Logan Warda '25 Recruiting Profile

I’m the youngest of three brothers in a baseball / basketball family and I’ve been playing or watching games or sitting in dugouts with my Dad and brothers for what seems like my entire life.  I hit the ball hard and try to drive it in the air when I get my pitch and have over an 80% contact rate this season and rarely swing and miss or strike out. I'm opposite hand dominant and believe I could be one of the smoothest 6'1" fielding Shortstops you've ever seen.  I've also been a primary pitcher on my teams for 10 years and have more innings controlling games from the mound than many pitchers much older than me.

Hitting seems easy to me and I've had teammates ask me how I hit the ball so often.  My simplest explanation to them has been "see ball, hit ball".   I know that if I drive the ball and put the ball in play, good things will happen.  I believe there are great times to attack a good pitch like after a mound visit or a balk or an error by the defense and a few other times.  I study the pitcher before I bat and look for anything that might help me get a pitch I want.  I look for his best out pitch because knowing that helps me attack each at bat since I already know where he’s headed. I know my zone and attack good pitches early because I might only see my best pitch to drive once.    

I love controlling the game from the mound and have been one of the starting and go-to pitchers on my teams since my 7U travel season.  Amazing at it sounds for someone my age, I've been among the highest inning pitchers on my teams for a decade and understand how to control the game with my stuff.  I use my breaking pitches to setup my fastball and that's different than many pitchers.  I've been told many times I have great movement on my pitches and I'm comfortable throwing any pitch in any situation.  Sometimes I'll think about what I'd be looking for as a hitter deep in a count.  If a batter can't hit my breaking pitches, my philosophy is there's no reason to change.  I've batted against some pitchers with great breaking pitches and I'll often just work them to a fastball count and sit on the fastball.  I've learned that pitchers and catchers and coaches can be so predictable calling pitches at times.

I know when I can stay with my stuff or need to make a change on the mound.  I threw a complete game in the Dominican Republic this Summer against older players with all my breaking pitches cutting hard and have no problems throwing deep into games.  I'm not really a max effort pitcher so I can throw more than an effective inning or two and though I do strike out batters, I also draw a lot of ground balls and can eat up innings.  Though I've gotten to the point it's getting harder to have my arm ready to play Short the game after a long outing on the mound.  I also pitched in a game this Spring during my Brother Rice high school season when it was snowing and I needed to adjust.  My breaking pitches were working the first inning, in the second inning I still had my Change, but by the third inning I couldn't feel my fingers any longer and it started snowing harder, so I was basically just chucking fastballs inside on the hands and it worked out.  I'll adjust to stay on the mound.

I feel defense if the most undervalued component in winning baseball.  I believe most know what a good Shortstop looks like and can tell the difference between someone playing shortstop because of a good bat and a player who is a Shortstop.   I'm an opposite hand dominant smooth fielding Shortstop with extended range who will make the plays on turf and on grass.  I'll make plays on good grass fields and bumpy grass fields. I'll adjust to the hitter, the pitcher, the conditions, the field and the situation without being told where to go. I'll go deep into the outfield to catch a fly ball from Short and still like playing the occasional CF to keep in OF shape and give me more ways to get on the field. Teams with good shortstops win games and often in the most critical times of a tournament or playoff run, the difference between winning or not comes down to plays made or not made up the middle.  Almost all of my defensive innings on the field throughout my life on all of my travel, showcase or school teams have been played at Shortstop, CF or 2B.   

My goal is to play College baseball and I know I have the size and skills to be on the field.  I have an older brother who plays College baseball now and another brother with many college basketball offers and they've given me loads of advice. I've been hitting the weights and will be ready when it's time.  I'm looking for a school with a good coach and good teammates and a good culture where I can play baseball.  I want to keep playing baseball at a school where I get on the field because my skills help my team win.

Thanks,

Logan Warda (2025)