THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,801 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Draft  | Top Prospects | 2/21/2012

Top 200 2014 Draft Prospects

Photo: Perfect Game
Though Only A High-School Sophomore, Ward Already Shaping Up as Top Talent

Oklahoma prep shortstop Drew Ward may never generate the kind of draft hype that was associated with Nevada baseball legend Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, but it is evident already that the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Ward bears some striking similarities.

Like Harper, Ward is an extremely advanced hitter from the left side for a player who is just beginning his sophomore year at Leedey (Okla.) High, and also plays a premium position in the field. With those credentials, he has been installed at No. 1 among the Top 200 Prospects in the Draft Class of 2014.

Harper was the top prospect in the 2011 class entering his sophomore year at a Las Vegas high school, though didn’t stay the course as he ended up making himself eligible for the draft a year early by enrolling in a junior college, the College of Southern Nevada, prior to his junior year. He was still the top selection in that draft.

In addition to his 2014 standing among the nation’s top college and high-school talent, Ward could very well be the top pick in the 2013 draft should he choose to leave high school early, like Harper. But he has given no indication to date of doing so—even as he is a year older than most students in his high-school class. In fact, with a Nov. 25, 1994 birthdate, Ward is a mere four months younger than the top-ranked high-school player in the 2012 prep class, California righthander Lucas Giolito.

Assuming he remains in high school, Ward’s chief competition to go first overall in 2014 will in all probability come from the current crop of college freshmen, led by Vanderbilt freshman righthander Tyler Beede, the lone unsigned first-rounder from the 2011 draft.

As an older player participating against weaker, small-school competition in the little town of Leedey (pop. 400), located 150 miles west of Oklahoma City, Ward has understandably dominated his competition in his brief high-school career.

As a freshman, he managed to grab his share of attention by setting a state record in drawing a combined 88 walks between his fall and spring seasons. In a mere 128 at-bats, he also hit a resounding .609-21-90 with 25 doubles and eight triples. He reached base safely in his final 25 plate appearances of the spring. But Ward’s efforts were somewhat overshadowed in the Oklahoma high-school ranks by the dominating performances of righthanders Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley, the fourth- and seventh picks in the 2011 draft.

Ward’s best tool is definitely his bat. He's a very polished hitter in all regards, and equally likely to take pitches and draw walks when he’s not being pitched to, as he is to drive balls hard to the opposite field when pitchers try to pitch him away. Most impressively, he has no problem dropping 400-plus foot bombs when he gets fully extended and turns on ball in his wheelhouse. For a 17-year-old, he has a rare combination of instincts, vision and hitting ability.

Though Ward is a shortstop now and athletic enough to warrant being considered one of the top prep basketball players in Oklahoma, he is unlikely to remain at shortstop at the next level. His arm strength is considered major-league average, but he lacks the raw speed and range to remain at short, with third base seen as a logical destination.

Harper came up as a catcher, but moved from behind the plate once he signed with the Washington Nationals to take full advantage of his offensive capabilities, and projects to start in right field for that club this season as a 19-year-old.

Ward is much less likely to follow the same accelerated development path as he would be 19, with seven months to spare, by the time he is even drafted, so his chances of becoming the next coming of Bryce Harper have understandably been tempered. Still, he ranks as a clear-cut choice as the top prospect in the 2014 class.

His chief competition in the early going was expected to come from another 6-foot-4, 200-pound talent in Beede, but the former Massachusetts prep product has struggled to live up to expectations so far at Vanderbilt. Not only was the velocity on Beede’s fastball off by 4-5 mph last fall from when he was taken with the 21st pick in last year’s draft by the Blue Jays, but he was rocked in his first college start over the weekend, giving up nine runs in 4-1/3 innings in a 9-5 loss to No.-2 ranked Stanford.

While Beede remains the headline talent in the 2014 college class, only time will tell if he maintains his grip on the No. 1 spot. Over and above his lofty draft position, Beede earned his place with his polished, mature approach to pitching and a three-pitch arsenal that included a fastball that was clocked at 90-93 mph, topping at 95, as a high-school senior.

But it’s evident already that Beede has farther to go as a prospect than Florida sophomore righthander Karsten Whitson, an unsigned first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2010. Coming off a solid freshman season for the Gators, Whitson remains the top college talent in his class heading into his sophomore year at Florida.

Overall, the 2014 class appears unusually deep in catchers, with six of the top 25 prospects in the class coming from that position, while quality pitching is a little on the lean side with just seven arms cracking the same list of 25 prospects.

Continue reading this article and more with a Crosschecker Rankings & Scouting Reports subscription.

Sign in Subscribe Now

Draft | Story | 12/18/2025

PG Draft: Gut Feel Guys

Tyler Henninger
Article Image
While we are nearing the turn of the calendar to the 2026 year, that means we are just inching closer to the beginning of the season for many high school players and college baseball is on the horizon. We are prepping for a reshuffle of the 2026 MLB Draft Board as well here amongst the PG Draft staff. But before we get to that, we sat down and have each picked a couple of players who are in the mix to get selected in a couple of different buckets.  We have prospects who could go into the Top 30 picks or so, prospects who could be selected in the Top 5 rounds, and prospects who could go inside of the Top 10 rounds. With the draft quite far down the road and a lot of re-shuffling to be done as these players play themselves into certain spots on the draft board, our scouts picked some players who fit into these “buckets” who are gut-feel guys. These are the guys that our PG...
High School | General | 12/19/2025

Huntington Beach HS World Series Recap

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
MVPitcher: Duncan McLeod The uncommitted junior toed the slab in three of the four games for Team Mick, tossing 3 2/3 innings.  Zero walks, zero hits and 6 punchouts for the lefty who was used both as a starter in the series clinching game 4 and he closed out game 3 on Friday in quick fashion.  McLeod was very efficient as well, needing just 42 pitches over all his outings.  In the game 4 start, over two innings he punched out 3, with one strikeout with all of his offerings.  The mid 80’s fastball regularly played up, set up with efficient use of the secondaries, with the breaking ball 73/74 and fading change-up 72-74.   Owen Bone (2026) at it again... Solo shot in the 5th to tie things up. Back to back days with a home run for Bone. #PGHS pic.twitter.com/2JC9qETI5h — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) December 13, 2025 MV Hitter: ...
Tournaments | Story | 12/19/2025

13u Tourney All-American Team

Jheremy Brown
Article Image
What a year it was in 2025 on the national landscape at the 13u level as Perfect Game continues to expand its reach around the country, providing an even bigger schedule of events coast-to-coast which has allowed players all over show out and gain their deserved recognition. Whether in Texas for the Houston 1000 or the 13u WWBA in West Palm Beach, we saw huge, eye opening performances from the players placed below, knowing that we could EASILY build a third team and likely a fourth without much effort.  As we do every year with this exercise, it's worth pointing out the trickiness of this age group and putting the teams together with the 13u group. While the players are all members of the Class of 2030, some are younger for the grade, which allowed them to play at the 12u level where's it's a smaller field, shorter mound distance and different bats, so we'll separate them out and...
Tournaments | Story | 12/18/2025

14u Tourney All-American Team

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Player of the Year: Asher Williams It was an incredible year for Williams that was rewarded with a trip to the 14U Select Fest, before some more impressive play in the fall. He came to the plate almost 250 times in PG tournaments throughout 2025 and reached base in well over half of them, hitting to a .500 AVG while slugging a 14U circuit best 12 bombs and driving in 113 runs. The numbers on the surface are ridiculous, but when you look at the high-level events he put them up in, it makes it even more impressive. Pitcher of the Year: Tristan Blalock Blalock earns this honor after a dominant 2025 where he struck out 85 batters in just 48.2 innings of work with a minuscule 1.58 ERA. This included several strong performances at many national level tournaments and showcases where he was able to bully some of the best hitters in the country. It’s hard not to fall in love with...
Tournaments | Story | 12/17/2025

15u Tourney All-American Team

Jason Phillips
Article Image
Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

16u Tourney All-American Team

AJ Denny
Article Image
Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
Article Image
Tucker Rice (27 MS) bumping up to 91; living hi-80s from real fast arm. Good SL @ 77-79 w/ depth & sold w/ intent. Loads of traits & strikes. #WWBA @PG_Uncommitted @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/DEjFqRcsIY — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 6, 2025 Tucker Rice, RHP, Class of 2027 Commitment: Alabama Alabama has continued to stay red hot in the recruiting trail ever since August 1st rolled around on the calendar and have continued to stack major pieces in their ’27 class. They dip into Mississippi to land one of the premier arms and one that’s stood out on the circuit for quite some time. It’s a fast arm and the athleticism certainly shines working down the slope. The velocity has continued to tick up over the last calendar year and reached into the low-90s towards the end of the summer. He’s confident in his changeup and the breaking ball is...
Tournaments | Story | 12/15/2025

17u Tourney All-American Team

Vincent Cervino
Article Image
There’s a lot of talent throughout this 2026 class, filled with the big-name stars, to talent that spreads across the nation. It’s been a lot of fun seeing these prospects grow and develop over the years, from the days of watching some of these guys at the 13/14u days at events on the circuit, to now where they are all graduating seniors in 2026. There’s been new faces who have popped along the way over the years, even in 2026, where some players who were relatively undiscovered, have come out and made a name for themselves with a statement performance. Between the familiar and the new, there’s a lot of names on this list that are going to be quite regularly talked about on the circuit, and for good reason.  Whether it’s PG All-Americans or not, there’s a lot of names with superstar potential at the next level. We’ve got 14 PG All-Americans...
Tournaments | Story | 12/13/2025

Finest in the Field: Class of 2029

Tyler Russo
Article Image
Finest in the Field: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2028 These guys might just be entering high school, but they've certainly already made a name for themselves on the national circuit, especially with their abilities on the defensive side of things.  C: Xavier Rodriguez (Logansville, GA) Rodriguez is a polished defender with real arm strength behind the dish, while showcasing the ability to impact the baseball with authority to all fields evident by thirty of his sixty-five hits going for extra-bases including seven bombs. He handles high-level pitching extremely well, commands his staff and his offensive prowess makes him a true two-way asset. 1B: Cooper Knight (Buda, TX) Knight is a smooth operator at first base with plenty of range, fluidity and agility in his footwork around the bag. Add-in a rocket for an arm, the ability to change slots and to...
Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

Scout Stories: Part 5

AJ Denny
Article Image
Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
Loading more articles...