By Phil Kerber
Associate Scout

On Thursday, August 24th, the updated Class of 2019 Overall Rankings were released. The state of Illinois was well represented in the expanded Top 400. There were some new names, some old, some that took falls, while others made leaps, and a few that stood-pat. Let’s dive-in and take a deeper look at all the numbers.

First, a breakdown of where the prospects fall. Of the Top 400, Illinois holds on to 23 of the spots, or 5.7%. 20 of the prospects find themselves in the Top 300. The 200-to-300 range of rankings contains the most Illinoisans with 10. Seven prospects saw their names debut in the expanded Top 400. The highest newcomer to the rankings landed at 170. The biggest mover saw himself improve his ranking by 130 spots, going from 287 to 157.

By Ranking
Top 15 - 1
Top 100 - 5
Top 200 - 10
Top 300 - 20
Top 400 - 23

Pitchers lead the way in Illinois. A total of eight grace the Top 400, including the highest ranked prospect from the state at 13. This crop of pitchers have some serious arm strength with an average fastball velocity of 89.75 mph. Shortstops, catchers, and outfielders follow, in that order, only separated by one prospect. Six out of the 15 position players ranked in the Top 400 are left-handed hitters. Of the 11 position players who are not catcher's, the average 60 yard dash time was 6.94.

By Position (Average Rank)
Right-Handed Pitcher - 7 (145.3)
Shortstop - 6 (198.5)
Catcher - 5 (227)
Outfield - 4 (239)
Left-Handed Pitcher - 1 (228)

78.2% of the Illinois prospects in the Top 400 are committed. Right-handed pitchers are the hottest commodity on the market, as six of them have already committed. Shortstops follow with five commitments and catchers with four. It is interesting to note that of the four catchers committed, three are left-handed hitters. In total, Illinois has 30 prospects committed, 12 of which fall outside the Top 400.

Two of the eight pitchers in the Top 400 remain uncommitted, while one shortstop and one outfielder do as well. The highest uncommitted prospect comes in at 46th overall as a right-handed pitcher. The top uncommitted position player spots up at 204th overall.

By Commitment
Committed - 18
            RHP - 6
            SS - 5
            C - 4
            OF - 3
Uncommitted - 5
            RHP - 1
            SS - 1
            LHP - 1
            OF - 1
            C - 1

It should come as no surprise that every Power Five conference already has their hands on multiple prospects from the state. The Big 10 benefits from its location, but that has not stopped the likes of the Big 12 and SEC from travelling north nor the PAC 12 from reaching cross-country.

By Conference
SEC - 4
Big 10 - 3
Big 12 - 3
ACC - 2
MVC - 2
PAC 12 - 2
AAC - 1
Horizon - 1

By College/University
Arkansas - 2
Arizona State - 2
Illinois - 2
Missouri - 2
Missouri State - 2
Illinois - Chicago - 1
Texas Christian - 1
West Virginia - 1
Louisville - 1
Houston - 1
Texas Tech - 1
Iowa - 1
Notre Dame - 1

Of the 18 prospects committed, only three have decided to play in-state, two at the University of Illinois and one at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The rest have made the decision to take their talents out-of-state. All the more credit to this group of prospects for garnering national attention.

By Location
In state - 3
Out of state - 15

So, where do these prospects hail from? Chicago and its suburbs reign supreme. 19 out of the 23 prospects play their high school baseball in or around the city of Chicago.

By High School Conference
East Suburban Catholic - 5
Chicago Catholic - 5
Southwest Suburban - 3
Mid-Suburban League - 3
West Suburban - 2
North Suburban - 1
Fox Valley - 1
Apollo - 1
Western Big 6 - 1
Southwestern - 1

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