2019 Overall Rankings Update Release

Wed April 4, 2018
Shooter Hunt
National Crosschecker

The off-season gave the players in the 2019 class a chance to grow, get stronger, and enhance their skills in preparation for the spring season, and they certainly appear to have made the most of it. In the nearly four months since the last update to the Top 400 overall rankings, preseason events and early season action have given players platforms to showcase their progression.

It is important to note that the PBR overall rankings only include states that we intimately know from our boots-and-the-ground scouting staff. The updated Top 400 rankings is comprised of our current 38-state coverage area, which now includes California.

The overall list saw little change at the top. Ultra-talented LHP/1B Hunter Barco (Bolles HS, FL) remains in the top spot with SS Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville Heritage HS, TX) at No. 2. Rounding out the top five are RHP Matthew Thompson (Cypress Ranch HS, TX), OF Riley Greene (Hagerty HS, FL), and SS Rece Hinds (Niceville HS, FL).

Athletic LHP Chris Villaman (Ledford HS, NC), a North Carolina State recruit, showed off impressive advancements at PBR North Carolina’s ProCase, where he utilized a quick arm to showcase feel for three pitches, including an improved breaking ball. He has been up to 93 mph in the past, and will likely head into the summer as the top left-hander in the country behind Barco.


Nipping at Villaman’s heels is LHP Hayden Mullins (Hendersonville HS, TN), an Auburn recruit, who lands just outside the top 10. The 6-foot, 170-pound southpaw has a whippy-quick arm, and has been up to 91 mph early on in the spring with a vicious breaking ball that could elevate him even higher moving forward. Behind him is fast-rising RHP Matt Allan (Seminole HS, FL), a Florida recruit, who effortlessly works 89-93 with feel for three pitches, and a durable, 6-foot-3, 210-pound workhorse-type frame.


With the addition of California comes a host of talented players to the rankings. Possessing some of the most talented ballplayers in the country, there are sure to be impact collegiate players in the 2019 class as well as future draft picks. A balanced class, three of California’s 2019 players appear in the top 20 in the overall rankings with each one having a strong case to be in the top spot. LHP Cooper Benson (San Luis Obispo HS, CA), an Arizona State recruit, LHP/1B Joshua Hahn (Huntington Beach HS, CA), a UCLA recruit, and RHP Wesley Scott (Woodcrest Christian HS, CA), a Vanderbilt recruit, all show great promise, and may rise even more in the future.

Joshua Hahn LHP / 1B / Huntington Beach, CA / 2019

Rankings  OverallRank: 18 / POS: 5

 

Two of the biggest risers in the class were LHP Avery Short (Southport HS, IN), an Indiana recruit, and Christopher Benavides (Klein Collins HS, TX), a Sam Houston State recruit. Short vaulted to the top of Indiana’s state rankings thanks to a great fall that he followed up by touching 91 mph in a bullpen session at PBR Indiana’s Preseason All-State event, while also showcasing feel for two above average breaking balls as well as a changeup. He looks poised to become a name that scouts will want to get familiar with looking ahead to the 2019 draft. Benavides jumps into the top five in Texas as he has shown off electric stuff at times in the early spring including a fastball that has run up to 93 mph from a ¾ slot. The 6-foot, 165-pound right-hander looks like he may have even more on the way as the season moves deeper into the spring.

Other notable risers include: 3B Chandler Freeman (Liberty Hill HS, TX), SS Ismael “Izzy” Lopez (Arlington Heights HS, TX), C Alex Milazzo (Zachary HS, LA), OF Bobby Zmarlzak (Westhill HS, CT), LHP Keegan Pullford-Thorpe (Newmarket HS, ON), RHP Connor Phillips (Magnolia West HS, TX), OF Kyle Westfall (IMG Academy, FL), RHP Trey Valka (Oak Ridge HS, TX), RHP Bryce Barnett (Providence Catholic HS, IL), SS Drew Grace (Blue Mountain HS, PA), and OF Tucker Flint (Bishop Hendricken HS, RI), to name a few

A LOOK AT THE TOP 20:
RANK   NAME STATE SCHOOL CLASS POS COMMITMENT
1 Hunter Barco FL Bolles 2019 LHP Virginia
2 Bobby Witt Jr. TX Colleyville Heritage 2019 SS Oklahoma
3 Matthew Thompson TX Cypress Ranch 2019 RHP Texas A&M
4 Riley Greene FL Hagerty 2019 OF Florida
5 Rece Hinds FL Niceville 2019 SS Louisiana State
6 Cade Doughty LA Denham Springs 2019 SS Louisiana State
7 Chris Villaman NC Ledford 2019 LHP North Carolina State
8 Brennan Malone NC Porter Ridge 2019 RHP North Carolina
9 Judson Fabian FL Trinity Catholic 2019 OF Florida
10 Logan Britt TX All Saints Episcopal Ft. Worth 2019 OF Texas A&M
11 Hayden Mullins TN Hendersonville 2019 LHP Auburn
12 Matt Allan FL Seminole 2019 RHP Florida
13 Brandon Walker FL North Florida Christian 2019 RHP Florida State
14 Cooper Benson CA San Luis Obispo 2019 LHP Arizona State
15 Quinn Priester IL Cary Grove 2019 RHP Texas Christian
16 KC Hunt NJ Ramapo 2019 RHP Mississippi State
17 Anthony Volpe NJ Delbarton 2019 SS Vanderbilt
18 Joshua Hahn CA Huntington Beach 2019 LHP UCLA
19 Jacob Meador TX Centennial 2019 RHP Texas Christian
20 Wesley Scott CA Woodcrest Christian 2019 RHP Vanderbilt
>> CLICK HERE to View Complete Top 400 2019 Overall Rankings

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