The annual Tournament of Stars completed its five-day run at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, North Carolina on Saturday, July 1. The format was a bit different this year, with one less team of invitees that reduced the schedule to two games per day for the first three days of the event. USA Baseball also scheduled the Collegiate National Team in the evening each day, the combination of which seemed to draw significantly more scouts than in past years.
Below is a list of players that particularly stood out, with the inescapable theme of the 2018 class continuing to be the number of pitchers who can get up into the 93-95 mph range on a fairly regular basis.
Position Players
C Will Banfield (Lawrenceville, Ga.): Banfield excelled in all aspects of the game, including picking up a number of solid base hits and changing the direction of one game with aggressive base running. Runners seemed understandably reluctant to run on him but he did an excellent job blocking pitches and handling the hard throwing pitchers.
2B Ryan Bliss (LaGrange, Ga.): Bliss plays both middle infield positions but looks to be a natural at second base, with smooth actions and huge range in both directions. His full speed sliding catch in no man's land down the right field line was a play any big leaguer would have been proud of.
3B Nolan Gorman (Glendale, Ariz.): Gorman has been acclaimed for his lefthanded hitting ability for years but he showed that he might be the best fielding third baseman in the 2018 class. He made a couple of charging barehand plays with accurate throws that were eye opening.
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