Prep Baseball Report

Inside Wisconsin 2020 Rankings: Newcomers


Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor - Wisconsin/Illinois

Last week we launched the updated version of Wisconsin’s 2020 rankings as well as taking a look at some of the notable risers in the class. Today we will start off the week with a look inside some of the new additions to the rankings.

We expanded our list by ten, reaching a total of 85 ranked prospects in the class, and today will dig deeper into those names.

CLICK HERE for complete Wisconsin 2020 Rankings

The top newcomer in the 2020 rankings hail from the South Central Conference in L/L two-way prospect Dylan Nevar (Wisconsin Dells). Nevar is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound outfielder/left-handed pitcher who tore up the conference last spring, hitting .406 with a 4-0 record on the mound and posting a miniscule 0.94 ERA, enough to also earn him third-team All-State honors as just a sophomore.

 

Dylan Nevar (2.17.19)

We saw it first hand out of Nevar this winter at the West Milwaukee Preseason I.D. He ranked as one of the top five 2020’s at the event and now sits in the top 40 in the state. Nevar is a crafty lefty on the mound where he shows an 82-84 mph fastball with an advanced curveball that plays deep with feel. Offensively he’s an excellent athlete with a smooth repeatable left-handed swing and also runs a 6.93 in the 60. Either way, Nevar has next level abilities both on the mound and with the bat, which should garner plenty of suitors.

Another two-way player to crack the rankings is Janesville Craig’s Eric Hughes. Hughes, an OF/RHP, is eerily similar to a right-handed version of the aforementioned Nevar. Hughes is a strong athlete with an above average arm that will pay dividends on both sides of the ball for the Cougars. He already went deep in the first Craig game of the season and looks to be carrying over what he showed in showcase format to game play. He’s a strong compact right-handed hitter with above average run and arm tools for this age. He shows feel on the mound as well with a low 80’s fastball.

LHP Ayden Spykstra (Cedarburg) moves into the top 75 with a strong showing this winter. He’s a low 80’s southpaw who showed gains throughout the winter, most recently sitting 82-84 mph with a feel for secondary offerings.

C Levi Jensen (Luck) fills in right behind Spykstra. Jensen had big winter most notably at the Minnesota Preseason All-State. He shaved three tenths off his 60 time from the summer, posting a plus time for his age and position at 6.82. His arm strength improved to 77 mph out of the crouch resulting in a 1.98-2.09 pop time.

 

Levi Jenesn (3.17.19)

A pair of outfielders round out the top 75, left-handed hitting Brady Jurgella (Menasha) also shows abilities on the infield, but his 6.86 speed might play best in the outfield at the next level. His bat brought him the most attention from our scouts, it's a repeatable flat stroke that showed the ability to spray the ball around the field. Burlington’s Dale Damon swings a right-handed bat and shows gap to gap strength that profiles as a doubles type hitter.

Riley Zirbel (Lake Mills) and Brayden Gorecki (Sussex Hamilton) round out the list of newcomers and both are plus type runners that have quick twitch abilities in their game that could play in multiple facets of the game. Zirbel, a 6.75 runner is a second baseman whose quick actions play well on the infield. Gorecki is a left-handed bat who runs a 6.84 and showed smooth hands on the infield.

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