Lucas Sims makes adjustments ahead of MLB Draft

Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.) and Brookwood (Snellville, Ga.) are rival high schools and traditional baseball powers separated by only a few miles.

Parkview produced Jeff Francoeur, currently a Kansas City Royals outfielder, won a state championship last year and is ranked No. 1 this spring in the state. Brookwood is 166-79 under eighth-year coach Rick Howard and collected the 2008 state title. Each program played in the inaugural National High School Invitational this spring.

"A lot of fun," Howard said. "Always a packed house."

Last Saturday, Brookwood senior righthander Lucas Sims, one of the nation's top prospects, worked a complete game in a 5-2 victory that featured two unearned runs. He covered seven innings in an economical 86 pitches and used his four-seam fastball, curveball, changeup and newly acquired sinker effectively.

"That start was really special for me because I really had to pitch my way out of it," Sims said. "I couldn't really overpower that kind of a team."

Howard ranked the outing higher than the start against Highland Ranch (Colo.) at the NHSI, where Sims struck out 11 and allowed just one hit in six innings.

"He is growing as a starting pitcher and that says a lot about his determination to go out and compete and do well," Howard said. "It was more about the way he is commanding the game and that's where he is developing so much. He is setting up his pitches well and using what he has to his ability. (Saturday) was the best start he has had in his high school career without question."

The 6-foot-2 Sims already throws between 91 and 94 mph and his curveball is considered a plus pitch by scouts. However, the improvements with his sinker and mechanics have helped him post a 4-0 record with a 0.89 earned run average in 39 1/3 innings for an 11-7 team in his first season as a Brookwood starting pitcher.

"The big difference is the movement he is generating with his pitches," ProspectInsider.com's Chris Crawford, who saw Sims at the NHSI, said in an email. "Last year, a lot of stuff was flat. This year, it appears he is getting more tail and sink."

Sims has committed to Clemson University, though he could be picked in the first 20 selections of June's Major League Baseball draft.

"He has performed well," Crawford said. "The concern is still with his command – but he has held velocity well and some of the injuries to other prep players has really helped his stock."

Sims and Howard have thought little about the draft; Sims' focus is on winning a state title.

"He wants to have a great senior year," Howard said. "We are vying for a playoff spot. He needs to be a 17-year-old kid."

Sims, also Brookwood's starting shortstop the last three springs, first started to gain college interest when he went to Midland, Ohio for six weeks during the summer of his sophomore year.

"It was a pretty big part of me growing up as a person, going up and living on my own," he said. "I learned a lot about myself and I felt like I matured a lot there."

Sims has played for Team USA and helped the squad win a gold medal in Mexico, an accomplishment he called one of the top highlights of his career. With Brookwood, Sims mainly played junior varsity as a freshman, was called to varsity near the end of the season and pitched in the bullpen for a team that reached Georgia's Final Four. During his sophomore year, he batted .352 and had a 2.35 ERA in 38 innings.

Last season, Sims led the team with a .427 batting average and .490 on base percentage on a senior-laden squad that reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. Brookwood had two seniors at the top of the rotation, so Sims was the No. 3 starter and later became the closer. He struck out 47 batters in about 30 innings and earned all-region second team honors.

Since last summer, Sims has worked on the sinker, an offering that is now one of his main pitches.

"Trying to get something with movement to lower my pitch count," he said. "A lot of people have a straight fastball, but they get something that moves, it makes it a little bit more difficult."

As well, Sims made a few mechanical changes. After closing as a junior, Sims knew he would start this spring and worked to improve his stamina and repeating his mechanics and delivery. Sims focused on tightening his leg kick and making sure everything went to the plate. Crawford labeled Sims' delivery "a lot cleaner now."

"He has really been able to take control of games now," Howard said. "He has always had the velocity and everything, but I think he has really come full circle as far as being a pitcher and as far as really being able to command a game."

Prior to this year, high school baseball never matched the top teams against one another. However, USA Baseball brought 16 of the nation's top teams to its headquarters in Cary, N.C. for the inaugural NHSI. Howard said the tournament was "one of the best things going" for high school baseball and competition that will pay dividends for his team.

"It was a very expensive tournament to go to, but it was something that we felt like we needed to go to," Brookwood Activities Director Mark Kimbro said. "With it being the first one, we felt like it was a great opportunity. The money came from different places – the kids raised some money, the athletic department helped out a little bit. It was a good trip, very worthwhile."

In front of plenty of scouts and onlookers, Sims delivered one of the highlights in a 7-0 victory against Highlands Ranch (Colo.).

"When he challenged guys, he showed why he is a first-rounder," Crawford said.

Sims followed the NHSI appearance with the complete game versus Parkview, an outing that continued to show the righthander's maturation and improvement.

"They have got an outstanding lineup," Howard said. "To be able to do what he did against them on Saturday, it just elevated his game. There were people who were really impressed with how far he has come as a pitcher."

Conor Nicholl has covered sports, mainly high school and college, since 2003 in the Midwest. In addition to his work with MaxPreps, Nicholl is a sports reporter at The Hays (Kan.) Daily News and for KPreps.com. He can be reached at cnicholl1@gmail.com.