2016 Draft: Top 100 High School Prospects
SEE ALSO: Frankie Piliere’s prospect chat
The 2016 MLB Draft is less than three months away and high school baseball is now in full swing all across the nation. That means that professional scouts now not only have their hands full evaluating college talent, but are also tasked with the far trickier assignment of stacking up the best prep players in the country. There is no denying that there are more challenges involved in evaluating high school talent, as there is far more projection involved than with the typical college draft prospect. But, what scouts across the country can seem to agree on is that this is a high school crop loaded with depth, as well as top end of the draft talent. With that in mind, D1Baseball.com is excited to release the spring edition of our High School Top 100 Prospects list.
And, there is a lot to like about this group if you’re a scout. Jason Groome, Riley Pint, and Blake Rutherford are special talents that stack up as potential top three overall picks in any draft class. Mickey Moniak’s combination of lively tools and highly advanced hit tool make him one of the most fascinating prep bats in recent memory. And, most impressive about this class is that next tier of talent is as deep as any we’ve seen in recent years. Josh Lowe and Delvin Perez are impact type of players with tools that could allow them to star on both sides of the ball. Ian Anderson, Forrest Whitley, Matt Manning, and others have the size, exploding fastballs and deliveries of potential rotation leading arms. And, the talent simply keeps on flowing from there. There have been cries of lack of game changing talent in some recent draft classes, and this high school crop is going to be leaving no one with those kinds of thoughts.
From the perspective of the college landscape, the typical powerhouses in recruiting once again dominate our top 100. Vanderbilt has four committed players represented below, and we’ve come to expect that. But, make a note of the Arizona State and South Carolina classes. South Carolina has five recruits on our top 100. Arizona State has a whopping total of six. And, these are far from the only teams well represented, but this type of list simply gives us an early look at the potential strength of these recruiting classes.
With the 2016 MLB Draft squarely in mind and a peak into the potential future of college baseball, here’s our latest look at the top high school prospects in the 2016 class.
(This list is compiled is based on a combination of opinions and consensus of professional scouts, as well as first-hand scouting observations.)
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