THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,631 MLB PLAYERS | 16,402 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
College  | Story | 3/13/2018

Quick Take: Mississippi State

Photo: MSU Athletic Communications



Perfect Game College Player Database | Quick Take: Louisiana

During the season Perfect Game scouts will be traveling to some of the top series to watch the very best players in college baseball. Those observations, captured with both written notes and video, will be shared in the College Player Database as linked above, notes that can also be accessed on the players' individual PG profile pages. Throughout the season select reports will be shared in feature format to promote the players, the teams and college baseball as a whole.


Mississippi State Bulldogs

What Happened: Mississippi State had a fantastic weekend down in Houston at the Shriners College Classic, going 3-0 on the weekend and doing a really good job of getting contributions from every area of play. They got strong starting pitching, several bullpen arms really stepped up, Jake Mangum was the star he needed to be and they got timely hitting from several players up and down the lineup. 

Carrying Tool: Star power. Friday night ace Konnor Pilkington and center fielder Jake Mangum give Mississippi State serious star power both in their rotation and their everyday lineup. Pilkington is the better draft prospect but both are supremely impactful college players, as Pilkington can take over the game by himself on Friday nights while Mangum can impact the game offensively, defensively and with his premium speed. 

Concerns: Lack of power. While Mississippi State is hitting .272 as a team and getting on base at a reasonable .355 clip, they are only slugging .386 as a club. They have guys who can really set the table at the top of the lineup in Jake Mangum and Hunter Stovall, but they are going to have to manufacture a bunch of runs this season along with being lockdown on the mound if they want to compete in the SEC, because this isn't a team that is going to score runs in bunches with any frequency. 

Best Player on the Field: Konnor Pilkington. The junior ace has been on draft radars for a few years now once we began to look forward to the 2018 draft, but he's on a bit of a different level this year and was absolutely dominant in his start in Houston vs. Louisiana. The lefthander pitches with three average-to-plus pitches and commands the entire arsenal impeccably, likely with some of the best command in college baseball, and climbs up draft boards seemingly weekly. 

Fearless Forecast: With the lack of impactful power bats in their lineup as it's currently constructed, Mississippi State is likely in store for a significant amount of lower-scoring contests this season, especially once they get into the meat of SEC play. With that being said, this is still a very good team given how good the pitching staff can be and the amount of pressure they like to create with their offense. 


Database Player Reports (7):

• Jacob Billingsley
• J.P. France
• Cole Gordon
• Jake Mangum
• Konnor Pilkington
• Ethan Small
• Hunter Stovall


Prospect Spotlight: Jake Mangum, OF



A draft-eligible sophomore last year who returned to Mississippi State for his junior season, Jake Mangum is the heart and soul of the Bulldog's offensive and defensive attack. After leading the SEC in hitting as a freshman in 2016, the leadoff hitting center fielder is currently slashing .348/.423/.420 on the season as he paces the Bulldog offense, to go along with seven stolen bases.

Mangum is a switch-hitter with a hyper-aggressive approach and solid bat-to-ball skills from both sides. He doesn't like to take pitches and is more than comfortable swinging at the first one. The approach is basically to try and spray contact and run, where his plus-plus speed allows him to beat out infield hits with frequency. There's some quickness to his hands from both sides of the plate and he does a good job keeping the barrel in the zone, and the overall contact ability is very quality, there's just going to be a true lack of offensive punch at the next level if the walk totals stay low, because he's just not going to hit for very much power. The speed is absolutely impactful, turning in times like 3.87 from the left side and 4.03 from the right side, and while the speed is elite, the game is also much faster at the professional level, so it's unlikely that Mangum will be the recipient of as many infield hits as he collects now. 

Defensively, Mangum is likely one of the best defenders in college baseball out in center field. That speed plays quite well out there, as he covers a tremendous amount of ground with good instincts and reads off the bat, giving him the chance to potentially be a plus defender out there. His arm is an above average tool out there as well (he has also pitched in the past), giving him the versatility to play all three outfield spots at a potentially high level. 

From a draft perspective, Mangum's projected offensive limitations will likely hold him back from going overly high in the draft, but he's still likely a quality Day 2 selection at this point. He profiles as a potential fourth outfielder at the major league level, with impact tools in his defensive ability and speed, but he's unlikely to pack enough offensive punch to be an everyday player at the game's highest level.



College | Story | 11/6/2026

College Fall Notebook: November 6

Craig Cozart
Article Image
Virginia Cavaliers  2026 In Review:  Under the leadership of first year Head Coach Chris Pollard, the Cavaliers won 37 games which was the second most victories by a first-year coach in program history.  Virginia went (37-23) finishing tied for 8th in the ACC and earned an at-large bid to the Hattiesburg Regional.  They fielded a talented offense that averaged over 8-runs per game, highlighted by AJ Gracia and Eric Becker who were both selected on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft.  While the defensive squad wasn’t quite as elite as usual, they were ultra-competitive on the mound with a strong rotation and lock down bullpen.  With plenty of talent returning for Pollard and his staff in ’27, they should be a force on a national level once again.  Impact Returners:    Senior Antonio Perrotta (.266/.459/.431, 5 HR, 6 2B, 24 RBI) experienced...
General | General | 11/6/2026

Class of 2028 Rankings Update

Article Image
Tournaments | Story | 11/6/2026

National All State Preview: Week 1

Hannah Jo Groves
Article Image
This weekend, teams from all around the country in the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions will converge on the Houston area for the 2026 PG National All-State Select Championships. The 10U division will have 22 teams, 12U will have 23 and 14U will have 22. All ages have many different states represented - from Hawaii, to the Pacific Northwest, to Arizona, to New England, to Carolina to Florida and many more. “National All-State brings together the best players in the country across Houston,” national crosschecker and northeast scouting director, John McAdams, said. “It’s a fun atmosphere for ultimate bragging rights amongst all the regions the PG platform reaches domestically while serving as a good litmus test for myself, Jheremy Brown and Tyler Russo to see the players. We get another glimpse at the end of the year as we start to formulate our initial thoughts on the...
Draft | Rankings | 11/6/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board Update: Top 200

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
PG Draft Content Hub With the fall season winding down and the winter months approaching, it is time for another draft board update.  After getting more live looks and gathering information from the fall action across the country, we have expanded the board to a Top-200. The class continues to feature an intriguing mix of arms from both the prep and college ranks, along with an enticing position player pool.  There is still plenty of time for new names to emerge and established prospects to continue to improve their draft stock, but here is where things stand as we head into the winter.  * denotes draft eligible sophomore Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Dylan Seward H SS S-R Norco Eastvale CA Tennessee 2 Brendan Lawson C SS L-R Florida Toronto ON 3 Dax Whitney C RHP R-R Oregon State Blackfoot ID 4 Tomas Valincius C LHP L-L Mississippi State...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 70

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
That Off-Season Program Wasn't Built for Your Son. It Was Built for Nobody. The Harsh Reality of Skill Development · Part 2 of 5 Somewhere right now, a pitcher is starting a twelve-week off-season program. It came from his travel team. Or a trainer. Or a big leaguer's Instagram. It has phases and a logo, and every kid in the building got the same one. Here is the harsh reality. That program was written before anybody looked at your son. It doesn't know he exists. It was built for the average pitcher... and the average pitcher does not exist. A Template Fixes Somebody's Problem. Maybe Not His. Every pitcher who is stuck is stuck for a reason. We call that reason his constraint... the thing that is actually limiting him right now. For one kid it is strength. For the next it is mobility. For the next it is a mechanical inefficiency, or an arm that isn't recovering, or a body that...
General | General | 11/5/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 69

Ron Wolforth
Article Image
Your Son's April Arm Injury is Being Scheduled Right Now   The Harsh Reality of Skill Development - Part 1 of 5 Let me start this series with something most people in baseball won't say out loud. In my experience, a great many of the arm problems we will see next April are being set up right now... in October, November and December. Not necessarily because a young pitcher is throwing too much. Often it's because of what happens when he stops. Here is the pattern. I have watched it for more than thirty years. The fall season ends. The arm is tired, so the family does what seems like the responsible thing.  They shut it down. No throwing. For a lot of kids, no anything. Weeks go by. The holidays come and go. Then somebody looks at a calendar in January and realizes tryouts are three weeks away. Suddenly, an arm that has done nothing since October is asked to go from zero to game...
High School | Rankings | 11/4/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Risers

Kyler Peterson
Article Image
Complete Class of 2027 Rankings With the end of the summer and fall seasons behind us, it was time for a quick refresh of the 2027 class rankings. Below you'll be able to read about some of the biggest risers up the board, led by North Carolina outfielder John Hucko who jumped more than 110 spots to now sit at No. 20 overall.  John Hucko, OF, Charlotte, N.C. Previous Rank: 132 | Current Rank: 20 Hucko makes a huge leap into the top-20 players in the class after a dominating showing in Jupiter. It’s as good of a left-handed swing as you’ll come across with pretty easy impact to all parts. He’s a supreme athlete with all the tools to play center long term and is a present plus runner. Hucko is a name that cemented his prospect status in Jupiter and will be a name to follow for next year’s MLB Draft. Elyjah Mason, SS, Lake Forest, Calif. Previous Rank: 71 |...
General | General | 11/3/2026

Class of 2027 Rankings Update

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
Press Release | Press Release | 11/2/2026

PG Partners Up with Minority Prospects

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME ANNOUNCES MEDIA RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP WITH MINORITY PROSPECTS   Sanford, Florida (Monday, November 2, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced a media rights partnership with Minority Prospects, the Atlanta-based organization that has become the largest platform in the world for minority baseball and softball prospects. The partnership kicked off last month at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Perfect Game's premier fall event, where Minority Prospects produced content featuring some of the nation's top amateur players in front of college coaches, professional scouts and MLB legends. Under the agreement, Minority...
Draft | Story | 10/30/2026

2027 Draft Preview: Prep Middle Infielders

Ryan Miller
Article Image
2027 MLB Draft Profile Preview: Collegiate Right-Handed Pitchers | Collegiate Left-Handed Pitchers The premium profile in each class often are prep middle infielders, a sought-after group with the athletic ability to stick on the dirt or land throughout the diamond long term. This demographic has produced the superstars of today’s game and therefore are selected in prime spots while demanding high-end signing bonuses. This group features a mix of loud tools, high level projection, and impact defenders. Below we break down at the top prep middle infielder in the 2027 cycle.  ‘27 SS Dylan Seward (CA)- liftoff from the No. 1 player in the class. A solo blast to RCF to extend the lead for @TheCanesBB #WWBA @California_PG @Vol_Baseball commit https://t.co/lJjNg6T7PS — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 27, 2026 SS Dylan Seward, Norco (CA)  The Southern...
Loading more articles...