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Summer Collegiate  | Rankings  | 10/3/2018

West Coast League top prospects

Mike Rooney     
Photo: Matt McLain (Perfect Game)

2018 Summer Collegiate Top Prospect Index

www.westcoastleague.com
Year established: 2005
States represented: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia (Canada)
No. of teams: 11
Regular season Champion (best overall record): Portland Pickles (37-17)
Postseason Champion: Corvallis Knights
No. 1 prospect, 2017: Jordan Qsar, of/rhp, Corvallis Knights (Pepperdine)
First 2017 player selected, 2018 MLB Draft: Devlin Granberg, of, Cowlitz Black Bears (Dallas Baptist/Red Sox/6th round)

Player of the Year: Trent Tinglestad, of, Kelowna Falcons (Louisiana-Monroe)
Pitchers of the Year: Curtis Bafus, rhp, Wenatchee AppleSox (VCU), Landen Bourassa, rhp, Corvallis Knights (San Francisco)

The Corvallis Knights added another line to their resume as the WCL’s premier franchise, winning their third straight title and sixth since 2008. That said, there is exciting new blood in the league as the Portland Pickles won the regular season title in their first season as a WCL franchise and first-year skipper Bob Miller (Cuesta College) led the Bellingham Bells to the North Division title in both the first and second halves.

Overall, the WCL continues to showcase high-end talent and the league’s alumni group had another impressive year. Starting at the top of the mountain, 36 alums of the WCL have appeared on MLB rosters so far in 2018. Notables include Shane Bieber of the Indians (Cowlitz, 2014), Ramon Laureano of the Athletics (Medford, 2014), Bud Norris of the Cardinals (Corvallis, 2005) and Mitch Haniger of the Mariners (Corvallis, 2010).

Additionally, 72 WCL alums were selected in the 2018 MLB draft including 18 of whom were taken in the first 10 rounds. First rounders Nick Madrigal (Corvallis, 2015) and Cadyn Grenier (Bend, 2015) highlight the group and the pair also led Oregon State to a national championship this June.

If there is a signature for the WCL, the league has become a preview for some of the top talent preparing to enter Division I college baseball. The league has become a home for elite incoming freshman and a look back at our 2015 WCL prospect list provides evidence of that. The aforementioned Grenier and Madrigal were ranked Nos. 1 and 5 on that list, whereas University of Washington stars Joe DeMers and A.J. Graffanino were ranked Nos. 3 and 6. All four players were rising freshmen at that time and all four led their respective clubs to Omaha in 2018.


Top 20 Prospects

Rk. Player POS. B-T HT WT Hometown ST School YR Class Last Drafted
1 Matt McLain SS/2B R-R 5-11 185 Tustin CA UCLA^ FR 2021 D-backs '18 (1)
2 Zander Clarke OF R-R 6-5 220 Newbury Park CA SIGNED/Giants       
3 Zach Penrod OF L-L 6-2 220 Nampa  ID SIGNED/Rangers      
4 Nick Nastrini RHP R-R 6-3 195 San Diego CA UCLA^ FR 2021 Never drafted
5 Jeremy Yelland LHP L-L 6-2 220 Spokane WA Hawaii SO 2020 Never drafted
6 Trent Tinglestad OF L-R 5-11 200 Marysville WA Louisiana-Monroe* JR 2019 Never drafted
7 Kyle Dean OF R-R 6-2 210 San Diego CA Cal State Monterey Bay SR 2019 Never drafted
8 Beau Philip SS R-R 6-0 185 Citrus Heights  CA Oregon State* JR 2019 Never drafted
9 Connor Pellerin RHP R-R 6-4 200 Baton Rouge LA Tulane SO 2020 Never drafted
10 Ben Leeper RHP R-R 6-0 190 Southlake TX Oklahoma State R-JR 2019 Never drafted
11 Darius Vines RHP R-R 6-1 180 Ventura  CA TBD JR 2019 Cubs '17 (27)
12 Justin Armbruester RHP R-R 6-4 200 Sammamish WA Pacific Lutheran SO 2020 Never drafted
13 Chase Farrell RHP L-R 6-2 180 Castaic CA UCLA SO 2020 Astros '17 (40)
14 Taylor Wright 3B L-R 6-3 195 Vancouver BC Maryland SR 2019 Never drafted
15 Dalton Harum OF R-R 6-3 210 Wenatchee WA Virginia Tech* JR 2019 Never drafted
16 Cody Hawken OF R-R 6-3 230 Vancouver WA Portland SR 2019 Cubs '15 (34)
17 Curtis Bafus RHP R-R 6-6  240 Woodinville WA VCU* JR 2019  Never drafted
18 Ernie Yake IF/C L-R 5-11  165 Bellingham WA Gonzaga R-SO 2019 Never drafted
19 Bradley Gonzalez RHP R-R 6-1 259 Tucson AZ Dallas Baptist SR 2019 Never drafted
20 Ron Brown RHP/1B R-R 6-3 258 Houston TX Houston SO 2020 Never drafted

* Transfer
^ Incoming Freshman


Top 10 Prospect Reports

1. Matt McLain, ss, Bellingham (UCLA/FR in 2019)
Matt McLain’s appearance in the WCL wasn’t surprising in and of itself, but the events leading up to his summer in Bellingham were in fact shocking. The undersized McLain (generously listed at 5-foot-11, 175-pounds) had massive helium late in the spring and the Dbacks selected him 25th overall. The two sides never came to terms and UCLA will be the beneficiary of that turn of events. Multiple coaches felt that McLain was the best athlete in the league and he is a player with big tools in a small frame. While McLain spent the better part of the summer knocking off the rust associated with an extended draft negotiation, he is a performer with tools. The standard knocks on McLain are lack of height and the fact that he hits from the right side. That said, he profiles as a plus defender with positional versatility that will be a complete offensive player.


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