Prep Baseball Report

Become a Member

More +

Arizona- Class of 2024 Rankings updated

May 27, 2021
Brett Thorney
State Scouting Director

As of today, The PBR Arizona- Class of 2024 Player Rankings have had their first state update. Our staff has been out at games consistently this spring and will continue to cover games through the summer season in order to get a more in depth look at the class. Our player rankings come through a combination of our in person evaluation at games, tournaments & other local events as well as  at PBR showcases. We have also used valued scouts & local coaches as resources for player recommendations to add to our watch list for further evaluation. We are looking forward to seeing many more players compete & develop over the next several years. Not on the list and feel you got overlooked? Feel free to tag us in any social media posts. We're definitely paying attention to them. We will also be holding some events this summer where players can guarantee to get infront of our scouting staff in attention to our live game coverage. Please keep in mind that these are prospect rankings and our opinions are constantly changing on players ability & upside with each view and there will be plenty of updates to this list into the future. 

In this update, we had 4 new prospects in the class of 2024 join our National rankings. Chris Newstrom (Arizona State commit) & Austin Charles (San Diego State commit) are joined by the following players and sit atop the state of Arizona in our first class update. 

NO. 3 HUSTYN WHEELER

+ 2024 OF Hustyn Wheeler (Sandra Day O'Connor)- Wheeler was a solid contributor on varsity as a Freshmen for Sandra Day O'Connor. At 5-11, 165-pounds, Wheeler has an athletic body with high waist, displaying some present athleticism with projectable strength. Left-handed hitter, hitting from an athletic setup, comfortable actions in the box. Uses a short quick swing with level path through the baseball. Shows advanced approach and feel for the barrel to be a top of the order guy into the future. 92 mph via Trackman in live BP. Long loose arm action at 82mph from the OF, throwing from a 3/4 slot. Good feel for the position. Clean foot work with a quick first step. Fields ball out in front. Clean transfers with low release. Soft hands. 7.19 runner in the 60. Easy runner. Strong LHH OF prospect to follow 

 

NO. 4 MASON RUSSELL

+ 2024 LHP Mason Russell (Casteel)- Russell’s quick left arm and wiry frame show plenty of upside, and are likely to draw plenty of attention from college coaches moving forward. The 6-foot, 160-pound southpaw was up to 84 mph early on in the spring, and his quick/whippy arm provided for some hop through the zone producing some swing and miss. There is effort with extension out front which aids in the uncomfortable swings, and he counters the high spin fastball with quality feel for a tightly spun 1/7 curveball, with depth, at 65-68 that has the potential to be an above average pitch moving forward. Russell’s athleticism should allow him to quickly approach his higher ceiling as the frame continues maturing.

 

NO. 5 JACKSON FORBES

+ 2024 INF/RHP Jackson Forbes (Mountain Ridge)- Forbes had a respectable first season on Varsity for Mountain Ridge, hitting close to .300 as a freshmen. Forbes sports a young athletic frame with some quick twitch athleticism, proportionally built. He has a quick & fluid swing from the left side of the plate, hitting from a slightly open stance with repeatability. Defensively, the young prospect has shown some ability to play multiple positions with some older guys on his varsity team. He has shown enough  athleticism to play INF & OF and even hop on the mound to pitch. Forbes development will surly be followed into the summer. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TOP-35

RANK   NAME STATE SCHOOL CLASS POS COMMITMENT
1 Chris Newstrom AZ Chaparral 2024 SS Arizona State
2 Austin Charles AZ Liberty 2024 OF San Diego State
3 Hustyn Wheeler AZ Sandra Day O'Connor 2024 OF Oregon State
4 Mason Russell AZ Casteel 2024 LHP  
5 Jackson Forbes AZ Mountain Ridge 2024 RHP  
6 AJ Diaz AZ Hamilton 2024 SS Arizona
7 Landon Hairston AZ Casteel 2025 OF  
8 Jimmy Diaz AZ Cienega 2024 SS  
9 Shane Miller AZ Higley 2024 SS  
10 Max Madrid AZ Basha 2024 OF