Continuing our coverage of the final Five Tool Texas 55 for the 2023 class with players ranked No. 11-30. 

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In our previous update, W.B. Ray’s Jack Bell ranked as the top shortstop in the state and he held onto that position through the finish line. Arguably the best defender at the position in Texas, Bell followed a breakthrough summer with an impressive spring. The next step for Bell will be to add strength and mass to his skinny frame, but don’t sleep on the impact he can already create off the barrel, which he showed at the MLB Draft Combine. 

He wasn’t flying completely under the radar, but White Oak’s Gavyn Jones, a Texas Tech signee, certainly wasn’t a famous name in late May 2022. That quickly changed. He was excellent at our AABC Connie Mack qualifier, followed that by turning heads at Area Code tryouts, committing to Texas Tech almost immediately after the tryout, and establishing himself as one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in the state during the summer. An easy strike-thrower with multiple pitches, Jones has at times shown a fastball up to 95 MPH, slider, curveball and promising changeup. 

Like Jones, Aden Howard, No. 17 on the final list, was almost a complete unknown before last summer. Credit our Drew Bishop for highlighting Howard during a 2022 spring look as a dude to follow. With the Dallas Tigers, Howard immediately became one of the top outfielders in the state, showing interesting all-around tools and the ability to hit from both sides of the plate with developing power. Howard then made Area Code, had a strong senior season and is poised to become one of DBU’s next top prospects. 

In terms of spinning the baseball, Weatherford right-hander Kannon Kemp is way up there. During the THSCA All-Star Game in the middle of June, I saw Kemp up to 95 MPH in a short stint with a future plus slider that reached 2800 RPM. He uses a simple delivery and if the changeup ticks up, the big right-hander could take off. Sometimes when we put together this list, we don’t even have a full game look at a player. That was the case last update with Micah Kendrick, a TCU signee who finished his decorated high school career at Rockwall. But sometimes, you just get a feel about a player. Fortunately, Kendrick made us look smart. 

From the left side, he mashed the ball with some pull-side power all season, stole bases, made some extremely impressive and athletic plays at second base and shortstop and his frame is easily projectable. Plus, Kendrick had a knack for coming through in big moments for Rockwall, a testament to his baseball makeup, and as the competition improved, so did he. He’s skilled enough to play all over the infield and should compete early at TCU for playing time. 

A shoulder injury robbed Ethan Mendoza (Southlake Carroll) of almost all his senior season, which is a big bummer because he established himself during the summer as the best pure right-handed hitter in Texas. Now, Mendoza is in the Draft League racking up hits and putting the bat on the ball as well as anyone in the league; his swing looks right again and it's showing in a noticeable way on the field. At around 5-9, the Arizona State signee doesn’t have the physical projection and power potential of some other top prospects in the state, but when he’s healthy, he rakes. 

Out in East Texas, Jason Bodin is a bit of a hidden gem. Despite being a Texas A&M signee, there isn’t much hype surrounding Bodin, but he could end up making a No. 18 ranking look light. He’s not as refined on the mound as some of his more famous peers, but his pure stuff and potential rank up there with anyone. Naturally, Bodin spins the baseball really well and has shown two distinct breaking balls in the past with a fastball up to 94 MPH. A lean, physical righty, Bodin could flourish in a new developmental environment. 

A couple of famous infielder names from the DFW area remain in our top 20: Rockwall’s Brayden Randle and Coppell’s T.J. Pompey. Randle, who is an Ole Miss signee, ended his prep career as one of the most consistent performers for years. Despite being around 5-7, Randle is a physical player who can pull homers and has proven able to time good velocity and hit top arms. Likely a second baseman at the next level, Randle should continue to perform. As for Pompey, all that stands between him and blowing up as a major prospect are making more consistent contact and proving he can stay at shortstop in pro ball or major college baseball. Tall with some projection, Pompey moves smoothly around the infield and has the makings of a plus, maybe plus-plus arm. He also has notable raw power, which has led to some majestic pull-side homers in the past. 

Nehomar Ochoa Jr., a two-way prospect from Galena Park, is among the most intriguing players in the class. He’s been up to 95 MPH on the mound, but it’s a very raw operation that needs refinement and reps. At an impressive looking 6-4 and a year younger than most of his classmates, Ochoa moves well (4.2 down the line) and has plenty of projection physically. If you’re listing his future tools, there are plenty of fives and maybe a couple sixes; but there is also a big gap between where he is currently and where he could end up. I like him more as a right-handed hitter and corner outfielder, especially after watching him cover ground and read the ball well off the bat in center field as a high school player.

While Mendoza is the best pure right-handed hitter in the 2023 class in Texas, Sam Myers might be the guy from the left side. His track record of performance is longer than a spoiled seven-year-old’s Christmas list, and he was held in such high regard as a player for Twelve Baseball that he often played center field for a team that also put Kendall George in the outfield. I think Myers rates as a future average or better hitter, runner, fielder and thrower. He might not possesses the upside and projection of players like Pompey and Ochoa, but he falls into the category of players like Rocco Garza-Gongora of last year’s class – great bets to show up, hit, and impact winning right away.

Explosive, twitchy and really athletic, Dylan Schlaegel’s all-around game has a way of jumping out at you and he’s been a longtime Five Tool favorite for well over a year. A plus runner whose bat speed can send screaming liners over the left field wall and into the right-center gap, Schlaegel is an ideal candidate to really blossom as a prospect at DBU. La Porte’s Diego Luzardo profiles as perhaps the best combination of control and command in the 2023 class. An undersized right-hander, Luzardo should sit comfortably in the low 90s at the next level, can both manipulate and really spin a breaking ball, and should have an average changeup at worst. 

Ethan Farris went from “big, intriguing guy with talent” to “is this big, right-handed masher going to get drafted and paid?!” Each time I logged on Twitter during the early part of the high school season, Farris hit a homer and someone had video of it. There have been mentions of him running as fast as a 6.5 60-yard dash, and even though he doesn’t have interest in it, he’s a sneaky good pitching prospect with big arm strength. Scouts have some questions about how well the right-handed swing will translate against better pitching, but all Farris did this season was mash homers at a rate as good or better than anyone in Texas, didn’t strike out a ton and was a key force for one of the nation’s best teams. 

Long-term, I like Farris as a power-hitting corner outfielder with a plus arm who can move better than most corner outfielders. If he proves consistently he can tap into his power, he might, assuming he gets there, post the kind of absurd homer numbers at Texas State like Chase Mora did this past season. It’s always tough to rank pitchers coming off Tommy John surgery, but I will say two things about Mason Bixby: he has used the time away from competing in games to transform himself physically and he looked like a future top 10 player in the state when healthy. From everything I’ve heard, his rehab has gone well. 

Weston Moss, a right-hander signed to Texas A&M, returned to the mound after an elbow surgery for his senior season at Lake Creek and showed glimpses of being a major prospect. He might possess the only non-fastball pitch in the class an evaluator could put a future 70 on if he saw it on the right day – a soul-stealing changeup straight out of the Aaron Nola-like playbook. Like most pitchers coming back from elbow surgery, Moss needs more reps to continue cleaning up and adding fluidity to his arm path; in some game settings, it didn’t work as well in the back as it did in other looks, making him an ideal candidate to really flourish at the next level as he consistently throws harder and is better able to spin a breaking ball. 

Another pitcher who missed a lot of time because of injury and is also heading to Texas A&M is Fulshear’s Austin Vargas. I had him missing the final 55 list initially, but two things happened: he got back onto the mound and threw the absolute heck out of the ball. I got my hands on some video of him throwing in a pro workout at a pro stadium (withholding the name so I don’t make that team mad) and, although it was in a short burst, it was electric. At a lanky 6-7, Vargas is a good mover with a quick arm on the mound and has been back up to 94 MPH recently with a sharp slider up to 84 MPH. Is it aggressive to rank him this high? Sure. He barely pitched this year. But if he consistently throws like he right now, this ranking, No. 30, might not be high enough. 

We’re starting to get into the range of catchers, but I don’t think La Vega’s Nik Sanders plays there at the next level. I think he slides into a corner outfield spot where is very impressive bat speed, torque and power from the right side will translate just fine. Brayden Buchanan, a big-time quarterback for Vandegrift, missed much of his senior baseball season after a knee injury late in the football season, but came back at the end. He’s grown and filled out considerably and looks like the type of physical catcher who can show up and immediately catch and hit at Baylor. That kind of description typically ranks a player higher on the list but the injury prevented some more extensive looks at Buchanan. 

JJ Kennett made a big jump last summer, especially in the amount of impact he created from the right side. Coaches love his makeup and he’s already being touted as a future leader at DBU. With a real chance to stick behind the dish and a long track record of performance, Kennett was an easy pick to rank this high (No. 29) on the list. 

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor