Regardless of what you may have read towards the end
of the summer, Bryce Harper is likely still sitting comfortably atop most draft boards. Accordingly, he finds himself ranked
as PnR Scouting's top catcher in our pre-season positional rankings. Justin O'Conner didn't log innings as a backstop
during the summer circuit, but he's been working-out at the position and has the athleticism, arm strength and offensive
tools to rate as our second best catcher in the entire class -- an indication of how highly we view the Indiana prepster.
One final note before going to the rankings -- Robert Brantly's monster summer in the Northwoods League brought him close
to earning our "Best Hitter" label, but Harper's ceiling is too high for us to knock him down without a seeing
a little more from Brantly. Justin O'Conner also received consideration:
- Bryce Harper, Freshman, CC of Southern Nevada
- Justin O'Conner, Senior, Cowan HS (Ind.)
- Stefan Sabol, Senior, Aliso Niguel HS (Calif.)
- Tyler Austin, Senior, Heritage HS (Ga.)
- Jacob Felts, Senior, Orangefield HS (Texas)
- Yasmani Grandal, Junior, Univ. of Miami (Fla.)
- Micah Gibbs, Junior, Louisiana St. Univ. (La.)
- Robert Brantly, Sophomore, Univ. of California - Riverside
- Cameron Rupp, Junior, Univ. of Texas
- Cody Stanley, Junior, Univ. of North Carolina - Wilmington
- Miles Hamblin, Junior, Univ. of Mississippi
- Will Swanner, Senior, La Costa Canyon
HS (Calif.)
- Blake
Forsythe, Junior, Univ. of Tennessee
- Case Nixon,
Senior, Hillcrest HS (Ala.)
- Matt Roberts, Senior, Graham HS (N.C.)
Best Hitter: Bryce Harper
Best
Power: Bryce Harper
Best Defense: Shane Rowland,
Senior, Tampa Catholic HS (Fla.)
Best Arm: Bryce
Harper
Best Speed: Stefan Sabol
