With
the completion of the top prospect lists and scouting profiles, in
which 725 individual player reports were written covering 23 leagues,
it once again became clear that no one covers the summer collegiate
baseball leagues better than Perfect Game and its scouting wing, PG
Crosschecker. In addition to the top prospect coverage, PG
Crosschecker also supplied a weekly poll of the team rankings and provided
first-hand reports from eight different league all-star games.
This
of course points to our desire to be involved with amateur baseball
as it relates to the June Amateur Draft more than any other resource.
However, we also make sure that we keep tabs on the players we have
crossed paths with as they continue their baseball careers at the
professional level.
It
wasn't too surprising that so many college players that represented
the individual league top prospect lists had previously attended a
Perfect Game showcase or tournament event, we just weren't sure how
great of a presence the alumni would have.
Starting
with the Cape Cod League, usually considered the top summer
collegiate league based on the number of recognizable prospects with
the greatest potential at the professional level, 84 of the 100
players listed on the top prospect list are PG alumni. Of those 84,
10 were previously selected as Perfect Game All-Americans and 33 had
attended the Perfect Game National Showcase, which includes the top four prospects listed: Deven Marrero, Mark Appel, Austin Wilson and Kevin Gausman. Given the nice round
number of 100 to begin with, simply place a percent sign after each
of those numbers to get an idea of the overall presence.
Due to the Northwoods League's continually increased presence in the draft and the rising number of players that have advanced to play baseball at the professional level, we expanded the league's top prospect list from 50 to 75 to reflect that growth. The connection between Perfect Game
and those that were listed as top prospects this year wasn't as great
as the Cape, but 41 out of 75 players is still a pretty good
percentage (55 percent). This includes eight of the top 10 prospects, as well as the top four overall players: Nolan Sanburn, Sam Selman, Anthony Bazzani and Andrew Knapp. Ten of the 41 PG alums had previously
attended the Perfect Game National Showcase, and one player listed is
a former Perfect Game All-American.
Coming
in third among the leagues in regards to overall strength from a
talent standpoint was the Coastal Plain League. Reports were written
for 50 players in this league, and 37 of those had previously
attended a Perfect Game event (74 percent). Two of those 37 were
named Perfect Game All-Americans, and eight of them had attended the
PG National. Number one overall prospect Jake Cave, who signed with the Yankees as a sixth-round pick, had participated in the All-American Classic and the National Showcase during the summer of 2010, as well as the WWBA 17u National Championship and the WWBA World Championship during the same calendar year.
Of
the top three leagues alone, 162 of 225 players, or 72 percent, are
Perfect Game alumni. Almost one-fourth of all of the players (51 of
225, 23 percent) had previously attended the Perfect Game National
Showcase, which graduates more players to the college and
professional ranks than any other showcase event.
Please
excuse us as we take a moment to brag, but we feel these numbers are
too important to go unmentioned, especially given the amount of time
it took to compile and write 725 scouting reports.
To
view all of the 2011 Summer Collegiate stories, please click here.
To view the schedule with access to links to the individual league
top prospect lists and reports click here.