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2014 catcher Jeff Murray of La Mirada High School in La Mirada, Calif. offers some very nice tools behind and at the plate.
After committing himself in the weight room, the 6'1" 210 catcher has shown a nimbleness behind the plate that was begging to come out last season. He shows a very good ability to block balls in the dirt while maintaining his eyes on the baserunner. His ability to bounce out of his crouch on a bunt or a ball in dirt keeps runners on their toes. According to his coaches he's thrown out 28 of 31 would be base stealers, an incredible rate for the uncommitted junior. I had him anywhere from 1.97 to 2.12 pop times.
At the plate he has a little Kevin Youklis in his stance and and approach. He keeps his hands high but brings them through the zone with ease and quickness. At the time of print of this article, Murray was hitting .375 with 23 RBI, 25 runs scored, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 18 walks, 10 strikeouts, and has stolen 8 of 10 bases.
One assistant coach told me Murray's plans for the summer include playing for the Royals scout team as well as the Urban Youth Academy League.
Below is a video shot on 5/7/13 against Mayfair HS.
(Sorry about video quality; I was unable to upload YouTube video directly. The better quality video can be found here)