07/18/2024 - Baseball Factory National World Series at JRTC (HS) Zharius continues to show improvements in his baseball abilities. He did show on the mound for the first time at the event. Foot speed has improved as he ran his best 60 time to date. At 1B, defensive abilities are now solid. Footwork around the bag is good and he receives throws well. Hands are relaxed and he showed the ability to pick balls out of the dirt. Range will increase as he improves foot quickness. At the plate, he shows a squared setup. Hands are quick (84 mph exit velocity) and work through an aggressive swing path. He stays inside the ball, utilizing all fields, and shows a feel for the barrel, flashing gap-to-gap pop. Lower half works well through the swing as he transfers weight into a firm front side. At the event, he was 3 for 9 with a 3B. On the mound, fastball shows range of 68-75 mph with sinking action. Breaking ball displays 10/4 shape with gradual break. He maintains arm speed on his changeup with arm side run. Control is solid as he throws strikes with all his pitches. Stock on the mound will continue to rise as he builds more arm strength through a long toss program. Mental makeup is a plus as he is very coachable and works hard to be the best player he can be. With 3 years to further develop, Zharius has potential with time and room to progress his game.