Top Stories of 2022: From Injured to the 1st Round

Following high school baseball in North Carolina, we all know, there are a ton of great stories, players, and teams to follow each year.  As we continue to look back at 2022, we will take a look at some of the great stories of the year.  Today’s look back features a 1st round draft pick that missed most of his JR high school season, and all of his summer and fall season heading toward his senior year.

Xavier Isaac is a big man.  Listed at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds entering his senior season he was a bit of an enigma to area scouts.  Committed to Florida, and a big name in the state since his freshman year, area scouts definitely knew Xavier, but they had not had the summer and fall seasons to see him in action.  During his junior year Xavier suffered a foot and ankle injury that kept him on the sideline.

The coming out party for the 2022 year was at the PBR ProCase in Kernersville in February.  In front of 17 MLB organizations, Isaac passed the test… He just needed to show that he was healthy, moving around well, and still had that sweet swing that drew a ton of attention as he entered high school.  Not only was Isaac healthy and moving well, he looked great.  The swing was explosive with looseness and ease.  The ball exploded off the barrel, peaking at 107.2mph off the bat.  The organization that would make Isaac a 1st round pick in July, the Tampa Bay Rays, were in attendance.

After the big showing, indoors, in a showcase setting, Isaac kept it rolling for East Forsyth, putting fear into every opposing dugout as he hit in the leadoff spot for much of the 2022 year.  PBR scouts caught approximately 6 of the Eagles’ games during the year, each time seeing several MLB Scouts following Isaac and watching him on the field. One of the bright spots of the year, and tracking Isaac was the fact that East Forsyth played a very high end schedule, with opposing teams willing to work to attack him.  The plan did not always workout as Isaac dominated opposing pitching to the tune of .578/.708/1.297 with six doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 28 RBIs and 36 runs scored. He also drew 29 walks to just eight strikeouts and stole 11 bases.

As the MLB Draft approached, there were rumblings that multiple players in North Carolina’s 2022 class could go inside the top couple of rounds, most did not see a clear path for the state to produce another 1st rounder.  With pick number 29 in the 1st round, Tampa selected Isaac, making him the 1st player in the high school class of 2022 from North Carolina to be selected. Isaac began his career in the Florida Complex League where he had 19 at-bats, recording 7 hits, including 3 doubles.