THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,384 MLB PLAYERS | 15,804 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
High School  | General | 11/4/2019

Smith rehabs, remains upbeat

Jeff Dahn
Photo: Hagen Smith (Perfect Game)

High School Class of 2021 Player Rankings | Rankings Risers: Class of 2021

It became glaringly obvious not long into the outing that something wasn’t quite right with the tall Texas left-hander out of Bullard High School.

Just a little over a week shy of his 16th birthday, Hagen Smith was struggling. He was pitching at the Area Code Baseball Underclass Games in Compton, Calif., the second weekend of August and nothing was working. Or, at least, not working as well as it had been earlier in the summer.

A fastball that was sitting at 90-93 mph in late July was now sitting 80-82 mph; the velos on his slider, curveball and changeup were also down. Scouts in attendance were busy taking notes when they weren’t too busy scratching their heads.

But it really wasn’t that much of a mystery at all. Smith, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound lefty who at the time had climbed to No. 47 in PG’s class of 2021 national rankings, wasn’t healthy. And as proof of that, it was just six weeks ago that he made the decision to undergo Tommy John surgery, a procedure that will keep him on the shelf throughout the 2020 spring and, most likely, summer seasons.

There is no panic here, however; no anger, no “Why me?” Perhaps the most remarkable angle to this story is just how upbeat Smith has remained considering his situation. He’s been handed a figurative basket full of lemons and is now intent on turning this sour tasting happenstance into a sweet tasting pitcher of lemonade.

“I’m really not too worried about it,” Smith told PG during a telephone conversation last week, speaking all the while without a trace of bitterness or regret in his voice. “I think it’s almost more of a benefit, because I can work out a lot and then get myself right mechanics-wise later on. I’m just trying to look at it as a positive, honestly.”

That is certainly an admirable and mature approach for a 16-year-old to take, and it’s a mindset that should serve him well as he rehabs his left elbow.

Perfect Game’s scouting department continues to be confident he’ll come back better than ever, placing him in the No. 19 spot in the recently updated 2021 prospect rankings. That’s down just a few slots from the No. 15 position he had topped-out at, but he continues to be the No. 1-ranked left-hander in his national class (Smith is ranked Nos. 4/1 in the state of Texas).

His rise in the rankings had been nothing short of meteoric. He was considered a top-500 prospect in November 2018 but as the calendar flipped into 2019 his stock began to rise. He soon found himself in the top-100 and after a very strong summer leading up to the Area Code Underclass Games, he had climbed up into the teens.

Smith’s summer included all-tournament team selections at both the PG WWBA 16u National Championship and the 16u PG World Series while pitching with Academy Select 16u Ingram. His fastball sat 90-93 mph throughout those events.

In announcing that Smith would stay in the top-20 in the latest version of the rankings, PG noted that he was “electric on the mound this summer at the WBBA & World Series; big angle on fastball, up to 93 mph with sink.”

Smith threw a combined 12 innings at those two PG national championship tournaments and allowed three earned runs (0.57 ERA) on eight hits, with 24 strikeouts and 12 walks.

An average of a walk an inning can be troublesome but it’s something he’s sure he can get more of a handle on once he’s healthy and throwing again. Most importantly, he’s also sure he’s going to return to the mound as a smarter pitcher than what he was at the end of the summer.

“I think my mechanics really messed me up with that,” he said of the number of walks he issued. “I was throwing a lot more strikes in high school ball and my coach (Brock Lemire) really helped me use my legs. I guess I kind of just got sloppy with it at the end of the summer.”

Smith is capable of throwing four pitches for strikes – fastball, slider, curveball and changeup – but relies primarily on his low 90s fastball and high 70s slider (his curve and change usually sit in the high 70s as well). He was fairly comfortable with the progression he was making with his pitches during the summer and right up until the injury and the subsequent surgery.

“I feel like I could have done better,” Smith said before once again bringing up a lapse that led to the injury. “Towards the end my mechanics kind of got sloppy, but overall I feel like I had a pretty good summer; it was a pretty good ride.”

Smith enjoyed a terrific sophomore season at Bullard HS in 2019, helping the Panthers to a 22-6-2 record and a spot in the Texas Class 4A state playoffs. He finished 3-1 with a 1.26 ERA while also striking out 86 in 44 1/3 innings.

“At our high school, we worked out five times a week and my coach really pushed us,” Smith said. “That made us stronger as a group and that kind of helped me get ready for the summer.”

Smith had originally committed to Oklahoma State but he said he decided to decommit when the coach that had recruited him to Stillwater left the Cowboys' program. He reopened his recruitment and eventually committed to Arkansas (he told PG he is really looking forward to pitching in the SEC someday).

College is two years off for this talented young pitcher, a kid who has shown he can compete successfully on Perfect Game’s biggest stages and on some of the biggest stages in Texas high school baseball.

Hagen Smith is facing a challenge during his junior year in high school that will require a certain kind of toughness – both physically and mentally – to overcome. But he is going into the fight knowing that what he hopes will ultimately become a very long and very satisfying baseball career will get back on track maybe as early as the fall of 2020.

“I actually don’t know when the end-goal is for my rehab,” Smith said. “My plan is to come out stronger, and I’m going to go to a pitching coach – I haven’t decided who yet – and work on my lower half. … I’ve worked with a couple of people (in the past) but not regularly.

“That’s my plan, to come back way stronger than I was before,” he concluded. “I think working on my lower half will really help me and I can come back and be really dominant.”
Give us your feedback
High School | General | 1/30/2026

High School Top 50: 10-1
Cam McElwaney
Article Image
High School Preview Index Top 50 Breakdown: 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 10. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 2025 Record: 24-1 Head Coach: Dave Turgeon Notable Prospect(s): C Dillon Moss (Stanford), RHP Michael Ramsey, C Charles Messina (Northwestern), 1B Cy Chrisman (Oklahoma State), SS Dylan Messina (Pennsylvania), RHP Michael Todero (St. Joseph’s), SS Max Hemenway (Tennessee), OF Kyler Meccage (Mississippi State), OF Sebastian Wilson (Tennessee), 1B Frank Thomas III (Auburn), SS Juan Diaz (Florida State), C Ethan Armbruster (Mississippi State), SS Antonio Chavez (University of California, Berkeley), RHP Henry Britt, OF Aiden Choo IMG Academy rattled off an incredible season a year ago, finishing with a 24-1 record, and ended the season being named the national champion. It’s another year in Bradenton with some of the most talented players in...
Read More
College | Story | 1/30/2026

Conference Preview: Big West

Steve Fiorindo
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order*  School W L W L Cal Poly 43 19 23 7 Cal State Bakersfield 18 38 9 21 Cal State Fullerton 29 27 19 11 CSUN 15 34 10 20 Hawai'i 35 21 16 14 Long Beach State 22 31 15 15 UC Davis 27 28 13 17 UC Irvine 43 17 24 6 UC Riverside 16 36 5 25 UC Santa Barbara 36 18 16 14 UC San Diego 26 25 15 15 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Nate Vargas UC Santa Barbara Honorable Mention All Big West performer, posted a 306 average with 10 HR’s and 50 RBI. ...
Read More
College | Story | 1/30/2026

Conference Preview: SWAC

Michael Albee
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order*  Team W L W L Alabama A&M 2 27 10 40 Alabama State 22 10 31 29 Alcorn State 1 29 6 43 Arkansas Pine-Bluff 17 9 19 34 Bethune Cookman 24 5 37 23 Florida A&M 25 5 34 24 Grambling State 18 11 26 28 Jackson State 16 12 30 21 Mississippi Valley State 7 23 12 29 Prairie View A&M 13 14 17 36 Southern 15 14 26 28 Texas Southern 15 15 22 31 Preseason All Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Vinny Saumell Arkansas Pine-Bluff Reliable backstop and offensive...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 1/29/2026

JUCO: Top 500 Prospects

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
JUCO Preseason Top 50 RK Name Class Pos. School State Commitment 1 Carson Bailey SO LHP McLennan TX 2 Bishop Quarles SO OF Florida Southwestern FL 3 Holden Hering FR RHP Weatherford TX Arkansas 4 Mikhai Grant SO RHP Northwest Florida FL 5 Jimmy Anderson SO SS Heartland IL Kentucky 6 Noah Bentley SO RHP Weatherford TX Oklahoma 7 Hayden Morris SO RHP Blinn TX LSU 8 Collin Smith SO RHP Cochise AZ South Carolina 9 Anthony Quigley SO OF/3B Northwest Florida FL 10 Anson Seibert RS FR RHP Johnson County KS 11 Major Osbolt RS FR RHP Walters State TN LSU 12 Ben Polleschultz SO LHP Blinn TX Texas A&M 13 Peyton Firgens RS FR MIF McLennan TX Mississippi State 14 Garrett Mirel FR LHP Golden West CA North Carolina State 15 Kole Fenton SO SS Walters State TN North Carolina 16 Joseph Sandusky FR SS Weatherford TX Texas A&M 17 Caden Mitchell SO C Weatherford TX Oklahoma 18 Easton Davies SO RHP...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 1/28/2026

2026 Pacific Baseball Championship Set

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 VENUES, DATES FOR   2026 PACIFIC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP    Elite global talent converges in Southern California, December 26-29, 2026, at the Dodgers’ new ONT Field Stadium and October Empire Complex    Ontario, California (Wednesday, January 28, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced additional details surrounding the 2026 Perfect Game Pacific Baseball Championship (PBC), including official venues, dates and the various nations that players will be coming from,...
Read More
Juco | Rankings | 1/28/2026

JUCO Top 50: January 28

Blaine Peterson
Article Image
Welcome to the 2026 Junior College baseball season. Once again, this year will begin for us with annual coverage of the PCB JUCO Classic in Panama City Beach, FL this week. With that we bring you our beginning of season JUCO baseball rankings. Perfect Game JUCO rankings combine all levels of JUCO baseball across the country into one overall ranking.  The top of this year’s beginning of season ranking begins where the D1 NJCAA World Series ended, with Walters State and Salt Lake. Walters State returns several contributing pieces from last season's team and will begin the year in the top spot. Defending D1 JUCO National Champion Salt Lake will slot in at number 2. This list shows the strength of junior college baseball around the country with programs from 16 different state represented in our initial top 25. Six teams from Florida make our initial top 25, four of which will...
Read More
College | Story | 1/29/2026

Conference Preview: Southland

Troy Sutherland
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order* Team W L W L Southeastern 38 16 22 8 UT- Rio Grande Valley 36 18 22 8 Lamar 40 17 20 10 Northwestern State 35 21 19 11 McNeese 31 17 19 11 Houston Christian 32 23 17 13 TAMU- Corpus Christi 21 31 12 18 New Orleans 28 26 12 18 Nicholls 17 32 10 20 Stephen F. Austin 17 32 9 21 Incarnate Word 17 33 3 27 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Player School Stats/Notes C Julius Ramirez UTRGV Huge numbers at the Juco level as a member of New Mexico JC. Impact stick that will force his way...
Read More
College | Story | 1/29/2026

Conference Preview: Sun Belt

Michael Albee
Article Image
2026 College Preview Index | Preseason Top 25 | Preseason Collegiate All-Americans For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2026 college baseball preview content, the 2025 records and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a subscription. 2025 Records Teams are listed in alphabetical order* Team W L W L Appalachian State 13 17 23 31 Arkansas State 14 16 26 28 Coastal Carolina 26 4 56 13 Georgia Southern 13 17 28 31 Georgia State 11 19 26 30 James Madison 10 20 17 38 Louisiana 16 14 27 31 Marshall 16 14 33 26 Old Dominion 15 15 22 31 South Alabama 12 18 23 28 Southern Mississippi 24 6 47 16 Texas State 14 16 27 31 Troy 18 12 39 21 Louisiana-Monroe 8 22 22 33 Preseason All-Conference Team Pos. Name School Stats/Notes C Jimmy Janicki Troy Lots of buzz coming into the...
Read More
Press Release | Press Release | 1/27/2026

Believe In Baseball Event Adds Stars

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
    667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923  www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    JAY LENO, NIKKI GLASER, TIFFANY HADDISH, DUSTIN YBARRA AND GARY CANNON ADDED TO PERFECT GAME   BELIEVE IN BASEBALL CHARITY EVENT     Laugh Factory hosts an all-star comedy lineup for Perfect Game’s charity gala    Los Angeles, California (Tuesday, January 27, 2026) - The Perfect Game Believe in Baseball Foundation today announced an all-star comedy lineup for its first-ever “In the Spirit of the Game” charity awards dinner and auction, taking place this Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the world-famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood to benefit youth...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 1/27/2026

MLK East Scout Notes Recap

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
‘28 OF Jakob Groeschel (OH) continues to impress with the bat on the circuit, picked up 2 2Bs in the first game today. Really athletic, went 4.4 on turn; easy to dream on all the traits. #MLKEast @PG_OhioValley pic.twitter.com/wOIwnGKnkg — Perfect Game Florida (@Florida_PG) January 17, 2026 2028 OF Jakob Groeschel (Springfield, Ohio) broke out at this event last year hitting a casual .909, and although he didn’t turn in quite the same performance, he hit a strong .462 with 4 extra-base hits, 5 walks, 5 bags and only struck out once. He’s a pretty dynamic athlete who can do a lot of things well, but the bat is the calling card as he just lives on the barrel and has no problem handling all kinds of pitching. It’s a simple swing, but he’s got fast hands and he can really impact the ball without being overly physical yet.  2030 RHP Michael Vazquez...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.