David Bates is a right-handed pitcher who currently plays for Christ Presbyterian Academy. He has already committed to Vanderbilt but will be eligible for the draft this year. He has been on fire recently as he has yet to give up a hit and tallied 24 strikeouts in his last 12 innings. This is mostly due to his fastball that averages anywhere around 88-92 mph and has even been known to top out at 94 mph. He also possesses a nasty slider that sits around 80-84 mph and a decent changeup that sits around 78-82 mph.
When you watch a player like Bates pitch, you can tell he is way above the high school level as it seems players are scared to swing the bat against him. There is actually a funny story of when he pitched against the Nolensville Knights on March 14 this year.
Due to his dominance and reputation around the Nashville area, the team did not even swing the bat until Bates threw his 47th pitch of the game. When I went to see Bates pitch in the playoffs last week, Lipscomb only swung the bat about five times in four innings against the overpowering right-hander. Due to his opponents refusing to swing the bat, Bates has only given up 15 hits while tallying 93 strikeouts in 51 innings this season.
Now even with Bate’s dominance, he will probably not go into the draft quite yet, as he has already committed to pitch for Vanderbilt next year. He will join his catcher, Phillip Clark, who is rated as the number one high school player in Tennessee this year by Perfect Game.
Going to Vanderbilt should help Bates refine his game, as Tim Corbin is easily one of the best college coaches around. With Bate’s stuff and Corbin’s mentorship, we could see another star emerge from the baseball juggernaut.