Seasons
Announcement
Whitley
Prep Baseball Report
Dan Cevette
Director,
New York
Name: Garrett
Whitley
High School: Niskayuna High
School
Position: CF
Best Tool: Speed and
Power
State Rank: 1
Commitment: Wake
Forest
Scouting Report
Garrett Whitley, OF, Niskayuna HS, NY (2015)
Whitley
stands an athletic 6-foot-2 195-pounds with a great baseball body. The Wake
Forest commit has a plus arm roaming the outfield with exceptional speed running
6.5-6.7 60 yard dash times all day long. At the plate he shows a smooth balanced
approach generating plus power to all fields. He is arguably the No.1 prospect
in the Northeast moving forward to next years draft. He is ahead of Zach
Sullivan (OF, Corning HS) who was a 14th round draft pick this year out of New
York.
PBR sat down with the No. 1 prospect in New York's class of 2015 rankings Garrett Whitley for a dive inside his high-level game. Here's what we learned.
PBR: Tell us where you grew up, when did you start playing baseball, and who were your baseball influences and why.
Whitley: I was born in Melrose, MA, but I moved to Niskayuna, NY when I was 3 and I've been here since. I started playing baseball in the backyard with my dad when I was 2, and then I got into organized baseball as soon as I could, with t-ball when I was 5. My personal baseball influence has always been my dad; he is the one who instilled the work ethic that I credit for any success that I have or will have in the future. Not personally, I always looked up to Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz when I was little (I'm a Red Sox fan), and now I really like Mike Trout and Andrew McCutchen.
PBR: You have been receiving a lot of positive press lately. How does it feel?
Whitley: It's a little surreal. Coming from the Northeast and playing American Legion in the summer, I've been somewhat hidden up here, but after East Coast Pro and Area Codes things changed. It was quick, too. I just keep doing my thing and working hard because regardless of what people say now, I know that there is still a lot of work to do.
PBR: You picked Wake Forest as your school of choice. Tell us your top three, best offers, and why WF?
Whitley: When I was choosing a school, I had pretty much narrowed it down to Wake Forest and Fordham. I wasn't particularly heavily recruited at the time. After this summer, I heard from a few more big schools, but Wake is the place for me. It is in a great area of the country, it has excellent academics, and they play some of the most competitive baseball in the nation. Plus, it just felt right when I was on campus.
PBR: We know your very talented at the plate and in the OF. Tell us all about your strengths, weaknesses. Tell us the first time you realized you were going to be a special player.
Whitley: I think that my best strength is my work ethic. I know that if I don't put in the work, I'm never going to achieve my goals, so I'm willing to devote everything to doing just that. Tools-wise, I think my best traits are my speed and power. I've been doing a lot of work to improve both of those as well because I know I need to make gains. Two aspects of my game that need work at the moment are my throwing arm and base running technique. As far as a "writing on the wall" moment, I'd have to say it was at the East Coast Pro and Area Code showcases. Those were my first opportunities to play against the top competition in the country, and I found that I could play with all of them. I don't know if it would be considered to be "writing on the wall", but it certainly helped me prove to myself that I can compete at that level.
PBR: Your ranked No. 1 New York by PBR. How does that feel considering the size and talent in the state?
Whitley: Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly how I feel about it. New York is a state full of great baseball players, and I'm certainly honored to have that distinction, but it is not something that I ever think about. I've just been training hard and looking forward to next spring.
PBR: What's your training look like this winter? Goals for the spring?
Whitley: During the winter, I lift 4 days a week, run twice a week, and hit 5 days a week. For the spring, my goal is to just play hard, play loose, have fun, and see how everything plays out.
PBR: Who is the best player you will see this spring? Best team?
Whitley: The best player I'll face this spring is probably a
pitcher who I played with at the Metropolitan Classic this year, Ian
Anderson. He plays for the team that will probably also be the best team
we'll face, Shenendehowa.
Stories On
Whitley
- Top 10 Profiles Of 2014: No. 2 Garrett Whitley - Jan 1, 2015
- Updated And Expanded New York Class Of 2015 Rankings - Nov 22, 2014
- New York Insider: Commitments For 2015 Top 50 Players (NY) - Nov 14, 2014
- 2015 National Top 50 - Nov 12, 2014
- 2015 Overall Rankings: New York Players That Made The List - Nov 7, 2014
- Updated 2015 Overall Player Rankings - Nov 6, 2014
- Newcomers To The 2015 Overall Rankings - Nov 6, 2014
- Garrett Whitley Excels On The Field And In The Classroom - Sep 11, 2014
- The Hotlist: Players Of The Summer - Sep 3, 2014
- Player Spotlight of the Day: Garrett Whitley, OF, Niskayuna HS, NY (2015) - Sep 3, 2014
- 2015 Top 50 New York Player Rankings Released - Sep 2, 2014
- 2014 Area Code Games Standouts - Aug 12, 2014