By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director 

 

The 2015 graduating class is considered the best talent class in the State of Arkansas since, 2000 if not ever. The class was loaded with big time arms that went to college and made immediate impacts with 2015 RHP Andy Pagnozzi at Ole Miss, 2015 RHP Ty Harpenua at Texas Tech both pitching in the week end rotation early. Severy others impacted the SEC race pitching out of the bullpen. The position players got in the mix aswell with 2015 C Grant Koch catching for Arkansas while 2015 MIF Cody Scroggins logged starts at third base for Arkansas as well.

 

2018 may challenge this group not only as their top end players maybe more MLB baseball ready but the overall depth in the class is impressive. The state of Arkansas on average produces 20-25 NCAA Division I baseball players, time will tell on this class, but as far as rankings go, it is not out of the realm of possibility this class produces 30-35 NCAA Division signees and 4-8 MLB draftees.

 

At the Top

 

2018 RHP Connor Noland remains at the No.1 spot. Noland is an advanced right-handed pitcher with three quality pitches that he has command for. His fastball works 86-89 mph with late life through the strike zone. He compliments his fastball with a change up and curveball that are advanced pitches. His curveball has shown more depth of late and will be a swing and miss pitch for him this spring.

 

Top 10

 

For the most part the names and have stayed the same in the top 10, and heavy with pitching.  No. 6 2018 OF/CIF Tyler Johnson and No. 10 C Andrew Stanley are the only position players to crack the top 10. The depth on the mound is impressive with 7 pitchers committed to playing baseball in the SEC. The load uncommitted player in the Top 10 is Fayetteville High School RHP Miller Plieman. Plieman is a name blowing up lately as the 6-foot-4 leanly built right-hander is coming into his own flashing an upper 80’s fastball and a feel to pitch.

 

As the week moves forward, I will work through the top players from each position to get more in depth on this talented class.

 

2018 RANKINGS

Updated on Feb 13, 2017

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Class 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 All Pos RHP LHP 1B 2B SS 3B C OF

RANK	NAME	STATE	SCHOOL	CLASS	POS		COMMITMENT
1	Connor Noland	AR	Greenwood	2018		RHP	Arkansas
2	Evan Hiatt	AR	Catholic	2018		LHP	Arkansas
3	Jaden Hill	AR	Ashdown	2018		RHP	Louisiana State
4	Kaleb Hill	AR	Watson Chapel	2018		LHP	Mississippi
5	Wade Beasley	AR	Horatio	2018		RHP	Arkansas
6	Tyler Johnson	AR	Bentonville	2018		1B	Arkansas
7	Connor McCullough	AR	Maumelle	2018		RHP	Arkansas
8	Miller Pleimann	AR	Fayetteville	2018		RHP
9	Hank Hannah	AR	Catholic	2018		LHP	Arkansas
10	Andrew Stanley	AR	Searcy	2018		C	Arkansas
11	Jordan Wicks	AR	Conway	2018		LHP	Arkansas State
12	Jakobi Jackson	AR	Watson Chapel	2018		OF
13	Will Richardson	AR	Woodlawm	2018		RHP
14	Nathan Lyons	AR	Bentonville	2018		SS	Arkansas-Little Rock
15	Bennett Shoptaw	AR	Little Rock Christian Academy	2018		RHP
16	Landon Brown	AR	Shiloh Christian	2018		RHP
17	Pate Fullerton	AR	Harding Academy	2018		SS	Harding University
18	Jackson Stroth	AR	Conway	2018		C
19	Luke Johnson	AR	Shiloh Christian	2018		1B
20	Kam'Ron Mays-Hunt	AR	Bentonville	2018		SS

See Complete List Here