Santa Claus is back at the North Pole, and we've officially welcomed 2024. December is one of the rare months in Texas when the baseball calendar almost comes to a complete halt. I say “almost” because I’m sure somewhere there is a workout, a game being played, something happening on a field. I use a lot of this time to work on our rankings, plan for the upcoming spring season and write, which is why you’re here. 

The 2023 baseball calendar was packed: spring high school season beginning the first week of February with scrimmages and ending in early June with the THSCA All-Star Game; Five Tool summer schedule kicking off in late May and running through early August; two weeks at Area Code in August; fall Five Tool schedule, scout team games and prospect workouts after the summer. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I saw a ton of baseball during 2023. December is also a time to think back about the best of the best: best players, performances, games, moments and more. I saw a lot of really good players of all ages, teams, games, events and more. As we wave goodbye to 2023, I wanted to share some “best of” stories from my in-person looks while also emptying my scouting notebook and publishing a lot of reports that have been hanging out in my hard drive. My final project: building lineups with the best prospects from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes I saw in person during 2023. 

A few things about this exercise: I tried to avoid stretching the defensive positioning; meaning, I didn’t slot guys into positions that weren’t realistic just to get their talent/prospect status in the lineup. With catchers, I selected players who I felt good about sticking at the position long-term and being able to impact the game defensively as well as offensively. And with designated hitters, I went with one of the best pure hitters in the nation for one team while adding some big right-handed thump and catching depth with the other two teams. There are some positions, like shortstop, that could have filled a huge chunk of these three teams on their own, which means some fantastic prospects at those respective positions were left off simply because I could only pick so many of them. When you mix three classes of players, it does add some imperfect evaluation, for lack of a better phrase. However, I thought it was a fun way to shine a light on the next batch of superstar talents and it makes sense to view many of those types of players as less of a finished prospect and in some cases a little more projectable than their 2024 counterparts. 

Like the list of the best 55 pitching prospects I saw in person during 2023, there are going to be some superstar names left off these three teams like Konnor Griffin, Grady Emerson, PJ Morlando, Coy James and others who I didn’t see in person. Chances are many of these players have extensive coverage already on their profiles and each of the 2024 pitchers listed has already been covered recently with a very detailed scouting report. Let’s start with the 2023 Certified Dudes – Third Team:

THIRD TEAM

C –  Burke Mabeus – 2024 – Bishop Gorman (NV) – Oregon signee
1B – Kale Fountain – 2024 – Norris (NE) – LSU signee
2B – Tate Southisene – 2025 – Basic (NV) – USC commit
SS – Alex Harrington – 2026 – Cathedral Catholic (CA) – Stanford commit
3B – Lucas Franco – 2025 – Cinco Ranch (TX) – TCU commit

OF – Garrett Shull – 2024 – Enid (OK) – Oklahoma State signee
OF – Jordan Serrano – 2025 – The Stony Brook School (NY) – Wake Forest commit
OF – Brock Ketelsen – 2025 – Scotts Valley (CA) – Stanford commit 

DH – Sir Jamison Jones – 2024 – St. Rita of Cascia (IL) – Oklahoma State signee
UTIL – Brock Sell – 2025 – Tokay (CA) – Stanford commit
Two-way – Carson Brumbaugh – 2025 – Sante Fe (OK) – Tennessee commit

Mabeus had some of the worst luck of any Area Code hitter because he smashed some screaming rockets right at defenders. Then, he showed his left-handed juice when he smashed a no-doubt, majestic bomb with an efficient, quick swing. A switch-hitter with a real chance to stick behind the dish, Mabeus followed a strong Area Code by making the USA 18U National Team. He checks a lot of boxes scouts look for when searching for top high school catchers. While his offensive profile does come with some present swing-and-miss, there aren’t many right-handed hitters who possess the bat speed, raw power and swing/rotation Fountain does. Already the career home run record holder in the state of Nebraska, Fountain will likely get a long look at third base. I wanted to fit his bat into the lineup and could envision first base being an option either in college or professional baseball. 

Tate Southisene, the younger brother of Ty, is almost a carbon copy of his brother. The swing, energy, hitting ability, stature, instincts… they’re all eerily similar. However, I think older brother is more of a surefire middle infielder while younger brother could end up impacting the game defensively in center field. In terms of projecting tools, physical outlooks and swings, Franco and Harrington are both top-of-the-scale infielders blessed with the projectable frames, talent and skill to be potential first-round picks at shortstop. I wanted to see a little more from them both production-wise, but their future tools and projection are undeniable. Looking way down the road, I think Harrington is the more sure bet to stick at shortstop while Franco’s very projectable 6-3 frame could grow into third base, where he showed notable reactions and hands with plenty of arm during his Area Code innings at the hot corner. 

Switch-hitter Shull grabbed the attention of professional evaluators at Area Code as quick or quicker than any other position player because of his attention-grabbing blend of athleticism and bat speed. And that bat speed resulted in perhaps the loudest, highest average exit velocity in the event. He’ll come up empty at a rate that might bother some pro scouts, but as the game moves more towards understanding how valuable it is to hit the ball really, really hard as often as possible, he could end up being a late first-round pick in 2024. Serrano is a good, projectable athlete with at least above-average speed who drilled hard extra-base hits all over the outfield at Area Code. He might be able to profile in center field at the next level and is an exciting blend of projection and present performance. 

Keeping with the theme of hitting the baseball really hard: Jones hit a ball 114 MPH at Area Code and sent rockets flying around the outfield. He also covered the plate and impressively drilled an opposite-field base hit against a good fastball away. While his right-handed swing can look a little raw and top-heavy at times, that also makes him exciting because there’s even more strength he can tap into. And his barrel feel/control along with his low-heartbeat competitiveness in the batter’s box are both very real. Ketelsen has a very, very quick arm on the mound as a left-handed pitcher. However, his performance as a hitter was so good, he emerged as one of the top hitters in the nation among outfielders. The Stanford commit has a smooth, rhythmic stroke from the left side. 

Sell is a skilled gamer who can play all over the field and rakes. He’s the ideal utility player because he’s really talented and also can impact winning in a variety of ways offensively and defensively. As a right-handed hitter, Brumbaugh unleashes some of the best bat speed/rotation of any hitter in the nation and when he stays within himself, his hit tool really projects. Defensively, he can handle shortstop thanks in part to his confident, instinctive actions. On the mound, the Tennessee commitment touched 96 MPH during a relief appearance at Area Code and I’ve seen him routinely get his fastball into the low 90s from a lower slot that’s tough on righties. 

P – Ryan Sloan – 2024 – York Community (IL) – Wake Forest signee
P – Owen Hall – 2024 – North (OK) – Vanderbilt signee
P – Ethan Schiefelbein – 2024 – Corona (CA) – UCLA signee
P – Kruz Schoolcraft – 2025 – Beaverton (OR)
P – Angel Cervantes – 2025 – Warren (CA) – UCLA commit

Sloan, Hall and Scheifelbein were among the top eight pitching prospects I saw in the 2024 class, covered extensively HERE. I can imagine Schoolcraft’s phone rang endlessly once he announced plans to reclassify from the 2026 class to the 2025 class. Similar to when Cam Caminiti did this, Schoolcraft immediately became one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in his new age group. His delivery is surprisingly easy and smooth for such a tall, big lefty and he’s armed with a big heater, slider and an especially intriguing splitter with sub-1000 RPM. Cervantes’ high-spin, circle changeup is unfair to left-handed hitters and can routinely rack up whiffs even against the best hitters in the nation. He can also spin a good curveball, touch 92 MPH with a quick arm and command his fastball to both sides of the plate. It won’t surprise me if we see him at Area Code next year bumping 95 MPH with a starter’s delivery and a future plus changeup.

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor and National Scout