Prep Baseball Report

Updated Overall 2016 Rankings Released



By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

It’s been a busy three-plus months since the last Class of 2016 rankings update. The late summer and fall season, both on the state and national levels, have shed more light on this extraordinarily talented and deep senior class. Our updated Top 400 Class of 2016 rankings reflect everything our boots-on-the-ground scouting staff has seen.

It is important to note that the PBR overall rankings only include the states that we intimately know from our scouting staff. The updated Top 400 Class of 2016 rankings is comprised of our current 27-state coverage area, which now includes all New England states.

Jason GroomeWhile there have been significant shakeups in the overall rankings, the top five prospects remain intact. LHP Jason Groome (Barnegat HS, NJ) once again headlines this pitching-rich draft class. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Vanderbilt recruit has left little question he is the top prospect in the country and is the early front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s MLB Draft. Groome’s easy velocity regularly ranges between 93-95 mph, and has shown significant improvements with his secondary stuff.

RHP Riley Pint (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, KS), the top right-handed prospect in the country, has electric stuff, though his infrequent showings at some national events has made it more difficult to evaluate from a draft perspective. At the Under Armour All-America Game in August, the athletic 6-foot-3, 180-pound Pint’s fastball peaked at 99 mph while flashing at times a sharp mid-80s curveball.

 

RHP Ian Anderson (Shenendehowa HS, NY) continues to climb the national lists. The lanky 6-foot-3 Vanderbilt recruit has freakishly easy velocity, which climbed into the mid-90s last summer, to go along with a sharp 77-80 mph slider and well above-average changeup. RHP Austin Bergner (Windemere Prep HS, FL), a 6-foot-4, 190-pound North Carolina recruit, has been a fixture at the top of 2016 rankings since he entered high school.

C Cooper Johnson (Carmel Catholic HS, IL), at No. 5 in the overall rankings, has separated himself as the top defensive catching prospect in the country after his performance at USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars, which earned him a spot on the USA 18U national team, and Under Armour All-America Game. Johnson’s catch-and-throw abilities are without peer, and if his bat shows improvement, the Mississippi recruit should be a high-round draft pick. Johnson isn’t the only high-level catching prospect near the top of the rankings. Left-handed hitting Ben Rortvedt (Verona Area HS, WI) has seen his stock skyrocket over the last six months, as the muscular Arkansas recruit has established himself as one of the premier left-handed hitters in the country.

A pair of Pennsylvania left-handed hitters – INF Nolan Jones (Holy Ghost Prep HS, PA) and OF/1B Alex Kirilloff – have vaulted into the top 10. Jones, a 6-foot-4 Virginia recruit who has also been up to 90 on the mound, features a polished left-handed approach with burgeoning power. Kirilloff, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound Liberty recruit, has seen a meteoric rise the last three months. A pure hitter, Kirilloff has quieted down his pre-pitch approach while still displaying pop at the plate and has shown significantly improved athleticism. Also jumping into the top 10 is 3B Joe Rizzo (Oakton HS, VA), another left-handed hitter who has regularly torched top-level pitching over the last year.

Outside the top 10, there were many big risers this fall, led by RHP Todd Peterson (Lake Mary HS, FL), RHP Skylar Szynski (Penn HS, IN), RHP Tyler Baum (West Orange HS, FL), SS Luis Curbelo (Cocoa HS, FL), OF Brandon McIlwain (Council Rock North HS, PA), C Mike Amditis (Boca Raton HS, FL), RHP Bo Weiss (Regis Jesuit HS, CO), OF Austin Langworthy (Williston HS, FL), LHP Holden White (Kingswood Oxford HS, CT), RHP Matthew Cleveland (Windsor HS, CT), RHP/3B Tobias Myers (Winter Haven HS, FL) and SS/OF Zachary Watson (West Ouachita HS, LA, to name a few.

A Look At the Top 20:

1 Jason Groome NJ Barnegat 2016 LHP Vanderbilt
2 Riley Pint KS St. Thomas Aquinas 2016 RHP Louisiana State
3 Ian Anderson NY Shenendehowa 2016 RHP Vanderbilt
4 Austin Bergner FL Windermere Prep 2016 RHP North Carolina
5 Cooper Johnson IL Carmel Catholic 2016 C Mississippi
6 Nolan Jones PA Holy Ghost Prep 2016 SS Virginia
7 Cole Ragans FL North Florida Christian 2016 LHP Florida State
8 Alex Kirilloff PA Plum 2016 OF Liberty
9 Ben Rortvedt WI Verona Area 2016 C Arkansas
10 Joe Rizzo VA Oakton 2016 3B South Carolina
11 Jesus Luzardo FL Marjory Stoneman Douglas 2016 LHP Miami
12 Todd Peterson FL Lake Mary 2016 RHP Louisiana State
13 Zach Linginfelter TN Sevier County 2016 RHP Tennessee
14 Gavin Lux WI Indian Trail 2016 SS Arizona State
15 Bo Bichette FL Lakewood 2016 3B Arizona State
16 Skylar Szynski IN Penn 2016 RHP Indiana
17 Tyler Baum FL West Orange 2016 RHP North Carolina
18 Luis Curbelo FL Cocoa 2016 SS Miami
19 Brandon McIlwain PA Council Rock North 2016 OF South Carolina (football)
20 Nick Hanson MN Prior Lake 2016 RHP Kentucky


>> CLICK HERE To View Top 400 Overall Rankings

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