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Draft  | Story | 1/3/2023

PG Year in Review: Draft

Photo: Jackson Holliday (Perfect Game
Bloodlines Atop The Class

As was written about with frequency leading up to the 2022 MLB Draft, the progeny of professional athletes dotted the top of this draft board. Jackson Holliday, son of longtime MLB’er Matt, went 1st overall to Baltimore. Druw Jones, son of legendary Atlanta Brave Andruw Jones, went 2nd overall to Arizona. Elijah Green, son of NFL tight end Eric (and the best player in the draft on our board) was selected 5th overall by the Washington Nationals. There’s more to come in the class of 2023, with Grand Canyon’s Jacob Wilson looking like a potential top 10 overall pick.

PG All-Americans Dominate First Round

As expected and as has become an annual occurrence, PG All-Americans dominated the first round. In fact, 10 of the 30 first round picks were high school players who had been PG All-Americans the previous summer, and that number grows to 16 if you include college picks who were PGAA’s during their prep careers. In fact, only 3 of the high school players selected in the first round weren’t PG All-Americans. Those 10 PGAA first rounders earned a total of $49.89 million in signing bonuses in 2022, a number that swells to $75.77 million once you include the college drafts who were PGAA’s as preps.



College Still Leads The Way

A total of 85 high school players signed to play professionally following the draft, which breaks down to 13.8% of total draftees (not total signees). The vast majority of players selected and signed played at least some college baseball, with “some” doing a lot of work there, as that includes JUCO players who maybe played 1-2 seasons of college baseball as well as traditional four-year school signees who played anywhere from 2-5/6 seasons of college baseball. This is unsurprising given the proclivities of MLB teams during the draft, which can be broken down way too succinctly by saying teams, on average, prefer to draft more seasoned players with more data available, which oftens means college players. The premier talents of a given prep class always get their money and sign, for the most part, but once you get beyond that first or second tier of prep players, the draft skews very heavily towards college.

JUCO Players Play a Role

There’s always a handful of JUCO players in the first few rounds of a given draft, and 2022 was no exception. Cam Collier, who was originally in the prep class of 2023 before reclassifying to 2022 and then graduating early to attend Chipola College, was selected 18th overall by Cincinnati and given a $5 million signing bonus. Following Collier were Crowder RHP Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers-2nd round), Northwest Florida State RHP Jake Madden (Angels-4th round), Chipola RHP Kenya Huggins (4th Round-Reds), and Riverside CC 3B Ignacio Alvarez (5th round-Braves). In total, 23 JUCO players signed in this class. That number is way down compared to pre-2020 totals, but in the age of the 20-round draft as well as the new-again draft and follow system, those numbers are pretty solid overall.

Kumar’s Return

Everyone is at least peripherally aware of Kumar Rocker, who was one of the most famous players in amateur baseball for several years, dating back to his time playing travel ball with Team Elite as young as 15 years old. He famously spurned the draft in 2018 to head to Vanderbilt, where his star shined even brighter on a big stage. He was selected 10th overall by the Mets in 2021 before they nixed his medical and did not sign him, leading up to the surprise of the night in 2022, when the Rangers picked him 3rd overall and handed him a $5.20m signing bonus. The Rangers weren’t done being creative, as the savings on Rocker at pick 3 (roughly $2.39m) allowed them to float prep RHP Brock Porter way down to the 4th round, where they selected him and paid him $3.60m. Don’t be fooled, this was in the works well before draft night, as both Rocker and Porter are repped by Scott Boras. But regardless of timing, this was a good example of how teams can be creative within their bonus pool, and allowed the Rangers to get a pair of top 10-15 caliber picks.

Draft | Rankings | 3/20/2026

2026 Draft Board: Top 300

Vincent Cervino
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The 2026 MLB Draft class is shaping up to be one of the better in recent memory and, potentially, the best class in the last decade. It’s led by UCLA superstar shortstop Roch Cholowsky, a true five-tool prospect who’s the early favorite for 1:1. One of the most popular pieces of industry feedback when constructing this list was some variation of “Roch is too low” or “go up on Roch” and he’s the best college prospect since 2019 when Adley Rutschman (Oregon State, Orioles) was the consensus No. 1 prospect. Similarly to 2019, there’s a superstar Texas prep shortstop at No. 2, in 2019 it was Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville Heritage, Royals) and this year it’s Grady Emerson. Both Emerson and Alabama’s Justin Lebron would have been solid 1:1 candidates in years where Roch Cholowsky is not eligible and both have All-Star potential....
Press Release | Press Release | 3/19/2026

PG Teams Up with OZ Ball Tournaments PTY

Perfect Game Staff
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  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME NAMES OZ BALL TOURNAMENTS PTY AS OFFICIAL AREA DIRECTOR IN AUSTRALIA, EXPANDING GLOBAL FOOTPRINT   Sanford, Florida (Thursday, March 19, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced that it has entered into a new international partnership with Oz Ball Tournaments Pty, naming the organization as an official Perfect Game Area Director in Australia. The agreement establishes Perfect Game-licensed tournaments and showcases across major Australian markets, including Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.     Australian events will operate under the Perfect Game brand, delivering the same...
Press Release | Press Release | 3/18/2026

PG Introduces Individual Player Entry

Perfect Game Staff
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  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME INTRODUCES INDIVIDUAL PLAYER ENTRY, EXPANDING ACCESS TO ELITE NATIONAL EVENTS   Athletes Can Now Compete in Select National Tournaments Through Structured ‘Team PG’ Rosters   Sanford, Florida (Wednesday, March 18, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the launch of Individual Player Entry, a new initiative designed to provide athletes the opportunity to compete in select national events even if their primary team is not attending.   Through the program, players can now register individually and be placed on a structured “Team PG” roster, allowing them to participate fully in...
Juco | Rankings | 3/18/2026

JUCO Top 25: March 18

Blaine Peterson
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This week brings a new top team to the rankings as Johnson County (KS), on the strength of 10 consecutive wins and a 26-2 record, claims the overall number 1 spot. The Cavaliers have made 3 consecutive trips to the JUCO World Series and have the talent to make it back there again this spring. Florida Southwestern and Chipola have seemingly separated themselves as the most consistent teams in Florida. Welcome to the top 5 to the Gaston Rhinos who will be one of the first teams to 30 wins this spring. Pearl River stays as the top NJCAA D2 team and Fresno City stays as the top Juco team in California; both are coming off undefeated 2 week stretches. Welcome back to the top 25 to John A. Logan who is now 20-7 overall and have played one of the toughest schedules of anyone. And for the first time in several years welcome to the top 25 to the College of Southern Idaho, the Golden Eagles have...
High School | General | 3/18/2026

Class of 2026: Preseason HS All-Americans

Perfect Game Staff
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College | Rankings | 3/18/2026

DII/DIII/NAIA Rankings Update: March 18

Nick Herfordt
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In every major sport, the championship is decided in the postseason. You can lose games all year, get hot at the right time, and walk away with the hardware. The regular season is a rehearsal. The playoffs are the show.  The championship belt changes that. Borrowed from professional wrestling, boxing and ultimate fighting, the belt travels the moment the holder loses — no brackets, no seeding, no second chances. A random Tuesday non-conference game in Milledgeville, Georgia  becomes a title fight. A spring trip to Florida becomes a gauntlet. The defending national champion can lose the belt before February is over.  We’re tracking three belts this season — NCAA Division II, NAIA, and NCAA Division III — each starting with the defending national champion. The results have been exactly as chaotic as you’d expect.  Worth noting along the...
High School | Rankings | 3/17/2026

High School Top 50 Update: March 17

Tyler Russo
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We have another update to the National Top-50 after two weeks of even more games being played in the southern states along with seasons just starting to kick off across the country. We’re quickly approaching another stellar high school event, the NHSI in Cary, and with that will come even more movement in these rankings. St. John Bosco (CA) continues to hold firm at the No. 1 position after a 4-0 start to their season. Venice (FL) has been rolling throughout the early portion of the year and jumps up to No. 2 in the country. One of the biggest movers in this update is The Bennett School (TX) jumping from unranked to No. 8 in the country after beating a handful of top ranked programs to start the year. Some other big movers inside the top-10 are Barbe (LA), who jumps from No. 18 to No. 5 in this update as well as Aledo (TX) who jumps from No. 20 to No. 9. The rest of the top-10...
College | Story | 3/17/2026

College Players of the Week: March 17

Vincent Cervino
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March 17th Perfect Game/Player of the Week: Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (17-3) came into the season with the highest external expectations in decades based on the anticipation of their offensive potential. To this point they have not only met those lofty expectations, but twenty games in they may have exceeded them. While there are plenty of high-level prospects up and down the lineup, with all that star power Vahn Lackey has stood out. Sure to be one of the first catchers selected in this year’s MLB Draft with his comprehensive skillset, he projects well as an everyday backstop at the next level. However, his overall athleticism stands out as we saw this week when he had a game where he played every defensive position on the field except pitcher. At the plate over four games including a series victory at Clemson last week, he went 9 for 15, scoring...
College | Rankings | 3/16/2026

College Top 25: March 16

Vincent Cervino
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Collegiate Player Report Database As each week of the college baseball season passes, we continue to be entertained at an incredible level with high level drama at every turn.  Conference play is under way and the national landscape is starting to make a bit more sense.  The development and strength of individual players is on full-display and there continue to be upsets on occasion that sends the message no team can relax for one moment.  For the most part, the Top 10 remains unchanged with some reshuffling as No. 1 UCLA (17-2) holds on to the top spot with yet another perfect (4-0) week after sweeping Michigan.  The No. 2 Texas Longhorns (18-1) did drop their first game of the season in Game 1 of SEC play but won the series against Ole Miss and finished the week with a (3-1) record.  The Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (17-3) passed their first real road test of the...
Draft | Story | 3/13/2026

PG Draft: Under the Radar Preps

Tyler Henninger
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PG Draft: Under the Radar Preps As the spring season gets underway, the showcase circuit and early high-level tournaments have already provided our scouts with some intriguing first looks at this year’s crop of prospects. At the same time, we’ve been tracking the buzz among team evaluators, listening closely to the names that keep coming up in conversations and the players clubs are making sure they get eyes on this spring. Every year, a handful of prospects quietly slip beneath the radar during the fall and winter months, only to reemerge once the games start counting again. Sometimes it’s the result of a productive offseason in the weight room, a noticeable jump in velocity, or a step forward in skill development. Other times, it’s simply a player finally getting the opportunity and the stage to show what’s been building behind the scenes. The spring has a...
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