Prep Baseball Report

2020 Rankings Update


TJ Hunt
Director, PBR New Jersey

With winter weather popping up across the country and a World Series Game Seven looming, it’s clear the offseason is nearly here. After a fall season of tournaments, we’ve given the 2020 Overall Rankings a polish. Apart from OF Robert Hassell (Independence HS, TN) moving to No. 5 and C Drew Romo (The Woodlands HS, TX) moving to No. 10, the top 10 remains unchanged.

Hassell, a Vanderbilt recruit, went off for Team USA in its silver medal run at the WBSC 18U World Cup. Had they captured gold, he would’ve been a shoe-in for MVP honors, hitting .514/.548/.886 with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, 14 RBIs and 14 runs scored. With a sweet left-handed swing, he is arguably the top pure hitter in the high school class.

There were some minor changes in the top 100, but the biggest change to note is the addition of players from outside Prep Baseball Report’s state-specific coverage. Thanks to a combined effort from several state and national staff members, the 2020 Overall Rankings now include all states and territories. Most notably, that brings Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Utah into the fold.

In New Jersey, there were a couple shake ups in the top 10. The No. 1 player C/Ut. Kyle Teel (Mahwah HS, NJ) remains at the top. A strong showing at multiple national events, most notably being a part of MLB’s PDP event in the early part of the summer, has solidified Teel as the top draft prospect from NJ.

No. 2, after an eye turning showing in Jupiter, is RHP Patrick Reilly (Christian Brothers Academy HS, NJ). Reilly was among the top hurlers in the state in the spring season and carried that momentum through the summer. It all culminated in an outing in Florida a couple weeks ago where he was 94-95 touching 96 multiple times. The lanky 6-foot-3 195-pound Northeastern recruit rose up on draft boards for teams and will certainly be a name to follow come the spring.

No. 3 & 4 will be 1 and 1A for St. Augustine Prep this year, RHP Kenny Levari and RHP Robert Ready, respectively. Both have electric arms in to the low 90s, with Levari up to 94-95 in the fall as well.

No. 5 is St. John’s recruit RHP Nick Guzzi (Point Pleasant Boro HS, NJ). Guzzi possesses a fastball with late life that sits 88-90 touching 91 routinely and a true swing-and-miss changeup with late fade as well.

CLICK HERE to see the Overall Rankings Update

CLICK HERE to see the NJ 2020 State Rankings Update

The Top 10

RANK  NAME STATE SCHOOL CLASS POS COMMITMENT
1 Kyle Teel NJ Mahwah 2020 C Virginia
2 Patrick Reilly NJ Christian Brothers Academy 2020 RHP Northeastern
3 Kenneth Levari NJ St. Augustine Prep 2020 SS Old Dominion
4 Robert Ready NJ St. Augustine Prep 2020 RHP East Carolina
5 Nick Guzzi NJ Point Pleasant Boro 2020 RHP St. John's
6 Drew Conover NJ Voorhees 2020 RHP Seton Hall
7 Jay Harry NJ Metuchen 2020 SS Penn State
8 Teddy Sharkey NJ Wall 2020 RHP Coastal Carolina
9 RJ Moten NJ Delran 2020 OF Michigan
10 Luke Vaks NJ Cedar Creek 2020 RHP Old Dominion