Five Tool 55 Analysis: Colleges, Positions, Location and more
As a follow-up to our first ever Texas Five Tool 55 rankings, we wanted to do a follow-up piece to breakdown some of what we saw. Here are some things to reiterate:
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These rankings and the information included are fluid and will change a great deal over the course of the school year as we see more kids and others blossom.
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Information varies from scout to scout, coach to coach, and evaluators like us based on when we see players, the team matchups, what the weather may have been, and a host of other factors. That is what makes coaching, recruiting, and drafting an inexact science and why so many people love the challenge that baseball provides.
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Nobody should be discouraged by where they are or aren’t on this list and conversely, nobody should be satisfied by where they are either. As competitors, use it just as a data point to either drive you to prove us wrong with your play or prove us right by continuing to develop and showing why you belong on the list.
We have enjoyed putting together the list and here are some breakdowns of the rankings through a variety of lenses:
Positional Breakdown
OF-13
RHP-12
SS-10
LHP-8
C-5
3B-4
1B-2
UTL-1
For this breakdown, we used the primary position listed in our rankings when it came to two-way guys. Long story short, there are athletes scattered amongst the premium positions that teams try to build up the middle with represented in this list, especially when you consider most of the OF group has a chance to end up in CF.
Geographical Breakdown
Houston-20
DFW-14
CenTex-12
South Texas-5
East Texas-3
West Texas-1
For this portion, I determined regions based on where each kid plays in high school. I used Waco, Austin, San Antonio and their surrounding areas for the CenTex region. Overall, there was good representation throughout the state for our list, proving how much quality baseball is in our state. Bridgeland and Lake Travis led the way with three players each while Aledo, Tompkins, and Sinton all had two. There were 50 public school players and five attending private school.
Recruiting Breakdown
Texas A&M-11
Texas-8
Uncommitted-6
Baylor-4
TCU-4
Oklahoma-3
Texas Tech-3
Arkansas-2
Kansas State-2
Texas State-2
For this, I listed all schools that had at least two commits, along with the six uncommitted players. A few interesting things stood out to me here:
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Outside of Texas A&M, there was a lot less SEC representation (prior to Texas and OU’s departure) than I was expecting. Only five SEC players outside of A&M currently. It will be interesting to watch how conference realignment affects this over the next few years.
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Only seven kids will have to drive more than three hours outside of Texas to play college baseball. There is a lot of good baseball in Texas.
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Of the 49 committed players, 43 are committed to Power Five schools.
- Only one player is headed west, and that’s to Arizona State.
We enjoyed putting together this list and are excited to see it evolve up until the draft as players continue to develop. Feel free to share your feedback with us, with the negative all being pointed towards Dustin.
