AFLAC All American Game - Kissed My Sister!

Had a chance to go to San Diego on Sunday and watch the high school all american baseball game. It's a select group of high school seniors from across the country who are expected to be the top players this coming year. One wrinkle thrown in was Bryce Harper was allowed to play although he's not a senior nor in high school....... More on that later.

The game was played at Petco Park (home of the Padre's) and if you haven't been there before, put it on your list of stadiums to visit. It's a great place to watch a baseball game. Highly recommend it.

The game itself went extra innings and ended in a 4-4 tie, which was fine. The game was played with wooden bats which makes a difference... The ball doesn't explode off the bat like it does with aluminum so there were very few "shots" and only a few balls actually made it out of the infield.

I mentioned Bryce Harper above. In case you've been living under a rock, he's the 16 year old that was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated earlier this summer. He's out of Las Vegas and should be a high school Junior this year but instead he's gotten his GED and is going to Jr College (College of Southern Nevada). He's good no doubting that, but if this all star game is any indication, he's got a ways to go to be the "Next LeBron" (his goal for himself). This too good for high school player went 0-5 with 3 strike outs and 2 weak grounders to 2nd. Not exactly dominating..... One game does not make a player (and certainly true in baseball) however there were multiple players out there that were far more impressive looking than him. He's got a ways to go.

Some notes from the game:

1) Tony Wolters hit a game tieing triple in the 9th, which won him "Player of the Game" honors. He's a SS/2nd baseman out of Vista, Ca committed to San Diego next year. Great glove with a nice short compact swing.

2) Jameson Taillon out of Texas was impressive on the mound. 6'7" right hander touched 95 on the gun and thoroughly blew away the East lineup over the 1st 2 innings.

3) Stefan Sabol out of Aliso Niguel high school here in Orange County was solid and played multiple positions (1st and catcher). Look for him to be a 1st round pick in next years draft. Very toolsy......

4) Deandre Smelter from Macon, Ga. pitched well for the East squad. He seemed to have a live fastball with good depth on his curve. The West hitters seemed to have a hard time spotting his ball as he comes from a lower than three-quarter arm slot.

5) Yordy Cabrera was the East teams starting SS and final pitcher. He's 6'4" which is large for a SS but he's very athletic and moves well. At the next level he's probably a corner outfielder as that's where his bat plays best. He's too good an athlete to limit to the mound. Speaking of Cabrera's bat, earlier on Sunday he won the home run contest. Another HR contest not won by Bryce Harper........ Let's see if SI publishes that!

I wasn't really blown away by anyone but liked a lot of what I saw. A lot of projectable talent. One thing I'll say is these all star games seem to be about who you know and how connected you are..... Multiple kids out there have a dad who's a high school coach or older sibling already playing ball in college and no doubt that helped them get selected for this. Not saying they're not talented just someone has to be selected for these games and if you have some sort of "in" that puts them ahead of the game.

One noticeable thing that stood out for me was there were no left handed pitchers there.... Last year I believe 5 lefties were in this game and I believe 4 high school lefties were selected in the 1st 2 rounds of the MLB draft in June. Maybe it's a down year for high school lefties? That'll be a curious thing to follow come next spring....

For all the details of the event along with rosters, click on the title.

Bill