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Welcome to 2020 and the return of our Spring Forward series. While it may still be mid-January, the high school season is just around the corner, with public school tryouts beginning in a little over a month. In February, we will begin our detailed season preview, including Region breakdowns, Power 25 reveal, and the Preseason All-PBR Team. In the meantime, we will begin gearing up for the season by highlighting some storylines that we are keeping our eyes on this spring in this series.

The Virginia/DC Class of 2020 is loaded with high-end talent that has a potential to be selected in the June Major League Amateur Draft. Some of these players will be traveling to Chicago in a few weeks for Super 60 and even more will be participating in the Mid-Atlantic Procase the following week. While we have had many players drafted in the recent past, this spring offers a chance for a larger number of prep players to be drafted in the top 10 rounds than has been had in Virginia recently.

Earlier this week, we highlighted the players that are likely already on Pro Scouts' follow list. Today we will look at some players from around Virginia who could jump into that group and potentially get drafted. An example of this in recent years is Turner Ashby 2016 grad Brenan Hanifee, who had big velocity jump between fall of his senior year and the high school season, gaining a lot of late buzz and ultimately leading to the Orioles drafting him in the fourth round that year. 

As we stated previously, it is entirely possible that a player that has not appeared in either of these posts ends up getting drafted. Hanifee would not have been in either story during the preseason of the year that he was selected. We look forward to getting out to games this spring and checking in on all of the players from the area and seeing who has made the jump.

 

 

 

Nic Britt SS / 2B / Greenbrier Christian, VA / 2020 Britt is a William & Mary commit and has a lankier athletic frame. He has arm strength and had a good season on the mound in 2019 for the Gators, but his future likely is as a position player for the time being. He is fast and quick as well, a smooth fielder who can likely stay at short. Simple swing with strength at contact and power potential. He had a strong fall and began to catch some eyes, adding some strength and accessing more of his power potential could get him some draft looks.

 

 

Riley Eikhoff RHP / SS  / Patriot, VA / 2020 Eikhoff is a Coastal Carolina commit. He is athletic and still plays two ways at the high school level, but his future in college and potentially in pro ball is on the mound. Last spring he worked in the high 80s and could touch 90 with effort. His secondary pitches are solid as well. For him to make the jump into draft consideration this spring, Eikhoff will need to add a couple ticks to his fastball to where he is throwing easy low 90s and showing the ability to touch the mid-90s.

 

 

Ryley Johnson OF / LHP / Colgan, VA / 2020 Johnson is an East Carolina commit and is an elite defender in the outfield. Very fast, gets good breaks and takes good routes. He has a strong arm that he took onto the mound last spring. He hits from the left side and has batspeed with power potential. While his bat has improved a lot in the past year, he will need to show a bit more power and barrel consistency. If he can do that, he will jump up draft boards quickly. Whether Johnson will get to play this spring is unclear as he recovers from an injury in the winter.

 

 

Brady Kirtner RHP / SS / Christiansburg, VA / 2020 Kirtner is a Virginia Tech commit and has a ton of projection and room to add strength to his frame. He has a quick easy arm action and worked in the 86-89 range in 2019 with easy effort. Curveball has some shape and he gets some good bite on it when he throws it hard. To get into the draft mix this spring, Kirtner will need to add a couple ticks to his fastball to work in the low-90s and flash a mid-90, something he could easily have done by adding strength this winter.

 

 

Garrett Payne RHP / 1B / Miller School, VA / 2020 Payne is a North Carolina State commit and is very tall at 6-7 and very lanky with a long wingspan. He has a lot of projection to the frame and a lot of room to add strength. Easy arm action and a slider that plays well off of his fastball, which worked in the 85-87 range during the spring of 2019. Payne could easily add some ticks to that velocity and garner some draft consideration.

 

 

Tanner Schobel SS / 2B / Walsingham Academy, VA / 2020 Schobel is a Virginia Tech commit. As a prospect, he has a more filled out athletic frame, but still has some projection. He has some speed, arm strength, and bat speed. All around a very sound prospect. To earn draft consideration, Schobel would need to show that those tools have continued to advance and more consistently access his power in game.

 

 

Parker Stallard OF / RHP / Salem (Salem), VA / 2020 Stallard is a Virginia Tech commit. He has an athletic frame that has some projection left to it. Speed is a tool of his that is one of his louder ones, and he also has batspeed with some present power as well. He could easily get into the mix to be drafted by showing more power and to all fields.

 

 

Carter Trice SS / 2B / Lee Davis, VA / 2020 Trice is an Old Dominion commit. He has an athletic frame with some speed, a strong arm on the infield, and has shown some batspeed as well. While he is an all-around good player and doesn't have a glaring weakness as a pro prospect, to earn draft consideration, Trice's tools would need to continue to advance across the board from where they were last year. Accessing his power in game more consistently would quickly draw attention his way.

 

 

Joe Vogatsky RHP / 3B / Kettle Run, VA / 2020 Vogatsky is a James Madison commit and has a more filled out 6-0 frame that he can still add some strength to. During 2019, Vogatsky showed the ability to hold high velocity in short spurts, working 88-90 and touching 91 for an inning or two early in starts or during relief outings before settling into the 85-87 range later in games. He has a high spin curveball that is a weapon. For Vogatsky to potentially get drafted this spring, he would need to add a tick to his early inning velocity and show the ability to hold that velocity deep into games.

 

 

Christian Williams LHP / Mathews, VA / 2020 Williams is a Texas Christian commit. He has a lankier athletic frame that still has projection to it. During the fall of 2019, he worked in the high 80s and touched 90. He made a significant velocity jump from 2018 to 2019, and another similar jump plus his lefthandedness would put him into the mix to be drafted.

 

 

Christian Worley RHP / Halifax County, VA / 2020 Worley is 6-0 and has plenty of projection left in his lankier athletic frame. He is a Virginia Tech commit who is the latest in a long line of high-velocity arms from Halifax County. Early in 2019 he worked 86-89 with easy effort and a sharp breaking ball with good armspeed. As with all of the arms on this list, adding a tick or two to his fastball so that he is consistently working in the 90s and occasionally touching a mid-90 would push him into serious draft consideration.

 

 

 

 

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