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Wisconsin Class of 2024 Rankings: Update

August 24, 2022
PBR Wisconsin Staff

Today, PBR Wisconsin is releasing the state’s updated Class of 2024 rankings, following a jam-packed summer that allowed us to see this collection of incoming juniors during what is, arguably, the most critical season of their prep careers. We witnessed this group perform in traditional showcase settings, at tournaments spanning the country, the top uncommitted 2024 prospects in the state represented Wisconsin at the PBR Future Games at the end of the summer.

That takes us to today, where we’re showing our work, and publishing this updated top-75 list that will carry us into a couple important fall months before we hit the offseason. Inside this piece, we’ll be breaking down the top-15 players in the state, and we’ll have more content to roll the rest of this week that will highlight the players ranked further down the board, but made their marks this past season nonetheless.

AT THE TOP OF THE CLASS

JD Dix SS / Whitefish Bay, WI / 2024

Rankings  WI Rank: 1 | National: 23

J.D. Dix looks like he might have the talent to go from start to finish as Wisconsin’s top-ranked member of the 2024 class. He followed a stellar spring, where he was the lone sophomore to be named to our WIAA First Team All-State roster, by starring along the summer circuit on the national scene, including most recently at the Area Code Underclass Games.

Shooter Hunt, Prep Baseball Report’s VP of Scouting, was in attendance and published this regarding Dix’s performance at that event: 

“Dix might end up being the best player in the country before this ‘24 group graduates, and was fun to watch in all that he did throughout the weekend. His 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame comes equipped with some lean natural strength and wide shoulders, and still holds plenty of room for added strength. A supreme athlete who plays the game with a high IQ, the switch-hitting shortstop has a handsier load that works in sync with the lower half before turning the barrel with some authority. The Alabama recruit demonstrated a willingness to utilize the whole field from both sides of the plate, and as a downhill runner was constantly applying the pressure on the bases. There is some ‘it factor’ to all that he does on the diamond, and he already looks the part as the next big shortstop to come out of Wisconsin. He went 3-for-8 on the weekend with three walks.”

impact UNCOMMITTED TALENT

RANK NAME POS. HIGH SCHOOL COMMITMENT
1 JD Dix SS Whitefish Bay Alabama
2 Noah Wech RHP/INF Manitowoc Lincoln Oklahoma State
3 Nolan Buss RHP Arrowhead -
4 Brock Lulewicz SS/3B Muskego -
5 Nate Langbehn RHP D.C. Everest -
6 Jackson Brewer 1B/LHP Homestead -
7 Jack DeTienne RHP Verona Area -
8 Logan Dunn OF/LHP Wautoma Missouri State
9 Eddie Peters INF La Crosse Aquinas Xavier
10 Eddie Rynders INF Wisconsin Lutheran Kent State
11 Cade Palkowski OF Oak Creek -
12 Tannis Lange LHP Waukesha South -
13 Kyle Alivo RHP St. Thomas More -
14 Eason Hurd 3B/OF Ashwaubenon -
15 Trent Cornell UTL Altoona -

+ RHP Nolan Buss (Arrowhead, 2024) is now our top-ranked uncommitted prospect in Wisconsin after he impressed our staff on more than one occasion in the summer, specifically at the PBR Future Games. There, Buss was overpowering in his first outing, sitting in the 89-91 mph range from a tough, unique low arm slot that generates huge horizontal action measured at over 22 inches on average. He regularly opts for his sweeping slider, 79-81 mph, that works off the same plane as his fastball, biting in the opposite direction that adds to his deception from the batter’s box. Buss also has a real changeup too, in the 82-83 mph range, that he’s showing more and more confidence in to give him one of the area’s best three-pitch mixes. Locating that mix has been Buss’ primary hurdle to leap, but he continues to show the best version of himself more often. 

+ The top uncommitted position player on our board headed into the fall is SS/3B Brock Lulewicz (Muskego, 2024), Buss’ club teammate who also represented the state at the PBR Future Games last month. There, Lulewicz stood out in each and every at-bat as an especially tough out. The left-handed hitter’s approach at the plate is palpable – he’s calm, poised, and aware of the situation and count. Lulewicz knows the time and place to jump on a pitch to launch to his pull-side – with increasingly evident in-game pop – he’s just as capable of slapping a ball the other way for a knock down to his final strike, or he’ll fend off pitchers’ pitches until he works a walk. At the Future Games, metrically, the 6-foot, 190-pound athlete ran a 7.19 (19.7 mph max run speed), generates high-end bat speed (73.2 mph on average), hit a ball 94.5 mph in batting practice that traveled 358 feet, and he reached an 88 mph high across the diamond.

Brock Lulewicz (7/27/22)

+ While technically down a few spots inside this update, RHP Nate Langbehn (D.C. Everest, 2024) is equipped, physically, with the kit to become a true, dependable starter at the next level. He’s a 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-hander with three pitches who attacks the zone. He, too, earned a place on Team Wisconsin at the PBR Future Games where he sat 85-87 mph, reaching an 88.1 mph high on a fastball that leaves a high slot downhill, creating rise and run through the zone effectively. Langbehn spins the fastball at an above-average rate (2,145 rpm), leaving some more room to project on it alone, and that spin translates to his curveball that projects to earn swings and misses. It’s a 72-75 mph offering that flashes both sweep and hammer traits while spinning over 2,200 rpm at times. And the changeup is more than just a third offering, it’s thrown aggressively at arm speed while featuring fade/run beneath the zone.

+ 1B/LHP Jackson Brewer (Homestead, 2024) has legitimate two-way tools, and after he reached an easy 88.3 mph high in a winter ‘pen, it looked like his arm talent would be too good to consider him anything but a pitching prospect – but Brewer continues to hit, and for power. While the velocity ticked down on the mound at the end of two long spring and summer seasons, the arm talent remains intact, but his impressive left-handed bat strength and bat-to-ball skills have created a floor here for him to hit at any level, it appears. He averaged an exit speed of 89.8 mph at the PBR Future Games and reached a 96.6 max. Brewer leverages his long, strong 6-foot-3, 195-pound stature well in the batter’s box to spray line-drives to all fields. In game, we’ve seen Brewer launch home runs to his pull-side on several different occasions, including in the championship game of the PBR at The Rock 16U Championships. His swing is at the top of the charts measured by Blast Motion, with top-of-the-scale hand speed (23.7 mph average), bat speed (75.8 mph max), rotational acceleration (19.2 mph average), and he gets on-plane dynamically. He moves well for his size, too, having run a 7.05 in the 60-yard dash at the Future Games at a top speed of 20.1 mph, per Swift.

Jackson Brewer (7/27/22)

+ OF Cade Palkowski (Oak Creek, 2024) was, possibly, Team Wisconsin’s most impactful player at the PBR Future Games. The compact, muscle-bound 5-foot-11, 190-pound prospect is a left-handed hitter beaming with confidence and conviction in the batter’s box, and it allowed him to prey on mistakes in the zone. He connected for the second highest average EVs on Team Wisconsin (90.5 mph) with a 96.3 max during BP, and he constantly launched barrel after barrel into the pull gap effortlessly. His foot speed is high-end, as he raced to a 6.83 in the 60-yard dash down in Georgia while reaching a top speed of 20.4 mph, and his aggression on the basepaths capitalizes on his speed tool. While he might fit best in a corner outfield spot, Palkowski has the ability to manufacture plenty of runs to profile there comfortably, and he can be a defensive asset in that role, too.

Cade Palkowski (7/27/22)

BREAKOUT PERFORMERS

Jack DeTienne RHP / Verona Area, WI / 2024

Few players did more this summer to elevate his prospect stock more than Verona’s Jack DeTienne. DeTienne is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound is another prospect on this list who participated at the PBR Future Games as part of Team Wisconsin, and he created some of the team’s loudest buzz by living in the upper-80s, touching 90 mph multiple times. DeTienne also spins a biting curveball aggressively and mixes in a sinking changeup that complements the fastball very well. More importantly, he was lockdown at LakePoint, earning four outs on a breezy 11 pitches in his first outing and he authored another scoreless frame in his second. Per ProPlayAI technology, DeTienne generates tremendous force and velocity with his lead leg, signaling big velocity potential in his future – and the lean and wiry right-hander is already scraping the low-90s. He has the electric combination of a swing-and-miss mix at present, as well as some indicators that suggest he’s just beginning to break out. 

Tannis Lange LHP / Waukesha South, WI / 2024

Lange was among the names who exited the PBR Future Games with the most buzz. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound southpaw has been one of our staff’s ‘picks to click’ over the spring and summer, as someone who frequently finds himself earning the win someway, somehow. He’s always shown the ability to attack the strike zone and mix in his big breaking ball with confidence and feel, and now his velocity is beginning to tick up. Down at LakePoint, Lange reached a personal high of 88.1 mph during his first outing for Team Wisconsin, working downhill from a high front, hiding the ball well to help his fastball play up. The fastball, the 72-75 mph arching curve, and a viable changeup make up an arsenal that makes him look like a surefire starter at the next level. 

Kyle Alivo RHP / St. Thomas More, WI / 2024

Alivo’s show-stealing spin traits that he’s weaponized onto his fastball and slider have earned him serious attention since breaking out at the Future Games. Listed at a spindly 6-foot, 145 pounds, Alivo unleashed 85-87 mph fastballs that spun at an average rate of nearly 2,400 rpm, lifting the pitch through the zone with the kind of ride that projects to earn whiffs by itself. That spin translates to his breaking ball, a sharp slider with hard horizontal action that spins in the 2,400-2,500 rpm range – and the changeup pairs well off the fastball, too. Alivo’s slight frame and raw stuff have him trending way up heading into the fall as a high-follow member of the state’s ‘24 class.

Eason Hurd 3B / OF / Ashwaubenon, WI / 2024

Hurd is back inside the top-15 after reasserting himself as one of the state’s best bat-to-ball prospects who continually barrels the baseball to all fields no matter the opponent. At the PBR at The Rock 16U Championships, Hurd launched a pair of home runs and he steps into the right-handed box with a particularly mature approach. His performance at The Rock earned him an invitation to the PBR Future Games where he went on to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Player of the Game award in Team Wisconsin’s game two victory. The Ashwaubenon product generates surprising strength at the plate, and his accurate barrel helps him get to it in games; he hit two singles in that MVP performance that left the bat at 96 mph and 92, respectively. Additionally, Hurd is a versatile defender who looked smooth and reliable at third base down in Georgia, and we’ve seen him cover left field well this summer, too.

Trent Cornell SS / OF / Altoona, WI / 2024

Few players swing as ferociously as Cornell, simply put. Cornell recorded one of the highest average bat speed marks (75.4 mph) among all participants at the PBR Future Games, swinging with the intent to drive the ball as hard and far as he can – though he his certainly capable of dialing his approach down when the count and situation calls for it, as he showed in-game as part of Team Wisconsin. Built at a strong and compact 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, Cornell’s right-handed strength works interestingly in conjunction with his foot speed and burst around the bases. He connected for some of the loudest contact on the team down in Georgia, and his hard-nosed effort at all times is infectious inside the dugout. Altoona has had two proud representatives at the Future Games in consecutive years (Evan Gustafson, 2021), and Cornell is another member of this year’s roster to have headed back to Wisconsin with some buzz.

OFF THE MARKET

Noah Wech SS / RHP / Manitowoc Lincoln, WI / 2024

Wech’s a two-way athlete who capped a terrific summer by committing to Oklahoma State. While he has a fundamentally sound right-handed swing that contains more pop than you might expect from the lean 6-foot, 185-pound prospect, Wech’s livewire arm seems to be creating an especially exciting future on the mound. The PBR Georgia Scouting Director, Phil Kerber, was on hand for his outing at the PBR 16U National Championships at LakePoint where Wech was dominant, punching out eight batters in five scoreless innings. Here’s that report:

“... athletic build, strong lower-half. Athletic delivery, gets into his lower half with fluid actions. Clean arm action, quick arm speed, whip-like out front through an over-the-top slot, repeats. Fastball sat 87-90, touched 91, overpowering pitch, pitched to both sides of the plate, played well low in the zone. Curveball, 74-76, 12/6 shape, depth, sharp action, swing-and-miss pitch.”

Logan Dunn OF / LHP / Wautoma, WI / 2024

Like his club teammate, Logan Dunn has two-way abilities and he, too, ended his summer on a high point, committing to Missouri State at the end of July. But Dunn’s future is a little more clearly out in center field, where he’s showcased a knack to chase down balls into the gaps with instinct and above-average foot speed. Offensively, the 6-foot, 185-pound left/left prospect is an energizer in any part of the lineup. Dunn gets to more authoritative contact from the left-handed box than you might initially presume, and he sprays line-drives all over the diamond as it is. He’s equipped with a fast first move out of the box that helps him gain ground even quicker than his 60 time (7.15 in March) implies. The Wautoma product is an easy-to-like prospect who plays the game at a fast pace and finds ways to impact it whether a bat or ball is in his hands or not.

 

Eddie Peters INF / La Crosse Aquinas, WI / 2024

Peters is currently our first and only member of Team Wisconsin so far who committed following the Future Games. Just last week, Peters announced his verbal commitment to Xavier after back-to-back summers as one of the most impactful right-handed bats in front of PBR scouts across the entire Midwest. Just prior to the Future Games, Peters was at the Midwest Premier Super 16 at Creekside where he came away with the tournament’s MVP, hitting .524 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. He creates that power profile from an athletic and physical 6-foot-2, 180-pound stature, and the hand speed and rotational acceleration he creates to and through the zone allows him to unwind on baseballs off a natural incline. He has star potential, and continuing to sharpen his defense is the path for him to rise even higher on this ‘24 board.

Eddie Rynders SS / 3B / Wisconsin Lutheran, WI / 2024

Rynders was among the first members of the state’s ‘24 class to commit, and he still, physically, looks the part of one of the state’s best incoming juniors. Listed at 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, Rynders is still thin and high-waisted, with room to add some more strength that will better impact his left-handed bat. While the exit speeds are somewhat light right now, it’s easy to envision Rynders blossoming into a louder offensive profile. Regardless, it’s a very loose, athletic, fluid swing that’s aesthetically pleasing to see connect for line-drives around the shallow outfield. 

To view the state's complete Class of 2024 rankings, click here.


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