FORT MYERS, Fla. – At least 200 of the country’s top 300 prospects in the national high school class of 2017 will be among the 290 prospects slated to overtake jetBlue Park from Wednesday through Monday (June 15-20) for the 16th annual Perfect Game National Showcase.
Since its inception in 2001, the Perfect Game National Showcase has grown to be regarded as the most prestigious and highly anticipated scouting showcase in all of amateur baseball. Occurring on the heels of the current year’s MLB June Amateur Draft, it allows the 30 teams’ front office personnel and scouting departments their first opportunities to knuckle-down and get serious in their evaluations of next year’s top high school seniors.
This year’s PG National schedule is spread out over six days in a proactive effort to better handle lightning delays commonplace in Southwest Florida this time of year. The anticipated delays, regardless of their frequency, are certain to have little or no effect on the top group of 2017 prospects that will be assembled at JetBlue Park.
Each player is assigned to one of the 12 team rosters and will gather in three, three-day sets: teams 1 through 4 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; teams 5 through 8 Thursday, Friday and Saturday; and teams 9 through 12 Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Each session includes individual workout sessions, batting practice and three games per team.
It’s a talented class, and an overwhelming majority of the highest ranked prospects will be in attendance. In addition to 200 of the top 300-ranked players being on hand, 17 of the top 20 and 88 of the top 100 will also be here. And in a slight turnaround from a year ago, 13 of the 17 top-20s are primary position players, including six shortstop/middle-infielders.
In a breakdown such as this, it’s always prudent to begin the discussion with the top dog, and in the 2017 class that would be No. 1-ranked Alejandro Toral from Davie, Fla. Toral is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound lefty swinging first baseman/outfielder/left-hander who first moved into PG’s top spot in the 2017 prospect rankings on Sept. 4, 2015, and has held onto it for nine months now. An incoming senior at Archbishop McCarthy High School, Toral plays his summer ball with the Elite Squad Prime and has committed to the University of Miami.
Seven other members of the 2017 top-10 will join Toral at jetBlue, including another left-handed swinging primary first baseman and secondary left-hander, No. 3 Cole Turney from Richmond, Texas (South Texas Sliders, Arkansas).
The others are No. 4 outfielder Conner Uselton from Oklahoma City, Okla. (FTB Tucci, uncommitted); No. 6 shortstop/third baseman Mark Vientos from Pembroke Pines, Fla. (Elite Squad Prime, Miami); No. 7 left-hander/outfielder D.L. Hall out of Warner Robins, Ga. (Chain Marucci Black, Florida State); No. 8 middle-infielder Jayson Gonzalez from Covina, Calif. (BPA DeMarini, Vanderbilt); No. 9 outfielder/left-hander Kyle Jacobsen from Acworth, Ga. (East Cobb Yankees 18u, South Carolina) and No. 10 outfielder/right-hander Jordan Adell from Louisville, Ky. (EvoShield Canes, Louisville).
The rest of the top-20s include: No. 11 right-hander/first baseman Kyle Hurt from Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. (San Diego Show, Southern Cal); No. 12 shortstop Ricardo De La Torre out of Juana Diaz, P.R. (Team Mizuno P.R., uncommitted); No. 13 shortstop/infielder Royce Lewis from Aliso Viejo, Calif. (ASD Bulldogs, UC Irvine); No. 14 shortstop/right-hander Hunter Greene out of Stevenson Ranch, Calif. (NA, UCLA) …
No. 15 right-hander/shortstop Tanner Burns from Decatur, Ala. (FTB Tucci, Alabama), No. 16 right-hander/third baseman Shane Baz from Cypress, Texas (Houston Heat, Texas Christian); No. 17 shortstop/right-hander Ryan Vilade from Frisco, Texas (Dallas Tigers, Oklahoma State); No. 18 SS/MIF Nick Allen from San Diego (CBA Marucci, Southern Cal) and No. 20 outfielder/right-hander Je’Von Carrier-Ward out of Long Beach, Calif. (EvoShield Canes, Southern Cal).
The prospects at this week’s PG National Showcase will be working to join an exclusive alumni club that features a membership including many of the best players in the game today. As of early this week, 238 former PG National standouts had made their Major League Baseball debuts, including former National League Most Valuable Player and NL Rookie of the Year Buster Posey from the San Francisco Giants (Posey was at the PG National in 2004).
The alumni list also includes former NL MVPs Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2001 PG National) and Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates (2004). Past MLB Rookie of the Year Award winners include PG national alumni Jeremy Hellickson, Philadelphia Phillies (2004); Wil Myers, San Diego Padres (2008); Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs (2009); Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins (2010) and Carlos Correa, Houston Astros (2011).
After last week’s 2016 MLB First-Year Player Draft, 1,949 PG National Showcase participants have been selected in the draft, including 190 first-rounders (13 this year). Those first-round picks include seven selected with the No. overall pick: Justin Upton, Detroit Tigers (2004 PG National); Tim Beckham, Tampa Bay Rays (2007); Gerrit Cole, Pirates (2007); Correa (2012); Mark Appel, Phillies minor leagues (2008); Brady Aiken, Cleveland Indians, minor leagues (2013) and Mickey Moniak, Phillies, unsigned (2015).