Riley Self

[Todd4State]

He is a baseball commit for us who is in the 2016 class. He pitches for Dulin's Dodgers and was named the most valuable pitcher for the Perfect Game wood bat tournament.

Our current 2014 commits are looking good. The Perfect Game National Showcase is about the equivalent of the Nike Sparq Combine for high school football.

Chase Vallot,a catcher, won a home run hitting contest in Minnesota at the Perfect Game National Showcase. Also, Joey Swinarski was invited to this tournament and participated. Swinarski has power, but he also has a very good outfield arm and speed as well. He could be- dare I say it- a five tool player. Both of those guys are possible immediate impact guys as freshmen for us.

Dale Burdick is another guy that I have always liked. He is a 2014 commit from Tennessee and is good friends with Luke Alexander, a 2015 MSU commitment. Luke and Burdick could be our middle infield of the future.

The only other 2014 commit we have right now is Ryan Girdley, who is an infielder in high school, but might be converted to the outfield from Georgia. He's a small guy at 5'9", but he has some pretty good pop in his bat.

[engie]

Good info...

More and more elite guys are starting to roll in. Hopefully, we don't overdo it and kill a few classes in the MLB draft...

[engie]

Vallot has potential to be the most elite HS homerun hitter we've signed in a very long time IMO. He finished tied for 8th in the country last year as a JR in bombs...

Oh -- and Perfect Game has him clocked at 89MPH out of the catcher's box. That's a f'n cannon...

[Original48]

Love the baseball info. Keep it coming!

[FlabLoser]

Good info...

More and more elite guys are starting to roll in. Hopefully, we don't overdo it and kill a few classes in the MLB draft...

The MLB draft has to be a bitch to recruit against. They flip croots all the time.

How does the draft timing work with LOI signing day? Does the draft happen first so you know who won't be staying school?

[Todd4State]

The way the draft is now, you get drafted in June, but now the dealine is around the second week in July. On top of that, because of the new slotting system, college coaches pretty much know what their recruits are going to be offered. Both of those make recruiting a LOT easier.

There is always the risk of losing a player to the draft- we've lost Runey Davis, Corey Dickerson, and Willilam DuPont under Cohen- but our staff is pretty good at evaluating a players signability for the most part. Dakota Hudson is a great example- he was projected as a top 400 pick and as high as a fourth round pick, but because of signability- fancy word for wanting to go to college- we were able to get him. Same with Reid Humphries.

[State82]

Todd & engie. Really good insight from both you guys. That was a nice breakdown on the incoming class a few days ago, Todd. I know it takes time to gather and put the info out there for everyone to see, so thanks.