Updated Illinois Class of 2023 Rankings
November 2, 2022
The state's 2023 class is as deep, if not deeper, than the 2022 class which featured two first round picks in RHP/INF Owen Murphy (Riverside-Brookfield; Braves, No. 20 overall) and LHP Noah Schultz (Oswego East; White Sox, No. 26).
AT THE TOP OF THE CLASS
+ The top-five prospects in Illinois' 2023 class are set to reside inside the country's top-75, led by OF new No. 1 prospect Dillon Head (Homewood-Flossmoor; Clemson commit) and RHP Zander Mueth (Belleville East; Ole Miss), who slides to No. 2. Head is a high-level left/left athlete who plays an elite center field, impacts the entire game with his top-end speed and has a fluid, upside swing with sneaky pull-side power. Mueth is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound, loose-bodied, high-upside right-hander who has been up to an easy 96 mph to go along with a frisbee slider at 79-80 mph, and yet there's still more velocity to come.
Dillon Head (8/8/22)
TOP-75 RISERS
+ Overall there was not a lot of movement throughout the list in this modest update. With that being said, a couple of top-50 prospects who warranted some movement up the list were INF Ean Czech (Downers Grove North; Texas), OF Frederick Ragsdale III (Lyons Township; Kent State), OF Tommy Atkinson (St. Rita; Heartland CC), OF/LHP AJ Garcia (DePaul College Prep; Michigan) and OF Gianni Royer (Lake Forest; uncommitted). Royer, a high-academic prospect, is one of the top position players still available in the state. Royer projects at the top of the lineup with a knack for the barrel from the right-side of the plate and his 6.56 60-speed causes havoc on the bases and in center field. He also has a strong arm that has topped at 90 mph in the past.
Gianni Royer (9/24/22)
+ A couple of arms who continued to throw the ball well this fall and jumped up the list were RHP Drew Koenen (Maine South; Dartmouth) and RHP Jimmy Amptmann (Sycamore; Heartland CC). Koenen impressed multiple times in 2022 with his most recent coming at the PBR Cup in September where he filled up the strike zone while sitting 88-92 mph and getting a number of swing-and-misses with lively, riding fastball up in the zone. He also lands his low-80’s slider for strikes and holds his velocity throughout starts.
Intriguing look at uncommitted ‘23 Drew Koenen (IL) for @BPAtravelball
— Shooter Hunt (@ShooterHunt) September 17, 2022
Former catcher working 88-92 generating lots of whiffs against stacked lineup w/ 21-22 IVB
Developing slider in low 80s.
Big 6’3 frame w/ room to fill. #PBRCup || @PBRIllinois pic.twitter.com/qxtXmPWbAl
+ Amptmann did his best work in front of us at the PBR Fall Championship and committed to Heartland CC shortly thereafter. Amptmann has a 6-foot-2, 210-pound, wide-shouldered, strong build and arm strength to match. Amptmann challenged with a lively fastball that sat 88-91 mph, T92 while flashing feel for a changeup.
RHP Jimmy Amptmann (Sycamore, 2023;@PBR_Uncommitted) is built at a physical 6-foot-2, 210-pounds and couples it with a live arm.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) September 10, 2022
FB heavy during his 3+ innings of work, sitting 88-91 T92. Flashed a running change up in warmups, too. @MW_Hitmen | #GPFallChamps22 pic.twitter.com/wyYGjcseqz
MORE ON-THE-RISE SENIORS
+ C Jayden Diaz (Alton) was another riser who impressed this fall and shot up the rankings as a result. Diaz, a Wabash Valley JC commit, was a standout at the Battle For The Arch, showing an extremely polished and easy left-handed swing that stays in the zone a long time with easy juice to all fields. Defensively, he has soft, advanced hands and clean actions. Diaz climbs nearly 100 spots, up to No. 79 in the state.
LHH C Jayden Diaz (Alton, 2023; @WVCBaseball) took one of the day’s more impressive BP rounds, finding the barrel with ease and hitting the scoreboard, too.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) September 28, 2022
Clean actions defensively with accuracy on the bag.
Physical 5-foot-9, 188-pound frame. #BattleForTheArch pic.twitter.com/FvTPsA0RC5
+ OF/RHP Spencer Geake (Glenbrook North), still uncommitted, had a strong performance at the Unsigned Senior Showcase and climbed 65 spots, up to No. 85 in the class. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound, athletic, broad-shouldered, left-handed hitting two-way prospect has one of the higher ceilings in the state when looking at the prospects still on the board. Geake has high-end hand speed and bat speed at the plate and the ball jumps off the barrel, especially to the pull-side when it syncs up. He is also a sub-7.0 runner with a 99 mph exit velocity, 378’ max distance, 88 mph from the outfield and up to 88 mph on the mound as well.
⭐️ ???????? ?????? ???????? ⭐️
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) October 4, 2022
RHP/OF Spencer Geake (@GBN_Baseball, 2023) is a toolsy @PBR_Uncommitted prospect from the #UnsignedSrIL:
? 6'2", 195 lbs
? 6.94 60, 32.4" vert
? 99 mph max EV, 346 ft. peak
? T88 mph OF
?: https://t.co/yxq4aEXzfP pic.twitter.com/AVBSaGIqGP
+ A few other notable prospects on the rise in this update were C/1B Andy Roman (Wheaton Academy; Bossier Parish CC), LHP/1B Patrick Gardner (Lemont; Heartland CC), SS Jesse Contreras (St. Laurence; Heartland CC), among others.
+ Only four new prospects entered the rankings for the first time in this update and there are still a number of quality seniors who landed just outside the top-300. Three of the newcomers, SS/RHP Jeremy Yanow (Deerfield), RHP Chase Rubenacker (Hamilton County) and RHP Drew Koenig (Oak Park-River Forest) remain uncommitted and showed well at fall events. Yanow has a well-rounded game with the ability to stick at shortstop moving forward, especially as he continues to chisel down his 7.19 60 time (ran a 7.88 in 2021).
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— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) October 19, 2022
INF/RHP Jeremy Yanow (Deerfield, 2023) was a winner from the #UnsignedSrIL and is a two-way @PBR_Uncommitted follow in the state.
More on him found below. ?
?: https://t.co/33QkeE4QvE pic.twitter.com/w7VBWoOOI1
**view THE updated 2023 ILLINOIS RANKINGS here**
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