FORT MYERS, Fla. – The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is always a festive one, a time when school and work duties can usually take a backseat to holiday parties, college football bowl games and, for the families of active Perfect Game underclass prospects, a whole lot of baseball.
Ever since 2002 when young prospects and current big-leaguers like Andrew McCutchen, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Sean Rodriguez trotted out onto the fields at Terry Park for the 2002 Underclassmen Alumni Showcase, this Southwest Florida city’s Grapefruit League spring training fields have hosted a major PG underclass showcase in the days after Christmas. It’s about to happen again.
The Perfect Game National Underclass Showcase-Main Event will run Sunday through Tuesday (Dec. 28-30) at the beautiful JetBlue Park Player Development Complex, the Grapefruit League home of the Boston Red Sox. There may also be a set of games played at the nearby Lee County Sports Complex, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins.
Right around 500 players in the high school classes of 2016, 2017, 2018 and, yes, 2019 will arrive from points all across the country and Ontario, Canada, to test their skills against their peers and fill PG’s database with comprehensive scouting notes and Skillshow’s video catalog with valuable footage documenting their play.
This year’s entrants include three class of 2016 prospects ranked in the top-147 nationally, and another 11 class of 2017 prospects ranked in the top-133 – seven of whom are in the top-71. Just more than 150 participants are ranked in the top-600 nationally in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 classes.
One 2016 certain to draw high-level interest is Herbert Iser, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound left-handed hitting catcher from Miami.
Iser has climbed to No. 5 in the national rankings after Top Prospect List performances at the 2013 Main Event, the 2014 PG Junior National Showcase and the 2014 PG Underclass All-American Games; he also stood out as a member of a couple of FTB teams, most notably FTB Chandler. A junior at Miami Killian Senior High School, he has committed to the U. of Miami.
The other top 2016s are Pinson, Ala., corner-infielder/right-hander Thomas Johns, an Auburn commit who plays with the East Cobb Astros 18u and is ranked No. 133 nationally, and middle-infielder Javier Valdes, another Miami commit from Miami who plays with the Georgia Jackets and is ranked No. 147.
The class of 2017 entrants are headed by outfielder Austin Beck, a 6-foot, 180-pound prospect from Clemmons, N.C., who rose to No. 20 in the national rankings following his inclusion on the Top Prospect List at the Atlantic Coast Underclass Showcase in August. Beck is a North Carolina commit who was named to a pair of all-tournament teams while playing with the Dirtbags in 2014.
Six-foot-six, 260-pound Powder Springs, Ga., right-hander and East Cobb Astros 16u standout Brady Scott is the most highly regarded pitcher at the event. Scott possesses an 89 mph fastball, and after being named to the all-tournament team at all four PG tournaments he played in this summer, the South Carolina recruit is ranked No. 37 nationally.
A blanket could be thrown over position players Darius Foster, Ashton McGee, Shane Shifflett, Brad Czerniejewski and Raymond Gil, 2017 prospects ranked Nos. 48, 55, 59, 70 and 71, respectively.
Foster is an uncommitted outfielder from Suwanee, Ga., who plays travel ball with Team Elite; McGee is a middle-infielder from Goldsboro, N.C., who has committed to North Carolina and plays with the EvoShield Canes South; Shifflett is a shortstop/right-hander out of Venice, Fla., committed to Central Florida who plays for the Florida Burn 2017 Pennant.
Czerniejewski is an uncommitted outfielder from Lake Forest, Ill, and a member of the Lakeside Legends and Gil is a corner-infielder from Miami who is uncommitted and plays with the Miami Suns.
Other top 2017s include catcher/corner-infielder Matt Oldham (No. 107, Pittsboro, N.C., Wake Forest); shortstop Brady Netherton (No. 113, Decatur, Ala., uncommitted); catcher/right-hander Sean Mootrey (No. 130, Atlanta, uncommitted); right-hander Robert Touron (No. 133, Miami, uncommitted).
One of the youngest prospects who will be in attendance is 14-year-old eighth-grader (class of 2019) Triston Casas from Pembroke Pines, Fla. Casas is a 6-foot-4, 232-pound first baseman/right-hander who has delivered an 83 mph fastball and was named to the all-tournament team at three events in 2014: the 14u PG BCS Finals, the PG 14u Florida State Championship and the 14u PG World Series. Last week he verbally committed to Miami.
Sixty PG National Underclass Showcase-Main Event alumni have made their major league debuts, including four that were here as recently as 2007. Twelve prospects that attended as underclassmen in 2012 were selected in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft, including first-round picks Nick Gordon and Michael Chavis.