FORT MYERS, Fla. – More than 280 of the country’s top prep prospects from the graduating class of 2018 will gather at jetBlue Park this week and into next week to showcase their considerable skills in front of the national scouting community at the 17th annual Perfect Game National Showcase.
The PG National, recognized as the most prestigious showcase event in all of amateur baseball, this year will run from Friday, June 16 through Wednesday, June 21, with the players on the 12 teams performing in four overlapping three-day segments. Please click here for the complete event schedule.
The 2017 PG National will truly feature the best of the best rising high school seniors in the country, with 85 of the top-100 and 22 of the top-24 nationally ranked prospects scheduled to perform. The 2018 class is loaded with power bats and power arms and will provide MLB front office personnel and MLB scouting departments – and college coaches and recruiters – with plenty of material with which to fill out their scouting reports.
The headliners are many, with nine of the top 10-ranked prospects scheduled to walk out on the jetBlue Park playing field at some point over the event’s six-day run. But when examining such a list, it’s wise to start at the top of that list, and that’s where a young man by the name of Kumar Rocker resides.
Rocker is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound right-handed pitcher and right-handed swinging first baseman from Watkinsville, Ga., who will be a senior at North Oconee High School in the fall. The son of former Outland Trophy winner and NFL lineman Tracy Rocker, Kumar Rocker has settled in nicely at the top of the PG class of 2018 national prospect rankings. He plays for Team Elite Prime during the summer months and has committed to Vanderbilt.
No. 3-ranked Jarred Kelenic from Waukesha, Wis. (Waukesha West HS, Rawlings Hitters, Louisville), No. 4 right-handed outfielder Joe Gray Jr. out of Hattiesburg, Miss. (Hattiesburg HS, EvoShield Canes, Ole Miss) and No. 5 right-handed pitcher Ethan Hankins from Cumming Ga. (Forsyth Central HS, Team Elite Prime, Vanderbilt) are also among the top five-ranked prospects who will be attendance.
Six through 10 will also be there: Catcher Will Banfield from Lawrenceville, Ga. (Brookwood HS, Team Elite Prime, Vanderbilt); corner-infielder Triston Casas out of Pembroke Pines, Fla. (American Heritage HS, Elite Squad, Miami); infielder Nolan Gorman from Glendale, Ariz. (Sandra Day O’Connor HS, Central Florida Gators, Arizona); right-hander/shortstop Austin Becker from Sunbury, Ohio (Big Walnut HS, MSO National, Vanderbilt) and third baseman Elijah Cabell from Winter Park, Fla. (TNXL Academy, Central Florida Gators, Louisiana State).
And, just to add some spice to the stew, No. 11 SS Kendall Logan Simmons out of Macon, Ga. (Tattnall Square Academy, East Cobb Yankees, Georgia Tech; No. 12 left-hander Luke Bartnicki from Marietta, Ga.(Walton HS, East Cobb Colt 45’s, Georgia Tech); No. 14 infielder Brandon Howlett from Lakeland, Fla. (George W. Jenkins HS, 5-Star National, Florida State) and No. 15 catcher/right-hander Mason Denaburg from Merritt Island, Fla. (Merritt Island HS, Central Florida Gators, Florida) will also be in attendance.
For those keeping score at home, that list of 13 of the top 15-ranked 2018s includes five prospects from Georgia and another four from Florida – high school hotbeds, to be sure.
The players at this year’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, 289 former PG National standouts had made their Major League Baseball debuts.
That alumni list includes former NL MVPs Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2001 PG National), Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates (2004), Buster Posey (2004) and Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs (2009).
Past MLB Rookie of the Year Award winners include PG National alumni Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004); Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (2004); Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays (2008); Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs (2009); Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins (2010), Carlos Correa, Houston Astros (2011) and Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers (2011).
In the wake this week’s 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft, nearly 2,000 PG National Showcase participants have now been selected in the draft, with 204 first-rounders (14 this year); the 2017 first-round selections included Nos. 1 and 2 overall picks Royce Lewis and Hunter Greene.
Those first-round picks now also include eight selected with the No. 1 overall pick: Justin Upton, (2004 PG National), Tim Beckham (2007), Gerrit Cole (2008), Mark Appel, (2008), Correa (2012), Brady Aiken, (2013), Mickey Moniak (2015) and Lewis (2016).