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2024 High School Baseball Rankings

BA Staff — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 19:54:35 +0000

Baseball America’s team high baseball rankings are selected through a poll of representatives from the National High School Baseball Coaches Association. The country is split into 10 different regions, with region chairs nominating teams from their geographic areas for consideration for the rankings nationwide. Below are the top 35 teams in the country. You can find Baseball America’s 2024 MLB Draft rankings here.

High School Baseball Top 35 Teams

Rank	School	Coach	Record	Previous
1	Central HS, Phenix City, Ala.	AJ Kehoe	24-1	1
2	Flower Mound (Texas) HS	Danny Wallace	23-3	2
3	Doral (Fla.) Academy	Ralph Suarez	18-1	3
4	Jackson Prep HS, Flowood, Miss.	Brent Heavener	26-2	5
5	Corona (Calif.) HS	Andy Wise	15-2	4
6	Arnold HS, Panama City Beach, Fla.	Chris Jones	16-0	24
7	Barbe HS, Lake Charles, La.	Glenn Cecchini	25-5	10
8	Valley Christian HS, San Jose, Calif.	John Diatte	15-2	6
9	Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz.	Mike Woods	15-3	7
10	Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.	Chan Brown	18-4	8
11	Harlem (Ga.) HS	Jimmie Lewis	25-0	14
12	Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.	Brad Bass	28-2	12
13	Catawba Ridge HS, Fort Mill, S.C.	Stas Swerdzewski	15-1	31
14	Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.	Jared Halpert	15-3	13
15	Archbishop Moeller HS, Cincinnati	Tim Held	7-0	NR
16	Brophy College Prep, Phoenix	Josh Garcia	17-4	NR
17	Grapevine (Texas) HS	Jimmy Webster	22-2	NR
18	Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic HS	Richard LaBounty	17-1	NR
19	South Salem HS, Salem, Ore.	Max Price	10-0	NR
20	Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS	Eric Borba	14-4	21
21	St. John’s College HS, Washington D.C.	Mark Gibbs	11-2	32
22	Prosper (Texas) HS	Scott Holder	18-3	18
23	Olathe (Kan.) East HS	Blake Iles	11-0	NR
24	St. Peters HS, Staten Island, N.Y.	Bobby Glennerster	11-0	NR
25	Starr’s Mill HS, Fayettevile, Ga.	Brent Mosely	13-1	17
26	St. Paul VI Catholic HS, Chantilly, Va.	William Emerson	9-2	NR
27	Granite Bay (Calif.) HS	Pat Esposito	13-2	NR
28	Castle View HS, Castle Rock, Colo.	Troy Spahn	8-2	NR
29	Malvern (Pa.) Prep	Fred Hilliard	9-1	NR
30	Puyallup (Wash.) HS	Marc Wiese	3-0	19
31	Joliet (Ill.) Catholic HS	Jared Voss	7-0	NR
32	Lincoln (Neb.) East HS	Mychal Lanik	13-1	NR
33	Hewitt Trusville HS, Trusville, Ala.	Jeff Mauldin	22-4	NR
34	Granada HS, Livermore, Calif.	Corrigan Willis	15-0	NR
35	Baylor HS, Chattanooga, Tenn.	Greg Elie & Mike Kinney	12-3	20

Teams That Fell Out

School	Coach	Record	Previous
Stoneman Douglas HS, Parkland, Fla.	Todd Fitz-Gerald	13-4	9
Hoggard HS, Wilmington, N.C.	Bryan Tuck	13-2	11
O’Connor HS, Phoenix	Jeff Baumgartner	14-6	15
Las Vegas HS	Sam Thomas	16-2	16
Trinity HS, Louisville	Rick Arnold	13-3	22
Lewisburg HS, Olive Branch, Miss.	Rusty Cagle	19-6	23
Westlake HS, Westlake Village, Calif.	Wally Barnett	15-3	25
Pace (Fla.) HS	Jason McBride	11-5	26
Poly Prep, Brooklyn	Matt Roventini	2-2	27
Regis Jesuit HS, Aurora, Colo.	Matt Darr	6-3	28
Pearland (Texas) HS	David Rogers	17-4	29
Bishop Amat HS, La Puente, Calif.	Joseph Hoggatt	13-5	30
Blue Valley West HS, Overland Park, Kan.	Joe Allison	0-0	33
La Cueva HS, Albuquerque	Gerard Pineda	12-2	34
Lowndes HS, Valdosta, Ga.	Tryan Page	20-5	35

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How Can Offseason Swing Coaches And In-Season Hitting Coaches Co-Exist?

Tony Abbatine — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Hitting is hard. Hitting at the professional level is really hard.

Baseball advocates often say that hitting a baseball at the elite level may be the most difficult skill set in all sports. Millions of dollars are spent by players and parents each year to build the swing that passes kinematic scrutiny, with hopes of hitting well when the game starts. Information is at an all-time high for those looking for hitting instruction. Spend an hour on X and see the raging debates on whose teaching around hitting (or pitching, for that matter) will elevate your nine-year-old to prospect status.

Some say we have a generation of young players who have great swings, but cannot hit.

To prepare for the upcoming season, hitters of all levels use the offseason to make adjustments or at times, do a complete makeover to improve their swing efficiency.

Private swing coaches are plentiful and here to stay. Some are well-respected in the industry, some are not. Ego and control sometimes get in the way of evaluating swing coaches’ value by teams. Swing coaches are quick to blame the organization’s hitting coaches for a player’s demise and vice versa. Players are put in less-than-ideal positions when trying to please both parties.

Big league hitting coaches become the easy scapegoats when production drops, which explains the high turnover rate for this position.

I decided to go in the trenches to get perspective from hitting coaches on this challenge.

The Braves’ Bobby Magallanes is a well-respected hitting coach. We crossed paths this winter at an event, and his words and wisdom resonated on many levels:

“There is not just one facet of hitting. There are a couple. One is the movements of the swing, and the other is the mental part. This can be the approach and plan against the pitcher you are facing. I do believe in the movements of the swing. We hit with movement. Some coaches believe more on the approach and plan than the swing itself. I have heard some coaches say that the approach will fix a swing. Well, that is not true for every hitter. I believe that proper swing moves will help a hitter execute their approach.”

Magallanes shares what the big-league hitter’s mindset is during pregame:

“When they are in the cage, they are working on their swing. I have never heard a hitter come out of the cage saying, ‘Man, I am going to rake in the game today. My approach in the cage today was money!’ No, they always say that their swing in the cage felt good. So, the swing is important. When a hitter is in the zone, they normally don’t need a plan or approach. They just go up there and hit. The approach and plan is mostly when the hitter is facing a tough pitcher or when the hitter is not feeling good at the plate or with their swing.”

Hitting involves other skill sets. Magallanes elaborated on the non-swing issues his hitters face:

“On the other side of it, in the game, the focus should be on the ball, plan and approach. The focus should be external. This is where game-planning comes into effect. Now, here is where we get into what separates swing coaches from hitting coaches. A good hitting coach knows his hitters. They build relationships with hitters and know how they think, what their hobbies are and how they learn. A hitting coach wears many different hats. They need to sometimes be a psychologist, a dad, a friend and above all, a good listener. Swing coaches mostly just look at the swing. A hitting coach looks inside the person to bring out the best in them, not just on their swing. This is why teaching hitting is so difficult. You have heard that the toughest thing to do in all sports is to hit a baseball. Do you know what the second toughest thing to do in all sports is? To teach it!”

Louie Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is a hitting coach everyone enjoys being around. He has great listening skills, great insight on his players and a big-league smile and passion level that is infectious.

Ortiz shared great insight on the swing coach versus team coach dynamics:

“We, as coaches, could fight it, or we could embrace it and hopefully foster a partnership relationship in which the player and the organization wins.”

Many players see professional coaches as an extension of the front office and prefer an outside voice to listen to, who will not share information discussed with higher-ups within the organization that could potentially be used against them.

Just like any member of an industry, you will find swing coaches who have great feel, while others can’t wait for their guy to do something good to post it on social media. But, of course, when those players struggle, they often hide, while the org coach is left with a struggling player confused by whether or not he should continue to do what he had worked on all winter with his swing coach.

So, what happens when the laboratory swing that chased exit velo hits a wall early in the season?

Ortiz continued:

“When struggling, some players have enough wisdom to either admit that it was sunk cost and avoid pouring more good investment (in time and money) and just move on from the swing coach’s advice during the season, allowing the guys that see him on a daily basis to take the lead when it comes to evaluating their current situation and prescribing solutions for improving performance. Others continue to fight through the struggle, even though the way they felt during the offseason when doing feel-good flips and drills might not transfer to the pitching environment in which high velocity and better information of where they struggle and to where they hit the ball are the norm.”

Can’t we all just get along? Ortiz believes it is possible:

“At the end of the day, swing coaches have become a part of the game. They can be an obstacle or an asset. For some, their ego gets in the way, and they feel (it) is a competition of hitting knowledge and influence. For the good ones, they have the player’s best interest in mind and understand how to navigate the grind of a long and tough major league season. As a coach, you just hope that you are fortunate enough to deal with the latter.”

In a perfect world, collaboration from all parties would be the best way to ensure player development. Some teams are better at this than others. Swing coaches who attack the establishment garner more X followers, but alienate themselves with clubs. Players should feel comfortable sharing the offseason cues and feelings with their everyday hitting coaches.

Players and coaches alike need to realize the missing components (visual and emotional stressors, ball movement) of offseason hitting and look to develop a hitting model that allows their efficient swing to transfer into great bat-to-ball skills when someone is keeping score.

Put another way, the game-day hitter should aspire to have the eyes of an eagle, the heartbeat of a sloth and the swing of a Trout.

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2024 MLB Draft Class Could Be Among Weakest Ever For High Schoolers

Carlos Collazo — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:25:13 +0000

When we updated our 2024 draft rankings today, there were just five high school prospects ranked inside the top 30.

For some time, the expectation for the 2024 MLB draft class has been that this year’s high school group is down. Thirteen scouting directors polled on the strengths of the draft class gave both the high school hitters and high school pitchers a below-average grade. In the four years Baseball America has conducted this polling, it’s the first time that either prep hitters or pitchers has failed to earn at least a 50 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale.

That’s just the last four years. But what if we look back further? Just how weak is this year’s class of prep prospects relative to the norm—or relative to the weakest high school drafts we’ve seen.

There have been seven drafts with 10 or fewer high school players selected in the first round.

Year	No. of HS first-rounders
1992	7
1984	8
1988	8
1981	9
1985	9
2008	9
2005	10

The 1981 draft was a turning point for how the industry viewed high school versus college talent. It was the first draft in which more college players than high schoolers were drafted in the first round. Teams were facing the new realities of free agency, namely that proximity counted for a lot more than it did back when stars could be kept in perpetuity.

Teams have increasingly become more college-oriented over the years, and the restructured minor leagues means there are even fewer spots available for projectable high schoolers who need lots of development time.

If our most recent mock draft is any indication, the 2024 class has a chance to become the eighth class to ever have 10 or fewer preps selected in the first round. Eight high school players are including among the top 30 picks. There’s still time for high school players to move up the board or pop onto the scene entirely, ala this year’s Kellon Lindsey.

But it’s more typical for college players to move up boards throughout the spring based on conference performance, and it’s easier to slide a high school player to a later pick—where they are paid more than slot—on draft day than their college peers.

Our current draft board has only one player ranked inside the top 10: toolshed Konnor Griffin, a shortstop, outfielder and righthander for Jackson Prep in Flowood, Miss.

There have been just six draft classes in which Baseball America has ranked only one high school player inside the top 10—1981, 1982, 1988, 1992, 2006 and 2009. BA launched in 1981 and ranked amateur players for the draft for the first time that year.

Here’s where the 2024 high school class stacks up with the last 10 years of BA draft rankings in the top 30.

Year	HS players ranked top 30
2015	12
2016	15
2017	14
2018	15
2019	11
2020	9
2021	13
2022	11
2023	13
2024	5

The only other draft class in the last decade to have fewer than 10 high school players ranked inside the top 30 was the Covid-shortened 2020 class.

Scouts questioned about the strength of the prep class this year gave fairly straightforward answers when asked about how they viewed the group. Many said it’s the worst they have seen in their scouting careers, and there’s some thought that this year’s preps are the weakest since at least 1990 and perhaps ever given the saturation of high school players at the top of the draft in early years.

It doesn’t feel like this year’s down high school class is anything more than the random fluctuation of talent. The group specifically lacks high-end athletes at up-the-middle positions and high-probability shortstops who also have strong offensive profiles. It’s quite early, but both the 2025 and 2026 high school classes appear flush with talent in those areas.

With four months to go until the draft, plenty can and will continue to change, but the 2024 draft class is shaping up to be one of the most college-heavy editions we’ve seen.

Matt Eddy contributed research to this piece.

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2024 MLB Mock Draft 1.0: Charlie Condon, Jac Caglianone Make Strong Impressions

Carlos Collazo — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:44:35 +0000

Welcome to the first in-season MLB mock draft for the 2024 class.

The college season is just five weeks old. Many high school players in the northern parts of the country haven’t even started their season. But there’s already significant player movement and a drastically different looking mock draft than our first complete attempt in December.

As we always mention at this stage of the calendar, it’s likely too early to feel confident in any specific player/team connections with four months still to go before the draft. Teams at the top always cast a wide net on targeted looks this far out. That is especially true in a wide open 2024 draft class.

A few players have made strong early-season pushes for the top spot, though. You can see how we have the first round playing out in mid-March below. Find our latest draft rankings here.

1. Guardians — Charlie Condon, INF/OF, Georgia

Condon has been on another planet in the first few weeks of the 2024 season. Through 21 games he has hit .521/.648/1.192 with 13 home runs, eight doubles and nearly twice as many walks (23) as strikeouts (12). Condon has a chance for a plus hit tool with 70-grade raw power which could be more than enough to make him the 1-1 pick in the 2024 draft class. The defensive versatility he’s shown early this season—which was the one key area for him to improve on in our preseason to-do list—won’t hurt either. He’s simply been the most dynamic player in the class. He has forced himself to the top of the draft board.

2. Reds — Jac Caglianone, LHP/1B, Florida

Caglianone is the most unique player in the class. He would be a first-round talent as a hitter and a pitcher if he only picked one side. The Reds feel like a team that would take a gamble on his impressive physicality, athleticism and upside despite some risks in his profile. He’s played well enough to fit as a top-three pick in the class. On the mound, he has posted a 1.77 ERA through four starts and 20.1 innings with 34 strikeouts and 13 walks while making a low-80s changeup a more prominent part of his arsenal. As a hitter, Caglianone has slashed .415/.489/.683 with seven home runs and most importantly has upped his walk rate and cut his strikeout rate. If he maintains that throughout SEC play, it’s hard to see him falling outside of the top five picks. At the moment Caglianone and Condon are favorites for SEC player of the year.

3. Rockies — Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State

Bazzana has been one of the hottest hitters at the top of the class not named Charlie Condon this spring. Through 18 games he’s hitting .429/.560/.843 with six home runs, 20 walks and 11 strikeouts. He seems to be hitting for more power this spring, which amplifies an offensive profile that was centered on some of the best contact ability in the class. He’s a strong athlete and should be able to handle second base, but he’s a good enough runner and throws from an unusual enough slot that some teams might want to experiment with him as a center fielder in pro ball.

4. Athletics — Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest

In terms of pure arm talent, Burns is in an elite tier that basically includes Arkansas lefthander Hagen Smith and Iowa righthander Brody Brecht in this draft class. He pitched excellently in a highly-scouted matchup against Duke two weekends ago. On the season has a 2.08 ERA with a 48.7% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. Burns has averaged 98 mph on his fastball so far, which is two ticks better than his 2023 average. He backs the 70-grade fastball with a double-plus slider and solid curveball and changeup. To this point it’s been a tightly contested battle for SP1 between Burns and Smith.

5. White Sox — Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas

Like Burns, Smith has come out of the gate strong this spring. He put together one of the best outings of the season in a week two effort against Oregon State where he struck out 17 batters in six shutout innings. Through five starts and 23 innings he has a 1.57 ERA with a silly 58.8% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He looks stronger and the delivery looks a bit cleaner in 2024. His fastball velocity is up three ticks to 96 mph on average, while his mid-80s slider has been a consistently plus weapon that likely earns some 70 grades. Smith has unique arm talent from the left side that currently puts him near the top of the draft board and a candidate to be the first pitcher selected.

6. Royals — Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M

Montgomery is one of the rare switch-hitting bats that figures to go in the first round this year. He’s done a nice job on both sides of the plate early this season. The lefthanded swing might be better overall, but he has made plenty of impact from both sides. He offers a tantalizing power and OBP combination while profiling as a solid right fielder with top-of-the-scale arm strength. Montgomery has hit .380/.511/.831 with eight home runs, an 18.9% walk rate and a 15.6% strikeout rate in 19 games. He’s getting top-five pick buzz.

7. Cardinals — Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest

Kurtz entered the season as the No. 2 player on the draft board and was one of the favorites to be the first player taken. He’s slid a bit after five weeks of the season thanks to more modest offensive production and a recent shoulder injury that is projected to keep him out at least three to four weeks. Through 17 games, Kurtz is hitting .241/.475/.444 with three home runs, a 30% walk rate and a 15% strikeout rate. As the focal point in Wake’s offense, Kurtz is getting pitched around more than previous seasons and he’s happy to stay within the zone and take his walks. Scouts still view him as a top-10 pick at this point because he was putting together quality at-bats consistently and looked like the hitter he was expected to be, but with a first base profile he’ll need to put up numbers to secure a top five pick when he comes back to the field. At this stage others in the class have looked more impactful. The recent injury news only clouds his draft stock.

8. Angels — JJ Wetherholt, 2B, West Virginia

Wetherholt played in just four games before suffering a hamstring injury that has kept him out since Feb. 19. He also dealt with a hamstring injury that limited him last summer with Team USA. When he’s been on the field he’s been one of the best—if not the best—pure hitters in the class. It’s hard to get a read on Wetherholt’s draft stock given his lack of playing time, but his profile hasn’t changed. I’d still expect him to be a top-10 pick even if he misses a significant chunk of time. The hitting traits are simply too good to ignore. Oregon State second baseman Nick Madrigal missed two months with a wrist injury during his draft year and still went No. 4 overall. While Wetherholt’s contact ability might not be as extreme as Madrigal’s, he provides considerably more physicality and power upside. If he comes back and continues raking it would be unsurprising to see him gone before this pick.

9. Pirates — Konnor Griffin, OF/SS, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.

There’s some thought that the eight players off the board before this pick are forming a top tier of sorts, though the group remains fairly nebulous. Truthfully, Griffin doesn’t feel like a Pirates sort of pick, but he might be the best player available in this mock. He’s looking like the clear favorite to be the first high school bat off the board by a decent margin. He offers considerable upside thanks to some of the best athleticism and raw tools in the class. Griffin would provide impact potential for a system built on pitching and contact-driven offensive profiles.

10. Nationals — Seaver King, SS/OF, Wake Forest

Griffin does feel like the sort of athletic, physical, tooled up player the Nationals have coveted in the past, though it’ll be interesting to see if their preferences change after a scouting department shakeup over the offseason. With Griffin gone, King can provide some of the best position player upside available thanks to his 70-grade running ability, twitchy bat speed and the athleticism to handle a number of premium positions. Of all the college hitters in the class, King’s 2024 performance could be the most important for his overall resume considering his first two years were spent with Division II Wingate.

11. Tigers — Caleb Lomavita, C, California

Lomavita entered the year in the back third of the first round and clustered with all the other top catchers in the class. But he might be pulling away from the pack and entering the 11-20 range thanks to a hot start. He’s hitting .361/.413/.708 with eight home runs through 17 games. Scouts have praised his defensive work behind the plate and admired his rare athleticism and speed for the position. His approach is overly aggressive at times, which could limit him, but the industry loves the college catching demographic. Most of his hitting peers still on the board either have significant hit tool questions or profile on the opposite side of the defensive spectrum.

12. Red Sox — Jonathan Santucci, LHP, Duke

Boston has one of the most hitter-heavy farm systems in the game. There’s some thought they could be targeting pitching in 2024 after taking bats in the first round for five straight drafts going back to 2018 (the team didn’t have a 2019 first round pick). If that’s the case, Duke southpaw Jonathan Santucci could be one of the best options available here. He had a fairly forgettable game in a highly-scouted matchup against Wake Forest two weeks ago, but he sits in the mid-90s with a riding fastball, shows a plus slider and has the makings of a solid changeup as well. If he keeps posting throughout the spring it’s hard to not see him going somewhere in the middle of the first round—or higher.

13. Giants — Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina

Honeycutt will be an enigma for teams because he has the best athletic and tools package of the college class. He’s a great defender in center field and through 19 games this spring he has hit .329/.441/.605 with six home runs and 12 stolen bases. Despite that production he’s been a slight down arrow prospect from his preseason No. 6 ranking because of hit tool concerns that still haven’t been alleviated. San Francisco drafted him in the 20th round out of high school, so perhaps they’d be excited to sign him here three years later.

14. Cubs — Jacob Cozart, C, NC State

Cozart continues a run of North Carolina college products in a great year for the state. Like Caleb Lomavita, he should benefit by being a college catcher who’s putting up offensive numbers. Through 15 games Cozart is slashing .351/.519/.649 with five home runs, a 25.3% walk rate and a 15.2% strikeout rate.

15. Mariners — Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa

Brecht’s 19.1% career walk rate would represent a new high-water mark for college pitchers in the first round. Scouts believe his arm talent is enough to stomach it. Only Chase Burns and Hagen Smith have comparable arm talent in the class, and evaluators seem to think he’s not going to last too long—reliever questions or not. The Mariners have done an excellent job developing starters, though Brecht would represent a project different from George Kirby (coached at Elon by current Iowa pitching coach Sean McGrath who also worked as a pitching coach for the Mariners) and Logan Gilbert. This situation might be more similar to how the organization managed to coax more control out of Bryce Miller.

16. Marlins — Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State

Smith has a pro-ready body now with impressive raw power and arm strength to go with it. Last summer in the Cape Cod League, Smith did a nice job improving his approach and eye at the plate. So far this spring that’s still the case for the FSU third baseman. Smith is hitting .486/.558/.757 with a 16.3% strikeout rate that’s significantly lower than the 28.7% mark he managed as a freshman in 2023. If he maintains this contact throughout ACC play, he could continue to push up draft boards—though Smith and most of the players in the second half of this mock draft remain polarizing from team to team.

17. Brewers — William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.

Schmidt has added more velocity and been an up-arrow prospect this spring after entering it with loud expectations and day one draft stock. He’s now put himself in position to be the first prep arm off the board and he also has some of the best innate feel to spin the baseball in the class. That makes him as good a fit for the Brewers at this spot as any we could come up with on March 18 considering their penchant for high spin rate arms.

18. Rays — Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State

Culpepper has been hitting fine in the first few weeks of the 2024 season, but he offers what few players in this class can: a chance to stick at shortstop. If you scan this mock draft you’ll find perhaps three or four players with realistic chances to stick at shortstop and of those a majority might still be better off at other positions. Culpepper’s defense has earned solid reviews after sliding to shortstop from third base. He has more than enough pure arm strength for the position and he’s an impressive athlete so he could continue to improve with more reps.

19. Mets — Tommy White, 3B, LSU

White is off to the worst start of his tremendous college career this season and because of that he’s falling down draft boards relative to a No. 10 ranking entering the year. Like Kurtz, he’s much more of a focal point in the offense this year. He’s hit just .313/.404/.500 with four home runs, a 9.6% walk rate and 9.6% strikeout rate through just one weekend of SEC play. Some scouts are already pushing him out of the first round entirely since he has such a bat-first profile. This placement is more with the expectation that he’ll turn things around and that some team will bet on his overall college production in the back of the first. Is Seth Beer (2018, 28th) really a first rounder but Tommy White isn’t?

20. Blue Jays — Mike Sirota, OF, Northeastern

Sirota needs to perform for different reasons than some of the corner profiles in this mock draft. The Northeastern outfielder got off to a slow start and went 8-for-43 (.186) in his first 10 games of the season before stringing together four straight multi-hit games including a 4-for-5 effort against Bryant on March 13. His defensive ability and solid all-around toolset provides some sort of floor, but he feels more like a back of the first round pick currently than the potential top-10 pick we had him as to start the year.

21. Twins — Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford

Moore has started slowly this season. He’s hitting just .190/.325/.444 with five home runs but he has walked at a much higher clip early in the year (15.6%) compared to his full 2023 season (7%). There’s some thought among scouts that Moore would be a first-round pick even if he was a first baseman thanks to his raw power and ability to backspin the baseball. His chance to stick at catcher should make that decision easier for teams, though he will need to heat up to avoid falling down the board.

22. Orioles — Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee

Unlike many players in this range, Amick has been skyrocketing this season. He has looked good as a hitter and a defender at third base and perhaps could be a good fit for a team who has valued exit velocity and done a nice job with hitters in general like the Orioles. Amick is slashing .361/.447/.819 with nine homers, a 16.5% strikeout rate and an 11.8% walk rate.

23. Dodgers — Bryce Rainer, SS/RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.

Rainer might be the best shortstop in the 2024 draft class and there are scouts who prefer him on the mound. Whoever drafts and signs him will likely run him out as a hitter first since that appears to be Rainer’s preference. He certainly has the tools, athleticism and body to be an impact position player. Rainer has raw power that can play to all fields and arguably a 70-grade arm that would be an asset at either shortstop or third base (if he eventually out grows the position). The fact that he has multiple plus pitches on the mound with a shockingly easy delivery considering his pitching experience is just icing on the cake and a nice fallback option.

24. Braves — Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama

Hess was close to lights out this spring for Alabama through his first four starts before his most recent outing against Tennessee when he allowed four earned runs in 3.2 innings. Overall he has a 3.92 ERA through five starts and 20.2 innings with a 40.5% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate. His stuff has impressed southern scouts. They consistently put him somewhere in the back of the first round thanks to a fastball that sits in the mid 90s and can get near triple digits as well as a pair of solid breaking balls. He’s never thrown more than 36.1 innings in a season, so staying healthy and stacking frames are keys for him moving forward.

25. Padres — Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Caminiti will be a fascinating prospect to monitor because he checks a few boxes emphatically but has some real question marks in others. The fact that he’ll be 17 on draft day and one of the youngest players in the class is a good start, as is a mid-90s fastball that has been up to 98 with excellent life and 70-grade potential. However, he’s more of a pronator than supinator and his breaking stuff remains inconsistent. Teams that prioritize spinning a breaking ball might be more cautious. San Diego loves athletes and isn’t afraid of prep arms and Caminiti’s upside remains exciting.

26. Yankees — PJ Morlando, 1B/OF, Summerville (S.C.) HS

Morlando is perhaps the best pure hitter in a light high school class. In our preseason best tools balloting from MLB scouting directors he was voted first in pure hit tool and power, though a likely corner outfield or first base role means teams will have to have plenty of conviction on those offensive tools. This mock has him in the same spot as Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas from the 2018 draft. Boston drafted Casas as a third baseman with a reasonably similar profile before he eventually slid over to first.

27. Phillies — Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina

Yesavage started the season in the comp or early second round range but after five weekends of consistent posting he’s moving up into the first round. He brings a solid blend of size, velocity, quality secondaries and strikes to the table that provide solid safety and reasonable impact potential. Through five starts and 30 innings Yesavage has posted a 1.20 ERA with 49 strikeouts and nine walks.

28. Astros — Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.

Caldwell is going to inevitably be compared to current D-backs star Corbin Carroll given his size, well-rounded toolset and high-energy style of play on the field. The comp is not a perfect one, but scouts have been consistently positive about Caldwell’s pure baseball skills for the last full year or so. He’s got great contact skills, a solid approach at the plate, consistently turns in 70-grade run times and can more than handle his own as a center field defender. His overall profile feels similar to Padres No. 25 overall pick Dillon Head from the 2023 class.

29. D-backs — Caleb Bonemer, SS, Okemos (Mich.) HS

Bonemer was a standout during last summer’s showcase season and brings exciting power and speed tools with the athleticism to become a high-caliber defender at third base if and when he moves off shortstop. Some teams might prefer him more in the comp round, but it gets more difficult to find tools, hitting chops and a solid defensive profile all in one package at this point on the board.

30. Rangers — Kellon Lindsey, SS/OF, Hardee HS, Wauchula, Fla.

There are teams who would avoid picking a high school player with relatively little track record at big events or without enough evaluations from the entire scouting department to create a safe pick in the first round. The Rangers don’t feel like one of those teams to me. So a massive helium prospect this spring who provides elite athleticism, top-of-the-scale running ability, improving shortstop defense and bat-to-ball skills at the plate might be a profile they pop at No. 30. Lindsey could be that player and he’s getting this sort of buzz currently.

Remember the name Kellon Lindsey

The Florida commit is one of the buzziest 2024 draft prospects in the country right now.@CarlosACollazo has more https://t.co/E7D32CGugl pic.twitter.com/nhjgywSfZI
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) March 17, 2024

Other players considered:

Drew Beam, RHP, Tennessee
Josh Hartle, LHP, Wake Forest
Luke Holman, RHP, LSU
Carter Johnson, SS, Oxford (Ala.) HS

The post 2024 MLB Mock Draft 1.0: Charlie Condon, Jac Caglianone Make Strong Impressions appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

90th Percentile: Coach Benji Medure Of Huntington Beach High School Baseball

Geoff Pontes — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:08:40 +0000

This week on the 90th Percentile, Geoff Pontes and Matt Pajak are joined by legendary California high school coach Benji Medure of Huntington Beach High School. Over his 20-plus year career, Medure has won over 400 games in one of the most competitive high school baseball leagues in the country. Benji shares his secrets for health, longevity and the stories behind building a national powerhouse at a public high school.

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The post 90th Percentile: Coach Benji Medure Of Huntington Beach High School Baseball appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

10 Breakout And Sleeper Picks For The 2024 MLB Draft Class

Carlos Collazo — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 13:32:15 +0000

With college baseball kicking off in earnest this weekend, it’s time for a few predictions.

In this piece, I’ll highlight 10 players in the 2024 draft class who have a chance to breakout and move further up draft boards than where they are entering the season, or come from fully outside our current top 200 and make an impact on the draft in July.

Related: Top 200 MLB Draft Prospects

This is a non-exhaustive list and was created based on conversations with scouts, in-person live looks at players and examining various pieces of data at our disposal here at BA. I’ve specifically referred to breakouts and sleepers for this piece because some players below are already prominent and likely fit into day one draft considerations currently, while others could more realistically work their way up into a top-five round discussion.

I’ll plan to revisit this piece after the 2024 draft and evaluate how well or how poorly I did.

Garrett Shull, OF, Enid (Okla.) HS (No. 45)

Shull is a well-rounded hitter with solid bat speed from both sides of the plate and a chance to hit for both average and power. His offensive toolset places him as a top-50 prospect entering the season, but he could move up boards further if he can amplify his supplemental toolset. Shull does have above-average arm strength that could fit in either corner outfield spot nicely. If he comes out this spring as a better runner and gives himself a chance to profile as a center fielder, suddenly there are few holes to find in his profile.

Shull already had a well-developed and muscular frame during the 2023 showcase season. He’s not here because of any low-hanging fruit that could have come from a strong offseason in the weight room, but because of conviction in his offensive ability and a chance for him to move into first round consideration on draft day with slight improvements in his speed and fielding.

Carson Benge, OF/RHP, Oklahoma State (No. 60)

Benge is an intriguing prospect both as a hitter with power and a righthanded pitcher with a fastball that gets into the mid 90s. His two-way status gives him two bites at the up-arrow apple, but I have him here specifically because of his exciting offensive tools and some room for improvement with his batted ball profile to make the most of them.

Benge hits the ball plenty hard. He averaged a 91.7 mph exit velocity in 2023 and his 108.1-mph 90th percentile exit velocity places him along with some of the most impactful hitters in the class. Despite that power, Benge only homered seven times during the 2023 season and most of those homers went the opposite way to left field. There’s tons of movement in his swing which leads to late timing and if he does a better job getting the ball in the air (his ground ball rate was well north of 50%) to the pull side his home run numbers should follow.

Pierce George, RHP, Alabama (No. 95)

George is the sole player on this list who we have already tagged as a sleeper explicitly in his scouting report. There’s a chance we are too high on George already given the fact that he’s thrown just a pair of innings in his college career but we’re going with the scouts on this one—almost always an easy decision.

George wowed evaluators last fall with Alabama after transferring from Texas. He has a massive frame at 6-foot-6, 240 pounds and showed a pair of plus pitches between a 98-100 mph fastball with life and a hard upper-80s slider. If he shows that sort of stuff with any semblance of control throughout the spring he’ll have decision makers scrambling to see him.

Gage Jump, LHP, LSU (No. 96)

With Jump I am betting on a bounceback season and return to form after missing time thanks to Tommy John surgery. He has exceptional pedigree dating back to his prep days when he was viewed as a top-two round sort of talent and has a pair of coveted traits: he throws lefthanded and has a riding fastball that analysts love.

Jump has just 16.1 innings on his college resume and made just three starts with UCLA in 2022, but is expected to form one of the most talented rotations in the country in Baton Rouge alongside Thatcher Hurd and Luke Holman.

William Kirk, LHP, Ramsey (N.J.) HS (No. 102)

Kirk is a breakout candidate for many scouts in the country thanks to his uber-projectable frame and advanced touch and feel. He does a nice job attacking the top of the zone with his fastball and landing his curveball and changeup at the bottom of the zone. Scouts will have to wait a bit longer to see Kirk this spring, as New Jersey practices don’t get started until March and games don’t start until April, but if he comes out looking stronger and has taken steps forward with velocity his already appealing starter profile will look all the more appealing.

Aside from Cam Caminiti, the lefthanded high school pitching crop is fairly wide open, and Kirk is as well-positioned to move up the board with a strong spring as any player of that demographic.

Gavin Kash, 1B, Texas Tech (No. 118)

Kash provides big time power from the left side and is coming off a monster 2023 season with Texas Tech where he led the team and conference with 26 home runs. He can homer to all fields and provides plenty of thump, but currently there are some questions about Kash’s pure hitting ability.

He expands the zone frequently (33% chase rate in 2023) and swings and misses a bit too much overall. After a hot start in his first 32 games in 2023 when he slashed .397/.452/.794, Kash stumbled down the stretch in the second half and slashed .250/.327/.578 with worse swing decisions. I’m more bullish on him improving in that regard for 2024 and if he puts up a consistent offensive performance throughout the season it wouldn’t be surprising to see him factor into the day one conversation.

Cinco de Money

The 21st Ka$h Sma$h of the year is a big one. pic.twitter.com/1e5a3apkwO
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) May 6, 2023

Jeremiah Jenkins, 1B, Maine (NR)

Jenkins’ improvements in hitting approach year-over-year with Maine, as well as standout raw power, make him a player to watch. He has an unorthodox hitting setup at the plate with a stiff, slightly closed and upright stance as well as a low handset tucked into his chest. He takes a late stride in his load before firing his hands through the zone, though he frequently keeps himself in a closed stance throughout the swing thanks to a stride towards the left side of the field.

In 2023 Jenkins slashed .362/.490/.749 with 21 home runs and 12 doubles. He lowered his strikeout rate from 18.8% to 14% and upped his walk rate from 10.6% to 15.6%. If he can replicate his swing decisions and continue to show power his offensive profile will appeal to teams—regardless of defensive profile or mechanical question marks.

Michael Torres, OF/LHP, Doral (Fla.) Academy HS (NR)

Torres has an extremely advanced feel for the game that stands out and is more impressive now than his physical toolset. He has solid feel to fill up the zone with an upper-80s fastball that gets to 90-91 from the left side and will mix in both a curveball and changeup. His pro upside is likely greater as a hitter thanks to a direct bat path and line-drive oriented swing that pairs nicely with a solid approach at the plate and an ability to use the entire field. Torres will either need to add more power to profile as a corner outfielder or add a bit of speed to ensure he can stick in center field and because of that there might be some teams who want to see him head to Miami and mash in the ACC.

If he comes out this spring stronger and/or faster, his feel for the game, hitting chops and solid athleticism could see him move up boards.

Michael Torres, OF/LHP

At the plate: he went 6-for-12 (.500) with two doubles, one triple, three walks and two strikeouts

On the mound: he pitched in one inning of relief and struck out the sidehttps://t.co/TzAyMoaqR5 pic.twitter.com/e1pt86wq1F
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) October 12, 2023

Dariyan Pendergrass, OF, College of Charleston (NR)

Pendergrass has the exact toolset that should be in more demand given MLB’s rule changes that have allowed for a more speed- and athlete-oriented game. Pendergrass was a multi-sport athlete in high school who was a standout on the diamond and gridiron at Hartsville High in South Carolina before he slashed .403/.489/.546 in two seasons with Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) JC. In that time he went 75-for-77 (97.4%) in stolen base attempts.

He is one of the best pure runners in the 2024 class and he spent the summer in the Coastal Plain League where he hit .354/.438/.520 with more walks than strikeouts and 35 stolen bases in 40 tries (87.5%). Pendergrass will face his biggest offensive challenge this spring with College of Charleston in the Coastal Athletic Association and if he holds his own could appeal to teams looking for the next Victor Scott.

Dasan Hill, LHP, Grapevine (Texas) HS (NR)

Hill is one of my gut-feel projection arms to take steps forward this spring. I was intrigued with his size and two-pitch mix during the Area Code Games in 2023 when he threw a pair of innings but allowed two hits, three walks and struck out two. He has a great pitcher’s frame at 6-foot-4, 170 pounds with tons of room for more mass and strength, and flashed 91-93 mph velocity early before quickly fading in his second inning of work.

Hill also mixed in a high-spin slider that flashed some potential but lacked consistency and power that could come as he adds more strength and better learns how to sequence his delivery and repeat his release. It sounds like he’s already making strides with velocity by touching 95 in a February outing in 2024.

The post 10 Breakout And Sleeper Picks For The 2024 MLB Draft Class appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

Best Tools In The 2025 MLB Draft High School Class

Ben Badler — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 13:24:42 +0000

With our release of the preseason Top 100 prospects in the 2025 high school class and Preseason Underclass All-American teams, it’s time to dial in on the 2025 players with the best tools.

We’ve selected the top five players in different offensive, fielding and pitching categories, with analysis for players in each category. The players here aren’t strictly Top 100 prospects, but the winners draw heavily from players who scouts have on their radar for the 2025 MLB Draft. There’s probably someone who can run a 6.2 in the 60-yard dash but is otherwise crude or a pitcher who has exquisite control of an 84 mph fastball who isn’t on here, so the focus here is on the draft prospects with the best tools in the country.

Players are listed with the state where they attend high school and their college commitment in parentheses.

Best Hitter

Kayson Cunningham, SS, Texas (Texas Tech)
Ethan Holliday, SS, Oklahoma (Oklahoma State)
Brady Ebel, SS, California (LSU)
Dean Moss, OF, Florida (LSU)
Coy James, SS, North Carolina (Mississippi)

It’s hard to cut this list off after just five players or sort these hitters into an easy order. Each of the five players on this list are talented hitters with different skill sets, with all earning Preseason First-Team Underclass All-American honors. In terms of elite bat-to-ball skills, plate coverage of all pitch types and high-level performance with a swing and approach that should translate to continued success at higher levels, it’s hard to top Cunningham. Ebel and Holliday have two of the sweetest lefthanded swings in the class. Moss spent last summer playing up a level for the Canes National 17U team and dominated, while James followed up a terrific summer by playing shortstop for Team USA at the U-18 World Cup as an underclassman.

Best Power

Gabriel Coltman, OF, Oregon (Uncommitted)
Omar Serna, C, Texas (LSU)
Xavier Neyens, 3B, Washington (Oregon State)
Ethan Holliday, SS, Oklahoma (Oklahoma State)
Quentin Young, 3B/OF, California (LSU)

Another category that’s difficult to cut off at five players. Strictly on raw power, it’s hard to top Coltman. He’s 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, an imposing physical presence with plus raw power that could end up being a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Holliday doesn’t need to sell out to generate power and he doesn’t try to put on a big show during BP, taking a professional approach to use all fields with an easy swing and a selective approach that should help him tap into that power in games. Neyens, Serna and Young all stand out for their physicality, strength and bat speed, with all of them owning elite power for the class. Players like catcher Brayden Jaksa, outfielder Dean Moss, first baseman/lefthander Kruz Schoolcraft, outfielder/first baseman Evan Hankins, third basemen Sebastian Norman and Josh Proctor, infielder/outfielder Sean Gamble and outfielder Bryden Bull all have big power as well in a crowded field.

Best Speed

Eli Pitts, OF, Georgia (South Carolina)
Griffin Enis, OF, Mississippi (Mississippi)
William Patrick, OF, Louisiana (LSU)
Micah Matthews, OF, Virginia (Uncommitted)
Carter Christenson, SS, Ohio (Ohio State)

Pitts has the type of quick-twitch athleticism and explosiveness that could push him up draft boards if his bat continues to take a step forward. Enis has the speed and instincts that stand out in center field. Matthews is a two-sport standout with baseball and football and the most dynamic player of this group with his potential for both power and speed as a 6-foot-3 righthanded hitter. Patrick and Christensen are both excellent athletes who have run 6.4s in the 60-yard dash.

Best Strike-Zone Discipline

Ethan Holliday, SS, Oklahoma (Oklahoma State)
Brady Ebel, SS, California (LSU)
Dean Moss, OF, Florida (LSU)
Everett Johnson, OF, North Carolina (NC State)
Ethan Clauss, SS, Nevada (Texas A&M)

Holliday and Ebel are both extremely patient, selective hitters. They pick up spin, track pitches well and rarely chase. Moss has a terrific eye at the plate as well, consistently drawing more walks than strikeouts. Johnson uses his smaller strike zone to his advantage, piling up walks and making a ton of contact, which along with his speed makes him a dangerous leadoff hitter who posts huge OBPs. Clauss stands out for his plate discipline and easy actions both at the plate and at shortstop.

Best Defensive Catcher

Vincent DeCarlo, C, Florida (NC State)
Brady Dallimore, C, Nevada (TCU)
Trent Grindlinger, C, California (Mississippi State)
Korbin Reynolds, C, Tennessee (Vanderbilt)
Quinn Schambow, C, Illinois (Oklahoma State)

DeCarlo checks a lot of boxes scouts look for in a catcher this age. He consistently saves runs with his ability to block balls, he receives well and he has a strong arm with pop times under 1.9 seconds on his best throws. Dallimore is an athletic mover behind the plate with soft hands and big arm strength. Reynolds has good lateral mobility, blocks well and is a good receiver with a strong arm. Schambow is an athletic catcher with one of the strongest arms in the 2025 class. Grindlinger maneuvers his big 6-foot-3 frame well to block breaking balls in the dirt with steady receiving skills and a strong arm. Presley Courville (Texas A&M commit) is another athletic catcher who draws praise for his actions behind the plate and ability to manage a pitching staff.

Best Defensive Infielder

Billy Carlson, SS, California (Vanderbilt)
Rashad Hayes, SS, California (Stanford)
Manny Lantigua, SS, Florida (Florida State)
Gustavo Melendez, SS, Puerto Rico (Wake Forest)
Ethan Clauss, SS, Nevada (Texas A&M)

Carlson captures attention immediately with the way he moves at shortstop. He’s a bouncy athlete who is light on his feet with clean actions and a strong arm, projecting as a plus defender. Hayes floats around shortstop with clean footwork and quick hands; he doesn’t turn 18 until October after his draft year, so his stock could rise for teams based on what he does at the plate. Lantigua is another ultra young 2025 also turning 18 in October of his draft year, slick actions with strong arm and showed power with a home run in the fall at the Minority Baseball Prospects All-American games. Melendez has smooth actions, good body control and hand-eye coordination that’s an asset both in the field and at the plate. Clauss plays with an ease of operation at shortstop and in the batter’s box, with a chance for everything to tick up as he continues to layer on more strength.

Best Defensive Outfielder

Anthony Pack Jr., OF, California (Texas)
Wade Shelley, OF, Alabama (Auburn)
Everett Johnson, OF, North Carolina (NC State)
Cannon Goldin, OF, Georgia (Mississippi)
Griffin Enis, OF, Mississippi (Mississippi)

Pack is a quick-burst athlete who reacts well off the bat, using his plus speed with good instincts and routes to defend his position well in center field. Shelley is a plus runner with a quick first step who covers a lot of ground from gap to gap to make highlight catches. Johnson’s all-around baseball savvy shows up in a multitude of ways at the plate, on the basepaths and in center field, where he has good speed, range and tracks down balls with efficiency. Goldin is an athletic center fielder with plus speed, a strong arm and takes good angles to the ball. Enis is a plus-plus runner and one of the premier athletes in the country.

Best Catcher Arm

Omar Serna, C, Texas (LSU)
Brady Dallimore, C, Nevada (TCU)
Vincent DeCarlo, C, Florida (NC State)
Quinn Schambow, C, Illinois (Oklahoma State)
Trent Grindlinger, C, California (Mississippi State)

Serna has two gigantic tools between his raw power and arm strength. The sheer power he’s able to get on his throws separates his arm from anyone else in the 2025 class. Dallimore is a 6-foot-4 catcher with standout athleticism and arm strength. DeCarlo has a great mix of skills behind the plate. He looks like he could be next in line among several impressive catchers to go through North Carolina State. Schambow is an Oklahoma State commit with a strong arm he uses to control the running game and back pick runners. Grindlinger is a physical catcher at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds with a strong arm.

Best Infield Arm

Carson Brumbaugh, SS, Oklahoma (Tennessee)
Quentin Young, 3B, California (LSU)
Mason Pike, SS, Washington (Oregon State)
Billy Carlson, SS, California (Vanderbilt)
Xavier Neyens, 3B, Washington (Oregon State)

Brumbaugh is up to 96 mph on the mound. While some scouts like him as a position player, he could end up a pitcher with an upper-90s fastball. At 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, Young has a cannon that will be a weapon at third base or in right field to go with his huge raw power. Pike and Carlson are both athletic two-way players. Pike is up to 95 mph on the mound, while Carlson is a premium defender at shortstop with good bat speed and contact skills. Neyens is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds with gigantic power from the left side and another standout tool with his arm, touching 93 mph as a pitcher.

Best Outfield Arm

Mason Greenhouse, OF, California (Miami)
Alec Blair, OF, California (Uncommitted)
Dylan Dubovik, OF, Florida (Miami)
Jaison Delamar, OF, Arkansas (Arkansas)
Josiah Hartshorn, OF, California (Texas A&M)

Greenhouse has at least a 70 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale and could end up a true 80 tool, given his arm speed and room to fill out his 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame. Blair is a top uncommitted player for both baseball and basketball. He has huge arm strength that could also get even better once he packs more weight on to his lanky 6-foot-6 build. Dubovik has spent time at third base and the outfield, most likely fitting in the outfield in pro ball with his power and arm strength at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. Delamar has a medium, compact build (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) also up to the low-90s on the mound. Hartshorn is a strong, high-contact hitter with a tool set for right field.

Best Fastball

Miguel Sime, RHP, New York (LSU)
Seth Hernandez, RHP, California (Vanderbilt)
Josh Hammond, RHP, North Carolina (Wake Forest)
Brett Crossland, RHP, Arizona (Texas)
Marcos Paz, RHP, Texas (LSU)

There are few pitchers in history who have ever thrown 99 mph at 16, something Sime did at the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship in October. At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, it’s a power build with a power fastball that has good life as well. Hernandez reaches 96 mph with good movement and extension to help his fastball play up. He throws it for strikes and should have more velocity coming as he fills out his 6-foot-4 frame. Hammond dials it up to 95 mph with riding life to blow past barrels. Crossland is 6-foot-6, 245 pounds with a fastball touching 96 mph. Paz is another 95 mph arm who generates his velocity without much effort to his operation.

Best Breaking Ball

Marcos Paz, RHP, Texas (LSU)
Josh Hammond, RHP, North Carolina (Wake Forest)
Aiden Barrientes, RHP, Texas (TCU)
Jack McKernan, LHP, Texas (Texas)
Talon Haley, LHP, Mississippi (Vanderbilt)

Paz is an elite pitching prospect who pairs a fastball up to 95 mph with a high-spin slider with good shape to pile up whiffs from righties and lefties. Hammond has one of the best swinging strike rates in the country. His lively fastball can get into the mid 90s, but his slider is a big swing-and-miss weapon, a potential wipeout pitch flashing plus. Barrientes has a sharp-breaking curveball with tight rotation that gets a lot of swing-and-miss. McKernan was the only underclassman for Team USA at the U-18 World Cup last year. His slider has power at 83-86 mph with good shape to miss a lot of bats. Haley has a big-breaking curveball in the mid-to-upper 70s that gives hitters fits. Honorable mention to righthanders Zion Theophilus and Marcelo Harsch, who both got a ton of swinging strikes with their sliders at Area Code Games. Righthander Cooper Fulbright can spin his breaking ball upwards of 3,000 rpm. Righthander Sawyer Deering can also touch 3,000 rpm with a hard curveball up to the low 80s.

Best Changeup

Seth Hernandez, RHP, California (Vanderbilt)
Angel Cervantes, RHP California (UCLA)
Evan Taylor, RHP, New Jersey (Alabama)
Marcos Paz, RHP, Texas (LSU)
Tyler Baird, RHP, North Carolina (Vanderbilt)

Hitters have to be ready for a mid-90s fastball from Hernandez. He can also spin a good breaking ball, throw strikes and can leave hitters in awkward positions when they can’t stay back on his changeup. It’s already flashing plus with great movement and separation off his fastball. Cervantes, who will still be 17 on draft day, can reach 93 mph and sells his changeup well off his fastball to catch hitters way out front. Taylor is the rare high school pitching prospect who relies heavily on his changeup instead of his breaking ball. Hitters swung and missed on nine of the 12 changeups he threw at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla. With a high-end fastball and slider, Paz is the No. 2 pitcher in the country. He also has good action on his changeup, a pitch he has confidence in to get empty swings from both lefties and righties. Like Paz, Baird is a First Team Preseason Underclass All-American, with more projection in his 6-foot-4 frame to add to a fastball up to 94 mph and the ability to turn over a good changeup against hitters from both sides.

Best Control

Colt Peterson, RHP, California (Stanford)
Chase Bentley, RHP, California
Seth Hernandez, RHP, California (Vanderbilt)
Justice De Jong, RHP, New York (Duke)
Sam Cozart, RHP, North Carolina (Uncommitted)

At 6 feet, 180 pounds, Peterson has a fastball up to 91 mph, feel for a curveball and changeup, and he pounds the strike zone with all three, standing out for some of the best pitchability in the class. Bentley (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) lands his entire arsenal for consistent strikes, locating his fastball up to the low-90s to both sides of the plate. Hernandez is the top pitcher in the 2025 class thanks to great stuff as well as the athleticism that helps him repeat his delivery to throw strikes with high-end feel for pitching. A fellow Preseason First-Team Underclass All-American with Hernandez, De Jong is young for the class but is already an advanced strike-thrower with a sound delivery and a fastball touching 93 mph. Cozart is enormous (6-foot-7, 235 pounds) and while his size has jumped out from an early age, his track record of throwing strikes is one of the best in the country.

The post Best Tools In The 2025 MLB Draft High School Class appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

2025 MLB Draft Rankings: 200 Prospects To Know

Mark Chiarelli — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 12:53:21 +0000

As baseball season quickly approaches, Baseball America has expanded its underclass MLB Draft rankings.

We’ve ranked the Top 100 High School Prospects and the Top 100 College Prospects in the 2025 class entering the spring. This is the earliest we’ve expanded our draft coverage on the underclass side with the goal of delivering more in-depth information to our subscribers across all levels of baseball. In total, you will find 200 brand new scouting reports on the top prospects in the class.

The 2025 high school class has an impressive crop of shortstops at the top, headlined by top-ranked Ethan Holliday, the younger brother of Orioles No. 1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday. The college class, meanwhile, is headlined by Clemson’s Cam Cannarella. He is one of four outfielders among the top five prospects in the class entering the upcoming college season.

Baseball America has also published underclass All-American teams for the first time, which you can access here.

Of course, a lot will change between now and the 2025 MLB Draft. Make sure to follow all of Baseball America’s draft coverage here. You can also find pertinent 2024 MLB Draft coverage below.

Additional MLB Draft content

The post 2025 MLB Draft Rankings: 200 Prospects To Know appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

2024 Preseason Underclass All-American Teams

Ben Badler — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 14:15:25 +0000

The next wave of talent in high school baseball is ready to take a step forward this spring.

While scouts across the game are focused on the top prospects in the 2024 class, there’s already plenty of excitement building for the 2025 and 2026 classes.

In addition to our Preseason High School All-American teams, Baseball America is excited to announce our Preseason Underclass All-American teams, drawing from the top players in the 2025 class and beyond. The players honored here are based on a blend of major league potential and present ability taking on-field performance into account. It’s not strictly a list of the top ranked prospects, but there should be plenty of high draft picks and future college stars on these teams. The teams are heavily built around 2025 players, with a select group of players in the 2026 class as well.

A pair of 2025 players—shortstop Ethan Holliday and outfielder Dean Moss—are first-team Underclass All-Americans who also earned spots on BA’s All-American teams that are primarily 2024 players. Holliday made the first team, while Moss landed on the third team.

LSU leads the way with six Preseason Underclass All-American recruits committed to play for the Tigers. Vanderbilt has four commits on the teams, while TCU, Mississippi and Oregon State each have three commits.

Players listed with an asterisk (*) are in the 2026 class.

First Team

Pos.	Player	School	Committed
C	Trent Grindlinger	Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS	Mississippi State
INF	Ethan Holliday	Stillwater (Okla.) HS	Oklahoma State
INF	Coy James	Davie County HS, Mocksville, N.C.	Mississippi
INF	Brady Ebel	Corona (Calif.) HS	LSU
INF	Kayson Cunningham	Johnson HS, San Antonio, Tex.	Texas Tech
OF	Dean Moss	IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.	LSU
OF	Sean Gamble	IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.	Vanderbilt
OF	Brock Sell	Tokay HS, Lodi, Calif.	Stanford
UT	Xavier Neyens	Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS	Oregon State
P	Seth Hernandez	Corona (Calif.) HS	Vanderbilt
P	Marcos Paz	Hebron HS, Carrollton, Tex.	LSU
P	Josh Hammond	Westchester Country Day HS, High Point, N.C.	Wake Forest
P	Justice De Jong	Poly Prep Country Day HS, Brooklyn, N.Y.	Duke
P	Tyler Baird	William Amos Hough HS, Cornelius, N.C.	Vanderbilt

Second Team

C	Omar Serna	Lutheran South Academy, Houston, Tex.	LSU
INF	Grady Emerson*	Argyle HS, Flower Mound, Tex.	TCU
INF	Lucas Franco	Cinco Ranch HS, Katy, Tex.	TCU
INF	Josh Gibbs	Forsyth Central HS, Cumming, Ga.	Georgia
INF	Quentin Young	Oaks Christian HS, Westlake Village, Calif.	LSU
OF	Ty Peeples	Franklin County HS, Carnesville, Ga.	Georgia
OF	Josiah Hartshorn	Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS, Calif.	Texas A&M
OF	Cannon Goldin	Buford (Ga.) HS	Mississippi
UT	Kruz Schoolcraft	Sunset HS, Portland, Ore.	Uncommitted
P	Vaughn Neckar	Vista Murrieta (Calif.) HS	LSU
P	Angel Cervantes	Warren HS, Downey, Calif.	UCLA
P	Marcelo Harsch	Seton Hall Prep HS, West Orange, N.J.	Wake Forest
P	River Hamilton	Sam Barlow HS, Gresham, Ore.	Oregon State
P	Jack McKernan	Ridge Point HS, Missouri City, Tex.	Texas

Third Team

C	Jaden Fauske	Nazareth Academy HS, La Grange Park, Ill.	Louisville
INF	Alex Harrington*	Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego, Calif.	Stanford
INF	Sebastian Norman	Glendale HS, Springfield, Mo.	Oklahoma State
INF	Billy Carlson	Corona (Calif.) HS	Vanderbilt
INF	Ty Thompson	TNXL Academy, Ocoee, Fla.	Tennessee
OF	Everett Johnson	Wayne Country Day HS, Goldsboro, N.C.	North Carolina State
OF	Bryden Bull	Las Vegas (Nev.) HS	Mississippi
OF	Micah Matthews	Turner Ashby HS, Bridgewater, Va.	Uncommitted
UT	Mason Pike	Puyallup (Wash.) HS	Oregon State
P	Trey Rangel*	The Colony (Tex.) HS	Uncommitted
P	Jack Bauer	Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.	Virginia
P	Landon Harmon	East Union Attendance Center HS, Blue Springs, Miss.	Mississippi State
P	Aiden Barrientes	Katy (Tex.) HS	TCU
P	Carson Brumbaugh	Sante Fe HS, Edmond, Okla.	Tennessee

FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

Trent Grindlinger, C, Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS

Grindlinger has a big 6-foot-3 frame for a catcher and projects to stay behind the plate. His strong arm helps him control the running game, while offensively he makes frequent contact with the strength to drive the ball for impact as well.

Ethan Holliday, INF, Stillwater (Okla.) HS

Being the son of seven time all-star Matt Holliday and the brother of the No. 1 prospect in baseball (Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday) has added to Ethan’s fame, but he’s the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 class because of his talent. He has a polished lefthanded swing, an outstanding eye for the strike zone, a mature offensive approach to use the whole field and the chance to grow into 30-plus home run power.

Coy James, INF, Davie County HS, Mocksville, N.C.

James was outstanding from wire to wire in 2023, starting with a big spring season, an outstanding summer and then playing shortstop for Team USA at the U-18 World Cup as a 16-year-old with mostly 2024 teammates. He’s a high baseball IQ player and one of the best hitters in the country.

Brady Ebel, INF, Corona (Calif.) HS

Ebel is one of the youngest players in the 2025 class, but his game exudes polish beyond his years, especially at the plate. He’s 6-foot-3 with a pretty lefthanded swing that’s fast, compact and adjustable, which along with his discerning eye for the strike zone and big power potential makes him a dangerous offensive threat.

Kayson Cunningham, INF, Johnson HS, San Antonio, Tex.

Arguably the best pure hitter in the country for 2025, Cunningham will rarely swing and miss. Whether he’s facing high velocity or a good offspeed pitch, Cunningham consistently barrels balls throughout any part of the strike zone, using a short, efficient swing from the left side to consistently get on base at a high clip.

Dean Moss, OF, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.

As an underclassman at powerhouse IMG Academy last spring, Moss consistently stood out as one of the best players on the field. In the summer, he played up against 2024s with the Canes National 17U team—one of the top travel teams in the country—and he again dominated. His combination of strike-zone discipline, bat speed, feel for the barrel and power make him a potential high draft pick in 2025.

Sean Gamble, OF, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.

With experience in the infield and outfield, Gamble has impressive athleticism and tools with his power and speed. After a huge high school season last year, Gamble will have plenty of scouts watching him again this spring at IMG Academy, with huge bat speed from the left side that enables him to do damage to all fields.

Brock Sell, OF, Tokay HS, Lodi, Calif.

Sell has been a top-50 prospect in the 2025 class for the past year, but he jumped to another gear last fall at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla. He has the speed and athleticism to play a premium position in center field, while his feel for hitting from the left side and growing power make him a high on-base threat at the top of a lineup.

Xavier Neyens, UT, Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS

Neyens is one of the most dangerous power hitters in the country. He’s a 6-foot-4 masher from the left side who has a patient approach and could end up with plus-plus raw power. His strong arm is a weapon on the left side of the infield at third base as well as on the mound.

Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona (Calif.) HS

Hernandez was the top-ranked pitcher in the 2025 class a year ago and he has done nothing to relinquish that status. An athletic strike-thrower up to 96 mph with an elite changeup for his age and a hard, tight-spinning curveball, Hernandez piles up strikeouts, overmatches hitters and checks all the boxes scouts want to see in a pitcher his age.

Marcos Paz, RHP, Hebron HS, Carrollton, Tex.

Few pitchers in the country generate the swing-and-miss numbers that Paz does. He has an outstanding three-pitch mix, starting with a fastball that he can dial up to 95 mph, along with a slider that piles up whiffs and a changeup that he uses to elicit empty swings as well.

Josh Hammond, RHP, Westchester Country Day HS, High Point, N.C.

Scouts love athletic pitchers with power stuff who throw strikes and miss a ton of bats, and there aren’t many pitchers in the 2025 class who can rack up swing-and-miss like Hammond. His fastball has touched 95 mph, his slider flashes plus and he has shown feel for a changeup as well, putting him in the elite tier of pitchers for the 2025 draft.

Justice De Jong, RHP, Poly Prep Country Day HS, Brooklyn, N.Y.

De Jong will still be 17 when the 2025 draft arrives, with a mix of stuff and pitchability that makes him one of the top arms in the class. A two-way player who also has impressive righthanded power, De Jong is a strike-thrower with a fastball that has been up to 93 mph and a curveball that has tight rotation to help him put away hitters.

Tyler Baird, RHP, William Amos Hough HS, Cornelius, N.C.

A 6-foot-4 righthander with more physical projection remaining, Baird is already up to 94 mph. He misses a lot of bats with his changeup, while his slider shape improved as well, giving him a high-upside starter look.

The post 2024 Preseason Underclass All-American Teams appeared first on College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball America.

2024 Preseason High School All-American Teams

Carlos Collazo — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:41:21 +0000

Baseball America presents its 2024 Preseason All-America high school teams, as voted on by the scouting departments of major league organizations.

The teams are led by just two unanimous first-team members: Texas catcher Cade Arrambide and lefthander Cam Caminiti. There are also two underclassmen who crack these lists, including Oklahoma shortstop Ethan Holliday who lands on the first team and Florida outfielder Dean Moss who is a third-team member.

SEE THE LIST

Baseball America annually polls major league scouting directors to vote for its Preseason All-America teams, asking only that they make their selections based on performance, talent and professional potential. The BA Preseason All-America teams have been a predictor of first round draft talent in recent years.

Eight of the 11 high school players who were selected inside the top 30 picks were first team All-Americans from the 2023 preseason teams.

Second team outfielder Derek Curiel is the lone holdover from the 2023 preseason All-America teams when he was the only underclassman to secure a spot and was named to the third team. California shortstop and righthander was named a second-team All-American as a middle infielder and a third-team All-American as a pitcher.

Baseball America received votes from 13 organizations.

Bold indicates unanimous first team selection
* indicates underclassman

First Team

Pos	Player	School
C	Cade Arrambide	Tomball (Texas) HS
MIF	Carter Johnson	Oxford (Ala.) HS
MIF	Ethan Holliday*	Stillwater (Okla.) HS
CIF	PJ Morlando	Summerville (S.C.) HS
CIF	Caleb Bonemer	Okemos (Mich.) HS
OF	Slade Caldwell	Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.
OF	Konnor Griffin	Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.
OF	Dante Nori	Northville (Mich.) HS
SP	Cam Caminiti	Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.
SP	Levi Sterling	Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
SP	Joey Oakie	Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS
SP	William Schmidt	Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.
SP	Ryan Sloan	York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.

Cade Arrambide, C, Tomball (Texas) HS

Arrambide was the only unanimous first-team hitter, and he is the consensus top catching prospect in the prep ranks. He combines a few standout tools with excellent summer and fall production from 2023: his plus raw power played to all fields, which is rare for a high school hitter, and his double-plus arm strength gives him exceptional ability to control the run game in an era where steals are resurgent.

Carter Johnson, MIF, Oxford (Ala.) HS

Johnson is viewed as one of the top pure hitters in the class and he pairs a clean, direct and fluid lefthanded swing with a frame that still has some room to fill out and add strength. He was one of the top performers at the annual East Coast Pro in his home state, and he also has the hands and actions to stick at shortstop.

Ethan Holliday, MIF, Stillwater (Okla.) HS

It is exceptionally rare for an underclassman to be named a first-team all-american, particularly at the middle infield, which is routinely the most competitive and power packed position group for high school players. Holliday’s inclusion speaks both to his own exceptional talent and the relative down year for 2024 middle infield talent. The younger brother of Jackson Holliday, Ethan is the current favorite to be the 1-1 selection in 2025.

PJ Morlando, CIF, Summerville (S.C.) HS

Morlando earned votes as an outfielder and corner infielder, and stands among the 2024 prep class as the top pure hitter and premier power bat. He employs a powerful swing and pairs that strength and physicality with superlative swing decisions and an approach beyond his years. He has a chance to be the first high school player selected.

Caleb Bonemer, CIF, Okemos (Mich.) HS

No player improved their draft stock more than Bonemer did last summer. He pairs plus speed with plus raw power potential and was one of the most impressive in-game hitters of the class as well. He has a chance to become the highest-picked prep player out of Michigan since Derek Jeter, who was taken No. 6 overall in 1992.

Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.

Caldwell is a spark plug at the top of a lineup and pairs double-plus speed with a short and compact swing that leads to line drives all over the field. He can get after the ball in center with the best outfielders in the class, and while he might not offer much future physical projection or standout power, he’s among the most polished players you will find in all phases of the game.

Konnor Griffin, OF, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.

Griffin received votes as a middle infielder as well. His package of physical tools is the envy of the 2024 class, thanks to double-plus speed, easy plus arm strength, plus raw power and above-average or better defensive potential at multiple positions. His upside potential is significant and his hitting track record throughout high school is strong.

Dante Nori, OF, Northville (Mich.) HS

Nori will face criticism for his advanced age—he’ll be 20 this October—but in terms of pure hitting ability there aren’t many names who will land on a list before him. He’s one of the best runners in the class and also has solid power potential, though he’s more of a line drive hitter in games who will show off the power in batting practice. He should be an above-average defender in center field as well.

Cam Caminiti, SP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Originally a member of the 2025 class, Caminiti reclassified for 2024 and is now viewed as one of the top pitchers in the class. He could be a legitimate two-way player in college if he makes it to campus at LSU, though his mid-90s fastball and impressive touch and feel on the mound has led MLB scouts to dream of his upside potential as a starter. Caminit joins Arrambide as the only other unanimous first team member.

Levi Sterling, SP, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Sterling has a plethora of starter traits and up-arrow indicators: He has a lean and projectable frame at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, he sits in the low 90s and will touch mid 90s, he has shown feel to spin multiple breaking balls that could be above-average or better, his control is among the best in the class and he’ll also be 17 on draft day.

Joey Oakie, SP, Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS

Oakie has made strides with his velocity in the last two years or so, and now sits in the low 90s and has been up to 96 while pairing that fastball with a mid-80s slider that scouting directors voted as the best slider in the class. His arsenal plays up thanks to a lower release point that adds deception.

William Schmidt, SP, Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.

Nobody spins the ball like Schmidt. His 3,000 rpm curveball was voted as the best overall breaking ball in the prep ranks—typically someone’s slider fits that category—and his ability to land the pitch despite its tremendous depth and movement make it an easy plus projection. On top of his hammer curveball, Schmidt has a low-90s fastball and has been up to 95-96 mph.

Ryan Sloan, SP, York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.

Sloan is a power righthander in the making with a physical, 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame and a fastball that regularly gets into the mid 90s. While workhorse starters are an endangered species, Sloan has the frame and pitch mix of the profile associated with such pitches, with a solid slider, curveball and changeup to back up the heater.

Second Team

Pos	Player	School
C	Hunter Carns	First Coast HS, Jacksonville, Fla.
MIF	Bryce Rainer	Harvard-Westlake HS, Sudio City, Calif.
MIF	Owen Paino	Ketcham HS, Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
CIF	Noah Franco	IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
CIF	Chase Harlan	Central Bucks East HS, Doylestown, Pa.
OF	Derek Curiel	Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS
OF	Garrett Shull	Enid (Okla.) HS
OF	Griffin Burkholder	Freedom HS, Woodbridge, Va.
SP	Tegan Kuhns	Gettysburg Area (Pa.) HS
SP	Owen Hall	Edmond North (Okla.) HS
SP	Anson Seibert	Blue Valley Southwest HS, Overland Park, Kan.
SP	David Shields	Mt. Lebanon HS, Pittsburgh
SP	Boston Bateman	Adolfo Camarillo (Calif.) HS

Third Team

Pos	Player	School
C	Burke Mabeus	Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas
MIF	Tyler Bell	Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.
MIF	Charlie Bates	Palo Alto (Calif.) HS
CIF	Aiden Harris	PDG Academy, Fredericksburg, Va.
CIF	Kale Fountain	Norris HS, Firth, Neb.
OF	Braylon Payne	Fort Bend Elkins HS, Missouri City, Texas
OF	Michael Mullinax	North Cobb Christian HS, Kennesaw, Ga.
OF	Dean Moss*	IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
SP	Carson Wiggins	Roland (Okla.) HS
SP	Ethan Schiefelbein	Corona (Calif.) HS
SP	Bryce Rainer	Harvard-Westlake HS, Sudio City, Calif.
SP	Trey Gregory-Alford	Coronado HS, Colorado Springs, Col.
SP	Chase Mobley	Durant HS, Plant City, Fla.

Best Athlete

Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.
Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.
Bryce Rainer, SS/RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.

Best Pure Hitter

PJ Morlando, 1B/OF, Summerville (S.C.) HS
Carter Johnson, SS, Oxford (Ala.) HS
Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.

Best Power

PJ Morlando, 1B/OF, Summerville (S.C.) HS
Aiden Harris, 3B, PDG Academy, Fredericksburg, Va.
Myles Bailey, 1B, Lincoln HS, Tallahassee, Fla.

Fastest Runner

Dante Nori, OF, Northville (Mich.) HS
Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.
Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.

Best Defensive Infielder

Manny Marin, SS, Elite Squad Baseball Academy, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Ty Southisene, SS, Basic HS, Henderson, Nev.
Charlie Bates, SS, Palo Alto (Calif.) HS

Best Defensive Outfielder

Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.
Derek Curiel, OF, Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS
Dante Nori, OF, Northville (Mich.) HS

Best Infield Arm

Bryce Rainer, SS/RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.
Andrew Modugno, 3B, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
Wyatt Sanford, SS, Independence HS, Frisco, Texas

Best Outfield Arm

Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.
Noah Franco, OF/1B, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
Garrett Shull, OF, Enid (Okla.) HS

Best Catcher Arm

Cade Arrambide, C, Tomball (Texas) HS
Anderson French, C, Red Land HS, Lewisberry, Pa.
Burke Mabeus, C, Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas

Best Fastball

Carson Wiggins, RHP, Roland (Okla.) HS
Connor Gatwood, RHP, Baker HS, Mobile, Ala.
Lazaro Collera, RHP, Florida Christian HS, Miami

Best Fastball Movement

Joey Oakie, RHP, Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS
Levi Sterling, RHP, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Anson Seibert, RHP, Blue Valley Southwest HS, Overland Park, Kan.

Best Breaking Ball

William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La. (CB)
Joey Oakie, RHP, Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS (SL)
Trey Gregory-Alford, Coronado HS, Colorado Springs, Col. (SL)

Best Changeup

Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP, Corona (Calif.) HS
William Kirk, LHP, Ramsey (N.J.) HS
Levi Sterling, RHP, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Best Command

Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Levi Sterling, RHP, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP, Corona (Calif.) HS

Best Athlete (Pitcher)

Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.
William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.
Levi Sterling, RHP, Notre Dame HS, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Closest To the Majors

PJ Morlando, 1B/OF, Summerville (S.C.) HS
Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS, Jonesboro, Ark.

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