CA: Jacob Felts, Orangefield HS (Texas)
1B: Jared Lakind, Cypress-Woods HS (Texas)
2B: Taylor Lindsey, Desert Mountain HS (Ari.)
3B: DJ Peterson, Gilbert HS (Ari.)
SS: Marcus Littlewood, Pineview HS (Utah)
OF: Brian Ragira, James Martin HS (Texas)
OF: Krey Bratsen, Bryan HS (Texas)
OF: Cayle Shambaugh, Jay HS (Ok.)
DH: Matt Lipka, McKinney HS (Texas)
UT: Tyrell Jenkins, Henderson HS (Texas)

SP: Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands HS (Texas)
SP: Kevin Gausman, Grandview HS (Colo.)
SP: Zach Lee, McKinney HS (Texas)
SP: Tyler Green, Brazoswood HS (Texas)
SP: John Simms, College Park HS (Texas)
UT: Tyrell Jenkins, Henderson HS (Texas)

Storylines

King of the Hill

Big Texas righty Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands HS (pictured) has had as impressive a showcase circuit as you can have, consistently showing as the best overall arm at every event he attended. His impressive summer came to a close in August with back-to-back monster outings, the first at the Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley and the second at the Aflac All-American Game at PetCo. Taillon was pegged as the starting pitcher on an all-star staff for each event and posted an incredible cumulative line of 3 IP, 7 SO, 1 H (an infield single at Aflac) and 0 BB. He earned MVP honors for the Team One squad at Wrigley and stood out as the single most dominant player at either event. He was ranked by PnR as the top prospect at each event, as well (UA Rankings; Aflac Rankings).

Taillon followed-up his strong summer as part of the Team USA gold-medal-winning team at the Pan Am games in September/early-October. He took the mound twice for Team USA, earned the win each time and continued his streak of dominant performances, throwing a combined 13.2 IP while allowing just 7 H and 3 BB was striking out a staggering 28 batters and finishing with an impressive BAA of .149. With little left to prove, and after throwing a challenging schedule from June through September, Taillon passed on an opportunity to join the Texas Scout Team Yankees down in Jupiter. The 6-7/230 righty will take his mid-90s fastball and upper-70s power curve into battle this spring where he'll look to solidify his status as the prohibitive favorite to be the first prep arm off of the board.  

McKinney Standouts

If you haven’t already, add McKinney HS (Texas) to the list of prep institutions with a potentially killer 1-2 draft-eligible punch in Matt Lipka (SS) and Zach Lee (RHP). The high school baseball, high school football and Area Code Games teammates deserve to be in the same conversation as Lakeland HS (Fla.) pair Yordy Cabrera (SS/RHP) and Eric Arce (C/2B) and St. Edward HS’s (Ohio) Stetson Allie (RHP/3B) and Alex Lavisky (C/3B), even if they lack the 1st round hype of a Cabrera or an Allie. Lipka and Lee are terrific athletes with good baseball skillsets and an opportunity to continue to turn heads this spring.  

Lipka is a strong up-the-middle talent with top-tier speed and plenty of arm to hold down shortstop. He shows smooth, athletic actions in the field and makes consistent hard contact from the right side of the plate. He has enough power in his hands and forearms to show pop already with wood, and could develop true homerun potential as he learns to elevate the ball more consistently. Lee is a two-way commit to LSU, doubling as one of the top high school pitchers and quarterbacks in the country. On the hill, he shows deception in his motion, coming across his body out of a high-three-quarters arm slot, showing an upper-80s fastball capable of touching the low-90s. He mixes in a promising breaking ball with solid spin and shows some feel for a change-up that flashes fade (though he tends to slow his arm with the pitch). He’s unrefined as a pitcher, and may have his development somewhat slowed as he splits his time between the gridiron and the diamond. If he remains committed to joining the Tigers in the fall, he’ll be an interesting player to follow, and could provide Coach Mainieri with a potential Friday starter if he’s able to continue to improve upon his secondary stuff.

All the Right Moves

Marcus Littlewood, SS, Pineview HS (Utah) is one of three elite high school shortstops to have committed to the this year’s recruiting class for the University of San Diego (the other two being Tony Wolters, Rancho Buena Vista HS (Calif.) and Kellen Sweeney, Jefferson HS (Iowa)). Of the three, Littlewood may have the best chance to stick at the six-spot, long term. He shows smooth actions in the field and sets himself up for his throws as well as any prep talent I’ve seen thus far in the 2010 class, utilizing plus body control, good footwork and an ability to zero the first base bag from a multitude of locations from the hole to behind second base. He also handles himself well around the bag and pivots well.

At the plate, Littlewood shows similar mechanics from both sides, but tends to generate better torque and lift from the left. He can hit with a bit of an arm bar, which limits the pitches he can drive (and potentially the pitches he’ll be able to get to as he moves on to more advanced competition). Impressively, he shows an ability to center the ball on the barrel from left and right, equally. Command of the strikezone is still a work-in-progress. Some days he’ll display good discipline and tracking, while others he appears to struggle with pitch-ID. With continued development, he should profile as a gap-to-gap hitter with solid contact skills and occasional homerun pop. His bat will likely be the determining factor as to when on Day 1 he comes off of the board -- with his defensive capabilities consistently on display, it would not be a surprise to see an organization nab him as early as the supplemental-1st.