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Initial Illinois 2019 Rankings Released

April 14, 2016

 By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

It is still extremely early to be forecasting Class of 2019 prospects, especially since many of these rising freshman haven’t even played a varsity game. Then again, with the recent acceleration of recruiting, some high-level 2019 prospects from across the country are already coming off the board.

Over the course of the last year, we’ve seen an impressive amount of talented 2019 prospects, several of whom should become national prospects.

With that said, we have released our initial 2019 rankings, a modest list of 15 prospects that have stood out among their peers. This list will undoubtedly change and evolve in the next few years, as we know many players will grow, develop and mature. We also know that we likely haven’t seen many other 2019 prospects that may be deserving of this list.

However, we are confident that the players included in the list have extremely bright futures, barring injuries, of course.

Heading the initial list is C Matt McCormick (St. Laurence HS). McCormick is a physically advanced 6-foot, 190-pound left-handed hitting catcher. He has an advanced approach at the plate with the ability to drive the ball to both gaps with authority. McCormick is calm and relaxed in the batter’s box with excellent pitch recognition and understanding of the strike zone. So far this spring, McCormick has been hitting in the three-hole for current No. 4 St. Laurence.

Following McCormick is RHP Quinn Priester (Cary Grove HS). Like McCormick, Priester possesses an advanced frame, 6-foot-3, 172-pounds. Priester features a power arm with polish well beyond his years. His fastball topped at 87 this winter and he showed feel for three pitches, with his changeup flashing plus action. Priester has the frame and stuff to develop into one of the top 2019 prospects in not only the Midwest but the country.

 

OF Kendall Pettis (Brother Rice) comes in at No. 3. Pettis is a projectable, athletic outfielder with impressive tools for a freshman. He is listed at 6-foot, 165-pounds, runs a 6.8 60, is mid-to-upper 80’s from the outfield and has some easy juice in his bat. Pettis has already seen some brief time on varsity this spring for No. 5 Brother Rice.

A pair of right-handed arms round out the top five. At No. 4 sits RHP Grant Leader (Lyons Township). Leader emerged as one of the top arms in the 2019 class when he sat 83-85 mph with feel for a four-pitch mix at an event last July. Since then Leader has continued impress, most recently at the Underclass Invitational in January. He was named the top 2019 prospect at the event and topped out at 87 mph on the mound. Leader has one of the quickest arms in the class and can spin two breaking balls with two distinct shapes. No. 5 in the class is RHP Kyle Wisch (Hinsdale Central). The 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander made his coming out party the Preseason I.D. Illiana Showcase this January. At the event, he flashed a clean, quick arm and his fastball sat 83-84 mph. He also showed feel for a curveball with sharp break and 11/5 shape at 69-70 mph.

Here is a look at the Top 10:

Rank Name State School Class Pos Commitment
1 Matt McCormick IL St. Laurence 2019 C
2 Quinn Priester IL Cary Grove 2019 RHP
3 Kendall Pettis IL Brother Rice 2019 OF
4 Grant Leader IL Lyons Township 2019 RHP
5 Kyle Wisch IL Hinsdale Central 2019 RHP
6 Jared Cushing IL Joliet Catholic 2019 SS
7 Andrew Wiegman IL Carmel Catholic 2019 SS
8 Bryce Barnett IL Providence Catholic 2019 RHP
9 Ryan Maher IL Brother Rice 2019 SS
10 Nathan Rintz IL Schaumburg 2019 RHP


CLICK HERE to view the Top 15 Class of 2019 Rankings

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