path geared for putting the ball in the air. It’s 50-grade bat speed through the zone, and Williams already shows average raw power that projects to above average in the near future.
Williams had agile movements behind the plate, but his receiving can get rigid at times and he has trouble sticking borderline pitches. Between how well he moves and the caliber of athlete he is, there’s plenty of reason to think his defensive profile will trend upward. Williams also showed above-average arm strength, and I had a 1.96 second pop time on him during game action despite the throw being a bit off the bag. He’s old for his class, and models will ding him heavily for that, but he had a good overall showing at this event.
Pitchers
Cam Appenzeller, LHP, Springfield, IL
College Commitment: Uncommitted
FB: 89-93 / SL: 77-80 / CH: 82-84
A rangy, lean, and projectable left-hander, Appenzeller showed a three-pitch mix from a low three-quarters arm slot. In addition to his projectable frame, his overall delivery is fluid, repeatable and very starter-like. Appenzeller also has above-average hip/shoulder separation, providing further reason to dream on how much velocity there could be in the tank for a fastball that currently sits 89-93 mph with solid tail and sinking movement. His breaking ball often took the shape of a hybrid curveball/slider offering, with late tilting action and flashes of above-average teeth. He was also able to maintain proper arm speed on a few changeups he threw, with his best ones showing average fade and depth.
Given how much body and stuff projection there is in his profile, Appenzeller will undoubtedly draw a lot of looks from teams leading up to next year’s draft. Despite only getting a one-inning look, Appenzeller’s feel for command was apparent, as he landed both of his secondary pitches in the zone and flashed feel for locating his heater on both corners.
Grady Westphal, RHP, Leawood, KS
College Commitment: Texas A&M
FB: 90-93 / SL: 80-83 / CH: 85-87
Westphal is a high-waisted, lean, projectable right-hander who still has a significant amount of room on his frame for future strength gains. Westphal throws from a three-quarters slot. His medium arm circle has a slight stab in its path, but his slightly open stride direction is a bigger red flag to me than anything about his arm path. His fastball sat in the low 90s, with carry through the zone that allows it to play above the velocity, and it’s likely to see further gains as the frame adds strength.
His breaking ball has three-quarters shape with two-plane action, and he broke off a couple with spin rates north of 3,000 rpm. He did show a tendency to throw the offering from a lower slot than his fastball, which is something he’ll need to clean up and get more consistent with. Westphal also threw a couple of changeups that mirrored his fastball arm speed, which produced fade and sinking action. Westphal’s projectable fastball and existing ability to spin a breaking ball make him an intriguing arm to follow this fall and next spring.
Tyler Wood, RHP, Lee’s Summit, MO
College Commitment: Tennessee
FB: 92-95 / SL: 77-80
Wood is an athletic, lean two-way player who shined the most on the mound during this particular event. He showed above-average arm speed and throws from a high three-quarters slot. His 92-95 mph four-seam fastball showed solid carry through the zone (18-20 induced vertical break), and he did a nice job of filling up the zone with his heater. His best sliders were two-plane breakers that flashed above-average bite; they shorten up a bit when he gets on the side of them. Wood also showed a changeup during his warmups, but I didn’t have him throwing one during game action.
The already present athleticism and stuff make Wood an intriguing pitching prospect, and his ceiling on the mound looks to be significantly higher than it is in the outfield. He’ll be a fun one to watch throughout his senior year.
Brody Irlbeck, LHP, Kansas City, MO
College Commitment: Iowa
FB: 90-92 / CB: 74-76 / CH: 79
Irlbeck has a skinny, underdeveloped build that could lead to significant velocity/stuff gains once it matures. He throws from a low three-quarters slot with a lengthy, fluid arm circle that’s loose and quick, which contributes to his fastball sneaking up on hitters despite sitting 90-92 mph. His heater also flashed notable late tailing action that generated some whiffs in the zone. Multiple area scouts who have more history with Irlbeck and have seen him more times in person told me that his command has been shaky in years past but has been trending up more recently. In this particular one-inning outing, he consistently commanded the ball to both sides of the plate and effectively elevated as well. His curveball had 1-to-7 shape with varying degrees of depth, but it regularly showed average tightness. He only threw two changeups, both of which showed late fading action and were thrown with quality arm speed.
Irlbeck had a sharp inning of work but the most appealing aspect of his profile is the degree to which you can project on him. Not only is his frame incredibly projectable, but his plus hip/shoulder separation and the fluidity in his arm action make it a good bet there’s more than just a little velocity on the horizon for him. If Irlbeck’s command continues to trend upwards and is consistent while doing so, this very well might be a name with helium prior to next year’s draft.
