Rustan
Rigdon

 In the bottom half of the first, INF Rustan Rigdon (Metter HS, GA) blasted a two-out triple to right field with an exit velocity of 97 mph. His three-bagger was followed up by more hard contact; a line-drive RBI single by OF Kyle Boylston (St. Johns County Day, FL; Florida Atlantic) and another liner at 96 mph by Tennessee recruit C Levi Clark (Walton HS, GA).

Vandy commit. 6 foot 1, 175 pounds with a large, lean muscled frame. All it takes is one AB from each side of the plate to be all in on Rigdon. His tall open setup with great rhythm in hands allow him to create very good timing and easy momentum in his forward move. It’s the most effortless swing here, from both sides of the plate. His toe tap, trigger, and swing remind of a legendary switch hitter who played a long time in this state. He creates a bit more angle in launch position from the left side but the hands work fluid and close to the body from both sides. He works down to the baseball, consistently hitting the inner half for big back spin. Rustan creates launch angle with his top hand as late as possible just before contact, eliminating length in the path. It’s an oppo oriented approach that produces consistent barrels to all fields. This is a rare bat hand picked by Phil Kerber to be one of the faces of our 2024 Class. I can count on one hand the number of hitters in the nation on his level for ‘24.

Rigdon was nothing short of spectacular, and had the whole event buzzing with his performance and potential. A wiry-athletic 5-foot-10, 150-pounds, he looks taller in person, and likely has a few inches of growth left to go on a developing frame. Unafraid and confident, there was no shyness to his game, even amongst a Team Georgia that was STACKED with talented ‘23s, and he let it do the talking while carrying himself well. The switch hitter possesses some twitch from both sides of the plate with an innate ability to find the barrel. He went 5-for-6 on the week with two walks and SIX stolen bases, and reached base in seven consecutive plate appearances after making his only out in his first plate appearance. He has moxie on the diamond, and handled some elite arms with ease. The barrel works slightly uphill, and future gap-to-gap strength is likely, and it would be smart to bet on even more power creeping in over time. A fluid athlete who can slow the game down at the plate and in the field, he has the hands and arm to stick at shortstop, and even hopped on the mound for a couple flawless innings that included five strikeouts. Overall, Rigdan was easily one of the biggest winners of the event, and is sure to be followed closely by college coaches moving forward