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Ventura, Calif. - The Uncommitted Spotlight Series continues as we forge ahead in the 2024-2025 school year and the looming JR. High School baseball season for our '26 class. With than in mind Prep Baseball California is highlighting some of the top uncommitted class of '26 athletes. The player featured today is one of the top players in the state of California and figures prominently in our Class of 2026 Rankings. All players featured within our Uncommitted Spotlight series are ones that college coaches and fans should be keeping their eyes on over the coming months.

We invite you to get to know them through the eyes of our Prep Baseball California staff of scouts both through our in person looks at players and/or the data-backed numbers collected at our events with our partnered companies. TrackMan, Blast Motion, and Swift Performance provide comparable data to project and evaluate players. All of these systems come together to give a clear picture at what colleges will get when a players steps onto their campus.

Today, we put the spotlight on the number 136 ranked player in the 2026 class in SoCal '26 OF/LHP Tyler Starling from Agoura High School. Starling has impressed the Prep Baseball California staff over the course of a variety of different looks. Starting with multiple in game live looks at Agoura High School where the LH hitting OF flashed his defensive potential with several impressive plays while showing off an intriguing offensive profile that shows both speed and power profiles. In addition, Starling showed very well at the Future Games Tryout: OC with a strong workout, good in game performance while adding in a good look on the bump. There is plenty to like about the present ability for Starling, but the ceiling for him intrigues even more as he splits his time at present as a standout WR/DB for the Agoura football program and also runs track as a top performing sprinter.

Starling strikes an athletic build at 5'11 180 lbs. with wiry strength at present showing room to continue adding strength as he matures. Tyler displays a top end athletic foundation including a 6.83 60 time at the Future Games Tryout: OC while showing explosiveness off the line with a 1.59 10 yard split and 3.78 30 yard split plus a 20.1 MPH top run speed that gives him the athletic ability to man the premium spot of CF. As well, his routes, body control and feel for the ball in the air profile as a potential impact defender out there where his football background helps him cover ground with instincts for the ball in the air and he adds an 86 MPH OF arm which flashes carry to his throws giving him potential to play RF should he need to move off CF. Wherever Starling ends up in the OF there is plenty of reasons to project on a top end defensive profile.

Starling adds an interesting offensive profile to his package of tools profiling him to play baseball at the next level. With an explosive athletic LH swing that shows present leverage/lift in the path with raw power in the operation at the plate. His Blast Motion metrics can jump off the page including an average of 76.5 MPH of bat speed with a max of 81.5 MPH. His hands are quick and loose with 21.1 MPH average hand speed with a peak of 22.4 MPH showing torque in his turn with 12.7 Gs of rotational acceleration. He produced some impressive batted ball data during batting practice at the Future Games Tryout: Orange County including raw power with a 97.4 MPH max EV and a 86.8 MPH avg EV plus a 368' max distance on a pull side HR which was one of 2 he hit during batting practice at Fullerton College. There is some rawness to the overall offensive profile which can be a function of being a multi-sport athlete, but the potential for Starling at the plate is high as he continues to develop/polish his feel to hit while blending it with his swing potential and athleticism.

In addition, he stepped on the bump for a 5 batter look which showed some potential during the Future Games Tryout: OC and something we may see more of from him in the future at Agoura. Starling ran his FB up to 83.1 MPH sitting at 81-82 with ride on the pitch averaging around 20" of IVB throughout his outing, but still does need polish controlling the pitch within the strike zone, but he gets to his velocity with a relatively controlled operation. He backs up the FB with an interesting CHG that he threw at 73-74 MPH including the ability to kill spin on the pitch with spin rates down into the 1300 RPMs and a looping breaking ball with slurve like shape, but shows CB potential in the 67-68 MPH range. There is potential here for him on the mound, but will need refinement and development to reach his potential as a pitcher.

Wherever Starling winds up long term as either a position player, pitcher or two-way player his athletic ability gives him a profile as an impact potential player. As he prepares for his JR. campaign at Agoura he will look to back up a stellar Soph. campaign which saw him garner significant playing time while performing well with flashes of the impact in his profile. Starling is a strong name to keep eyes on in the '26 class for college programs going forward with his LH profile and upside.

College coaches and fans be sure to click on Starling's profile to see full video and information.