PG Sophomore National: 25 Standouts From The 2027 Class

Jared Grindlinger, LHP, California

Grindlinger struck out three batters in his one outstanding inning. The TCU commit is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds with a good delivery, arm action and the mix of stuff and pitchability well beyond his years. Grindlinger pitched with his fastball up to 91 mph from a three-quarters slot with good control. He threw nine sliders at 76-79 mph that generated four whiffs, showing the ability to manipulate shape on the pitch to make it tighter or to add more sweep. Both offerings had the look of future plus pitches. While he didn’t get a chance to use his changeup here, that pitch has been another promising weapon for him this year. Grindlinger is a good hitter, too, but it’s what he does on the mound, where he has the look of perhaps the best high school lefty this age since Marlins 2023 supplemental first-round pick Thomas White, that’s special.

Landon Green, RHP, Florida

Green has electric arm speed. He’s a lean 6-foot-1, 180 pounds and ran his fastball up to 93 mph in this look (at times this summer he’s been up to 95 mph). He’s athletic, flexible and has the upside to develop upper-tank velocity over the next few years. Green flashed feel for a 75-79 mph slider that he landed in the zone consistently, with a couple of changeups mixed in, as well. 

Sushi Wilson, OF, Illinois

Wilson showed some of the better tools at the event. He has a strong build (6 feet, 185 pounds) and some of the better raw power in the class. In-game, he registered a pair of hits, the best of which came when he kept his hands back on a first-pitch breaking ball, took a short, clean path to the pitch and lined it for a single to center field. A Tennessee commit, Wilson is an above-average runner with a strong arm from center field. 

Chase Fuller, SS, Florida

Fuller is one of the elite players in the 2027 class. He proved that the previous week when he was the MVP of PG’s Beast of the East tournament. He also showed big tools during the workout at the Sophomore National before missing the showcase’s games after being hit by a pitch. The Florida State commit is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound physical, explosive player with plus speed and a plus arm. He has some of the best raw power in the class, and it should end up another plus tool. 

Max Hemenway, SS, Tennessee

There’s a lot to like with Hemenway. He has a smooth, polished lefthanded swing with good rhythm, sequence and timing. He stays balanced, keeps his head locked in and does a good job tracking pitches. Hemenway finds the barrel frequently with skills to be a high on-base threat. The Tennessee commit is 6 feet, 170 pounds and flashed his power in the days leading up to the showcase at PG’s Beast of the East tournament, where he hit a long home run to right-center field. During infield, he moved around well at shortstop and looks like he should be able to stick in the middle infield.

Caden Dawson, OF, Georgia

Dawson looked like one of the more advanced hitters in the 2027 class. He’s 6-foot-2, 200 pounds with a rhythmic, fluid swing from the left side of the plate. He has a good track record of bat-to-ball skills in games, and he didn’t swing and miss once in his five trips to the plate while recording two hits (with one off a 90 mph fastball). He makes hard contact to the gaps and is a solid-average runner with a strong arm. 

Lash Henderson, OF, Nevada

With a well-proportioned frame and impressive athleticism and tools, Henderson looks like a man among boys at 6-foot-4, 208 pounds. He’s a plus runner, has an average arm and has the mix of bat speed and strength that allows him to produce some of the best power of any hitter for 2027, with a chance for that to end up a plus to plus-plus tool. Henderson did have a higher swing-and-miss rate during the games, but his size, athleticism and power/speed potential give him considerable upside if everything clicks. 

Grant Sperandio, RHP, Texas

A Texas commit, Sperandio has a strong build for his age at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds. He has a compact arm stroke and a fastball that touched 92 mph here. Sperandio threw a lot of strikes with his fastball, generating five swings and misses over his two innings. He complemented it with a mid-70s curveball that he showed feel to spin.

Brady Buenik, RHP, Illinois

Buenik (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) has a projectable frame that should enable him to add to a lively fastball that he ran up to 91 mph in this event. He attacked hitters with a fastball-heavy approach, mixing in a mid-70s slider that flashed two-plane depth on his best ones.

Matthew Westbrook, RHP, Georgia

At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Westbrook filled the strike zone with his fastball, which got up to 88 mph. His curveball that was one of the best breaking balls at the showcase. It’s a 73-76 mph pitch that had tight rotation with sharp bite, good shape and depth, making for a potential big bat-missing pitch at higher levels. 

Will Brick, C, Tennessee

Brick is strong for his age with a pair of standout tools in his power and strong arm behind the plate. Standing in at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, he’s a righthanded hitter with some of the better power in the 2027 class, something he showed by hitting balls over the fence both in batting practice and in games. In batting practice, he recorded exit velocities up to 99 mph, then in the game got a flat breaking ball over the plate that he pulled for a home run over the left field wall. 

Dominic Naylor, SS/OF, Texas

Naylor has gigantic power for a 15-year-old. He’s 6-foot-1, 190 pounds and was blasting balls in batting practice. Six of his 10 swings produced exit velocities of 95 mph or above, including four at 100-plus mph and two at 101. He’s a righthanded hitter whose power will probably come with some swing-and-miss. His future defensive home is still to be determined, but there won’t be many hitters in the 2027 class who can match Naylor’s power.

Grant Stafford, SS, Texas

Stafford showed promising traits as a lefthanded hitter. He’s 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with a simple lower-half load and a smooth stroke, producing consistent quality contact both in BP and against live pitching. He had three hits in five trips to the plate with a pair of singles and a triple that he drove into the left-center field gap. 

Jordin Griffin, OF, Louisiana

Listed at 5-foot-6, 145 pounds, Griffin combines quick-twitch explosion with a patient offensive approach. The LSU commit has fast hands and produces big bat speed from the left side, leading to surprising power for his size. Throughout the week before at PG’s Beast of the East tournament, Griffin showed a patient approach to stay within the strike zone and drew plenty of walks. He’s a good athlete and a plus runner in center field. 

Banks Addison, SS, Tennessee

Addison has a lot of strength projection left in his 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame and makes quality contact with room to grow into more power. He has a nice lefthanded swing, something he showed when he went down to drive a fastball in the bottom of the zone for a double to center field. His hands worked well in the infield, and he showed solid arm strength that projects to play somewhere in the dirt. 

KJ Anderson, C, Tennessee

A lefthanded-hitting catcher, Anderson has a fast bat to drive the ball for extra-base damage. He did that in the game, getting the barrel to a fastball at the bottom third of the zone and hammering it for a double to center field. Anderson is a good athlete with a strong arm behind the plate, as well.

Matt Meeker, OF/1B, Iowa

Meeker showed some of the best raw power at the showcase. At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, he’s a lefthanded batter whose swing works well for such a tall hitter, allowing him to generate that power without having to get too big with his swing. In-game, Meeker drove a fastball for a double to the opposite field. He did a good job of going where the ball was pitched on another at-bat when he hit a fastball on the outside corner for a hard line drive but right at the third baseman. He’s a corner outfielder who also took ground balls at first base. 

Drake McClurg, OF, Indiana

An Indiana commit, McClurg is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound switch-hitter with a quick swing who collected hits from both sides of the plate. Batting righthanded, he went with an 87 mph fastball on the outer third and shot it for a line-drive double to the opposite field. Lefthanded, he hit a fastball up the middle for a single. A plus runner, McClurg played well in center field too, charging in on a ball to make a diving catch to save a run and end the inning.

Blake Lundy, C, Tennessee

Lundy is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, so he stands out right away for his physicality. He already has an above-average arm, up there with the best for any catcher in the 2027 class. A righthanded hitter with a flat finish to his swing, Lundy drove the ball well in BP, with exit velocities up to 96 mph and a home run. In the game, he hit a double to the middle of the field on a fastball up in the zone.

Mac Morris, SS, South Carolina

A South Carolina commit, Morris is 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with the potential to become a power-hitting infielder. He’s a righthanded hitter with a big leg kick, raising his front foot higher than his back knee. When everything is synced up, he’s able to unload on pitches with impressive power.

Connor Salerno, LHP, North Carolina

Salerno, 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, filled the zone with both his fastball and slider, retiring all six batters he faced and registering three strikeouts. Salerno pitched with a fastball up to 88 mph and showed feel for a mid-70s slider with late tilt that he used to get multiple swings and misses. 

George Ferguson, RHP, Texas 

At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Ferguson has a tall, strong build for his age and a fastball that reached 91 mph. He hammered the strike zone with his fastball, throwing it 18 times for 16 strikes. Ferguson complemented his fastball with an upper-70s slider that had good depth and resulted in multiple swings and misses. He faced seven batters and only allowed one baserunner (who reached on an error).

Lukas Waite, RHP/OF, California

There were things to like with Waite both as a position player and on the mound. He’s a center fielder who showed well-above-average speed running the 60-yard dash in 6.43 seconds. He showed a strong arm from the outfield and drove the ball with impact during batting practice. His arm strength stood out on the mound, as well. His lively fastball touched 92 mph and he had sharp bite on a 76-79 mph slider with tight rotation. 

Drew Davis, SS/RHP, Mississippi

There were intriguing flashes with Davis both as a position player and as a pitcher. At the plate, Davis stayed within the strike zone and used a short, simple righthanded swing without many moving parts and good bat-to-ball skills. He pulled a fastball left over the heart of the plate to left field and hit a line drive off an 89 mph fastball up in the zone hit right at the shortstop. Davis is 6 feet, 170 pounds with a fastball that was up to 87 mph here, but it was his curveball that showed the most promise. It’s a high-spin breaking ball he threw anywhere from the low-70s up to 77 mph, snapping it off with tight downward break to produce empty swings. 

Konnor Briggs, LHP, Florida

If there was a sleeper at the event, it was Briggs. He didn’t have as much power behind his fastball compared to some of the other pitchers here, but there are a lot of encouraging projection indicators. He’s young for the class, has a good delivery and has a lot of space left to fill out his 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame and add to a fastball that touched 84 mph. For a pitcher topping out in the mid-80s, Briggs has unusual power behind his curveball. A 74-78 mph pitch with tight spin, sharp bite and good depth, he got three swings and misses on the eight breaking balls he threw.