By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

It’s been a busy three-plus months since the last Class of 2016 rankings update. The late summer and fall season, both on the state and national levels, have shed more light on this extraordinarily talented and deep senior class. Our updated Top 400 Class of 2016 rankings reflect everything our boots-on-the-ground scouting staff has seen.

It is important to note that the PBR overall rankings only include the states that we intimately know from our scouting staff. The updated Top 400 Class of 2016 rankings is comprised of our current 27-state coverage area, which now includes all New England states.

While there have been significant shakeups in the overall rankings, the top five prospects remain intact. LHP Jason Groome (Barnegat HS, NJ) once again headlines this pitching-rich draft class. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Vanderbilt recruit has left little question he is the top prospect in the country and is the early front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s MLB Draft. Groome’s easy velocity regularly ranges between 93-95 mph, and has shown significant improvements with his secondary stuff.

RHP Riley Pint (St. Thomas Aquinas HS, KS), the top right-handed prospect in the country, has electric stuff, though his infrequent showings at some national events has made it more difficult to evaluate from a draft perspective. At the Under Armour All-America Game in August, the athletic 6-foot-3, 180-pound Pint’s fastball peaked at 99 mph while flashing at times a sharp mid-80s curveball.

 

RHP Ian Anderson (Shenendehowa HS, NY) continues to climb the national lists. The lanky 6-foot-3 Vanderbilt recruit has freakishly easy velocity, which climbed into the mid-90s last summer, to go along with a sharp 77-80 mph slider and well above-average changeup. RHP Austin Bergner (Windemere Prep HS, FL), a 6-foot-4, 190-pound North Carolina recruit, has been a fixture at the top of 2016 rankings since he entered high school.

C Cooper Johnson (Carmel Catholic HS, IL), at No. 5 in the overall rankings, has separated himself as the top defensive catching prospect in the country after his performance at USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars, which earned him a spot on the USA 18U national team, and Under Armour All-America Game. Johnson’s catch-and-throw abilities are without peer, and if his bat shows improvement, the Mississippi recruit should be a high-round draft pick. Johnson isn’t the only high-level catching prospect near the top of the rankings. Left-handed hitting Ben Rortvedt (Verona Area HS, WI) has seen his stock skyrocket over the last six months, as the muscular Arkansas recruit has established himself as one of the premier left-handed hitters in the country.

A pair of Pennsylvania left-handed hitters – INF Nolan Jones (Holy Ghost Prep HS, PA) and OF/1B Alex Kirilloff – have vaulted into the top 10. Jones, a 6-foot-4 Virginia recruit who has also been up to 90 on the mound, features a polished left-handed approach with burgeoning power. Kirilloff, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound Liberty recruit, has seen a meteoric rise the last three months. A pure hitter, Kirilloff has quieted down his pre-pitch approach while still displaying pop at the plate and has shown significantly improved athleticism. Also jumping into the top 10 is 3B Joe Rizzo (Oakton HS, VA), another left-handed hitter who has regularly torched top-level pitching over the last year.

Outside the top 10, there were many big risers this fall, led by RHP Todd Peterson (Lake Mary HS, FL), RHP Skylar Szynski (Penn HS, IN), RHP Tyler Baum (West Orange HS, FL), SS Luis Curbelo (Cocoa HS, FL), OF Brandon McIlwain (Council Rock North HS, PA), C Mike Amditis (Boca Raton HS, FL), RHP Bo Weiss (Regis Jesuit HS, CO), OF Austin Langworthy (Williston HS, FL), LHP Holden White (Kingswood Oxford HS, CT), RHP Matthew Cleveland (Windsor HS, CT), RHP/3B Tobias Myers (Winter Haven HS, FL) and SS/OF Zachary Watson (West Ouachita HS, LA, to name a few.

A Look At the Top 20:

1	Jason Groome	NJ	Barnegat	2016	LHP	Vanderbilt
2	Riley Pint	KS	St. Thomas Aquinas	2016	RHP	Louisiana State
3	Ian Anderson	NY	Shenendehowa	2016	RHP	Vanderbilt
4	Austin Bergner	FL	Windermere Prep	2016	RHP	North Carolina
5	Cooper Johnson	IL	Carmel Catholic	2016	C	Mississippi
6	Nolan Jones	PA	Holy Ghost Prep	2016	SS	Virginia
7	Cole Ragans	FL	North Florida Christian	2016	LHP	Florida State
8	Alex Kirilloff	PA	Plum	2016	OF	Liberty
9	Ben Rortvedt	WI	Verona Area	2016	C	Arkansas
10	Joe Rizzo	VA	Oakton	2016	3B	South Carolina
11	Jesus Luzardo	FL	Marjory Stoneman Douglas	2016	LHP	Miami
12	Todd Peterson	FL	Lake Mary	2016	RHP	Louisiana State
13	Zach Linginfelter	TN	Sevier County	2016	RHP	Tennessee
14	Gavin Lux	WI	Indian Trail	2016	SS	Arizona State
15	Bo Bichette	FL	Lakewood	2016	3B	Arizona State
16	Skylar Szynski	IN	Penn	2016	RHP	Indiana
17	Tyler Baum	FL	West Orange	2016	RHP	North Carolina
18	Luis Curbelo	FL	Cocoa	2016	SS	Miami
19	Brandon McIlwain	PA	Council Rock North	2016	OF	South Carolina (football)
20	Nick Hanson	MN	Prior Lake	2016	RHP	Kentucky

>> CLICK HERE To View Top 400 Overall Rankings