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Inside The Rankings: 2016 Risers

March 9, 2016

By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

The release of the updated 2016 top 200 rankings has been highlighted by major changes, especially to the top half of this list. With the initial release of the rankings, we focused on two hard-throwing right handers—Gregory Veliz and DJ Roberts—and how they jumped into the top ten.  Today, however, we will focus on a few prospects who have jumped from the 30-50 range into the 11-30 range, giving them a much better chance of being drafted in June. Here are the top five risers of 2016 thus far:

Travis Hosterman, LHP, Hagerty HS
The Central Florida commit stands at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds with a lean, athletic, loose, and projectable body with good strength. He really began to ascend late in the fall when he was filling up the zone with three pitches and touching 91 mph in Jupiter. This spring he has maintained that same velocity and continued to stifle opposing hitters. Hosterman is one of the most polished arms in Florida and is now ranked 14th in the state. If he continues to improve and dominate on the mound, we should not be surprised if he is selected in the top ten rounds in June.

John Flowers, RHP/OF, Trinity Christian Academy
Flowers is a tremendous athlete who stands at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds with a strong, athletic, and projectable frame. The Kentucky commit has mostly sat in the 89-93 mph range this spring and swung the bat extremely well. He is a plus runner with long, loose strides and he possesses a plus arm from the outfield. He is a legit two-way player who has a very high ceiling and continues to improve with maturity and repetitions. Flowers is now ranked 20th in the state and should be a selected in the 2016 draft.

Chris Rodriguez, RHP, Monsignor Pace HS
Rodriguez has a lean, wiry, and quick-twitch frame at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds. The Jacksonville commit possesses a quick, electric arm that has produced an 89-92 mph fastball and has been up to 94 mph this spring. He shows three solid off speed pitches, including an advanced curveball that has good depth and is sharp at 75-77 mph. Rodriguez is now ranked 27th in Florida and should be a draft this year.

Todd Lott, 1B/OF, Trinity Christian Academy
The Louisiana-Lafayette commit is an athletic, strong, and physical player at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds. He has gotten off to hot start this spring as he and Flowers have helped to Trinity Christian get off to a 10-0 start. Lott has shown good power and has consistently squared up the ball against quality pitching. He is now ranked 28th in Florida and has a good chance of being drafted if he continues to swing the bat well.

Anthony Gonnella, 1B/3B, Riverview HS
Gonnella has gotten off to as good of a start as anyone in the state as he is batting .565, 2 HRs, and 13 RBIs. The South Florida commit possesses easy power and has proven to be able to drive the ball with authority to all fields this spring. At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Gonnella has a large, physical, and strong frame that alludes to plus power in the future. If he continues to drive the ball and plays well at the FACA All-Star Game, Gonnella should be a solid draft pick in June.