By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

The Class of 2019 has come into sharp focus in recent months, evidenced by the unprecedented rate at which sophomore prospects are verbally committing.

Exactly how fast and furious is the recruiting scene?

Well, in our recently updated overall 2019 rankings list, 46 of the top 50 prospects are already verbally committed, 79 of the top 100, and 146 of the expanded Top 250 are off the board. At least for now.

While those statistics may raise a collective eyebrow, there’s no debating that this 2019 class is loaded with talent.

It is important to note here that the PBR overall rankings only include the states that we intimately know from our boots-on-the-ground scouting staff. The updated Top 250 Class of 2019 rankings is comprised of our current 33-state coverage area, which now includes Texas and Oklahoma.

For the first time since we unveiled our initial 2019 list, there’s a new No. 1 overall prospect: SS/RHP Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville HS, TX). Committed to Oklahoma, the 6-foot, 165-pound Witt is a polished, dynamic two-way talent who has consistently delivered in all facets of the game. Witt’s premium middle-of-the-field skills, coupled with his advanced right-handed bat, narrowly supplants 1B/RHP Triston Casas (American Heritage HS, FL) at the No. 1 spot. Casas, a 6-foot-4, 238-pound Miami recruit, features double-plus left-handed juice without much swing-and-miss. As the only 2019 prospect on the USA 18U National Team, Casas hit cleanup and batted .333 with two homers, two doubles and a team-leading 11 RBI during USA’s gold-medal run.   

Casas leads an extremely deep and talented 2019 class in Florida. In fact, five of the top seven ranked prospects hail from the Sunshine State. Joining Casas in the top 10 are OF Riley Greene (Hagerty HS, FL),  LHP Hunter Barco (Bolles HS, FL), C Jake Holland (Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL) and RHP Joseph Charles (First Academy HS, FL).

Rounding out the top 10 are RHP Matthew Thompson (Cypress Ranch HS, TX), RHP Brennan Malone (Porter Ridge HS, NC), RHP/SS Chris McElvain (Summit HS, TN) and SS Cade Doughty (Denham Springs HS, LA).

Miami (Casas and Holland) and North Carolina (Charles and Malone) each have two top-10 recruits. In all, Texas has landed the most prospects in the overall rankings with 10, followed by Oklahoma (nine), Arkansas (nine) and Miami (eight). Louisiana State, Louisville, Texas Christian and Vanderbilt each have seven recruits. (Note: Recruit totals only include players within the PBR coverage area).

Some of the biggest risers in the updated and expanded 2019 rankings include: SS Rece Hinds (Niceville HS, FL), RHP Mack Anglin (Sparta Highland HS, OH), RHP Stephen Restuccio (Hammonton HS, NJ), RHP Isaiah Bennett (Pine Forest HS, NC), C Hayden Travinski (Loyola College Prep HS, LA), RHP Cullen Pharris (DeQuincy HS, LA), 1B/OF/LHP Raymond LaFleur III (Tate HS, FL) and INF Liam Deegan (Godwin HS, VA), to name a few.

A look at the Top 10:

RANK	NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POS	COMMITMENT
1	Bobby Witt Jr.	TX	Colleyville Heritage	2019	SS	Oklahoma
2	Triston Casas	FL	American Heritage	2019	1B	Miami
3	Matthew Thompson	TX	Cypress Ranch	2019	RHP	Texas A&M
4	Riley Greene	FL	Hagerty	2019	OF	Florida
5	Hunter Barco	FL	Bolles	2019	LHP	Virginia
6	Jake Holland	FL	Calvary Christian Academy	2019	C	Miami
7	Joseph Charles	FL	First Academy	2019	RHP	North Carolina
8	Brennan Malone	NC	Porter Ridge HS	2019	RHP	North Carolina
9	Chris McElvain	TN	Summit	2019	RHP	Vanderbilt
10	Cade Doughty	LA	Denham Springs	2019	SS	Louisiana State

>> CLICK HERE To View Complete Top 250 Overall 2019 Rankings.