Inside the Rankings: 2028 By The Numbers
December 30, 2024
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As the fall season comes to a close, the scouting staff at Prep Baseball takes the opportunity to update their class rankings. This week, the focus is on high school freshmen, the Class of 2028. Although it’s early in their development, the scouting team in North Carolina has been working through the summer and fall to begin identifying the top prospects in the state.
Events like the Rising Stars Series, Top Prospect Games, and the Jr. Future Games have provided players with a platform to showcase their skills, while also helping to build their Prep Baseball profile with stats, analytics, and video. The scouting staff will continue this process throughout the high school preseason, including Preseason IDs, and for those who earn high grades, the Preseason All-State events. During the high school season, the staff aims to attend 400+ high school games in 2025. By observing players in both workout settings and live game action, the staff gains a more comprehensive view of their abilities.
Ranking players can seem straightforward, but it requires a significant amount of time and effort. For every player the Prep Baseball scouting staff in North Carolina evaluates, they assign a player grade and a confidence rating. The confidence rating reflects the number of times a player has been observed and the variety of evaluation methods used. For the Class of 2028, the confidence rating will be relatively low compared to other high school classes. Once all data is gathered, the database is sorted anonymously, with only the player grade, confidence rating, and tool grades visible. The rankings are determined by sorting the database by player grade, with tool grades used to differentiate between players with similar overall ratings. After the sorting is complete, the rankings are essentially set. The scouting staff will then review the list to ensure there are no discrepancies, where a grade may have been off for any reason. Once this review is done, the rankings are ready to be published.
The freshman year is a critical one for high school players. It is often the first time players step outside their immediate environment and compare their development to that of players from other areas. There will likely be significant changes to this list over the next few years. On average, North Carolina’s senior class of baseball players sees 450-500 college commitments each year. With this initial list of the top 50 players in the Class of 2028, we are still far from identifying all the players who will have the opportunity to continue their baseball careers beyond high school.
Below, we dive into the 2028 rankings, looking at some early trends. This class will grow over the next year and the initial list is just the beginning of the coverage framing these players. The full Class of 2028 Rankings for North Carolina can be seen HERE.
2028 Rankings - Inside the Numbers
- 1 Player has committed
- 4 LHP in the NC Rankings
- 6 RHP in the initial NC rankings
- 7 Catchers on the list
- 10 Outfielders in the Rankings
- 10 Members of the 2024 Jr. Future Games Team NC made the Top 50
- 11 Corner Middle Infielders in the Top 50
- 12 Middle Infielders Ranked
- 12 Players from NC were named in the Prep Baseball Overall Rankings
- 17 Players that attended a 2024 Top Prospect Games are in the rankings
- 24 Players from Western NC
- 26 Players from Eastern NC
RECENT NC RANKINGS NEWS