Ryan Howard, SS, Francis Howell Central HS
Howard has quietly put himself in position to make a jump in our rankings, as well and continue to enhance his draft stock with a strong fall and winter showcase season.

The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder has an extremely strong arm (88 mph) across the infield and is one of the smoothest fielding infielders in the class. While he is primarily a shortstop right now, he projects as a player who can also play third.

Offensively, Howard hits with a balanced position with good rhythm and showed polished overall hitting mechanics. He is short and quick to the baseball, as the ball jumped off his bat with consistently hard line drives to all fields, and showed some glimpses of power. Last season, he hit .352 with nine doubles, four home runs and 31 RBIs.