2017 State Draft Report: Maryland

CROP RATING
	One for the books
Rating compares this year’s group to what a state typically produces, not to other states

This is the first time in the last five years that Maryland has had six players ranked within the top 300.

While there’s no player as highly ranked as Jake Stinnett was with the Terrapins in 2014 (No. 67), the Terps can claim three among the top half of the 500, and the prep offerings are likely better than the 2014 class, with a junior college product in Will Reed at No. 236 to go along with them.

While Riverdale Baptist righty Harold Cortijo profiles differently than what Notre Dame righty Peter Solomon did out of high school in 2014, he slots in at almost the exact same spot on the BA 500 (262). Solomon—also a Maryland high schooler—was ranked No. 261.

Even after the top 500, there is some interesting depth, featuring a handful of college arms and several prep outfielders.

NATIONAL TOP 500 PROSPECTS

BA 500 Scouting Reports

1. Kevin Smith, SS, Maryland (79)
2. Brian Shaffer, RHP, Maryland (125)
3. Marty Costes, OF, Maryland (207)
4. Will Reed, RHP, Harford (Md.) JC (235)
5. Harold Cortijo, RHP, Riverdale Baptist HS, Upper Marlboro, Md. (261)
6. Randy Bednar, OF, Landon School, Bethesda, Md. (270)

OTHER PROSPECTS OF NOTE

2017 Draft Map

7. Ryan Selmer, RHP, Maryland
8. Mike Rescigno, RHP, Maryland
9. Jared Price, RHP, Maryland
10. Jeremy Arocho, SS, Old Mill HS, Glen Burnie, Md.
11. Josh Netterville, OF, Northwest HS, Germantown, Md.
12. Zach Jancarski, OF, Maryland
13. Ethan Gallagher, OF, Mount St. Joseph HS, Baltimore, Md.
14. Nick Cieri, C, Maryland
15. Brandon Gum, 2B, Maryland

Ryan Selmer, RHP, Maryland

Selmer is a big, 6-8 righthander who uses that height to generate tons of groundballs. He’s been a solid reliever for the Terrapins for three years now, and while he doesn’t rack up the strikeouts, Selmer has only allowed five home runs in 132 innings—a 0.34 HR/9 rate.

Mike Rescigno, RHP, Maryland

Rescigno was drafted by the Giants in the 25th round of the 2016 draft after he made the switch from position player to righthander following his freshman year at Maryland. Rescigno was rated the No. 1 prospect in the Cal Ripken League last year after striking out 19 batters and walking five, with a 1.14 ERA. His fastball has gone from an upper 80s offering to a pitch that sits in the low 90s and touches 94-95, but the raw stuff alone wasn’t enough to overwhelm hitters, as he posted a 5.40 ERA in 16.2 innings. Rescigno has a talented arm, but he’s still raw and new to pitching, so a team would need to be confident in the development of his secondaries and general feel for pitching to take a chance.

Jared Price, RHP, Maryland

Price has a fastball that sits 93-94 and a breaking ball that is above-average some outings, but remains inconsistent.

Zach Jancarski, OF, Maryland

Jancarski had the best offensive year of his career this spring, hitting .325/.434/.453 and leading the Terrapins with 20 stolen bases. While those steals are impressive on the surface, Jancarski was also caught ten times, which is hardly efficient (66.7 percent success rate). One bright spot is the fact that he had as many walks as strikeouts (33) during his junior year.

Nick Cieri, C, Maryland

Drafted in the 32nd round out of high school by the Giants, Cieri has yet to put everything together offensively at Maryland, and hit just .216/.395/.330. His unusual slash line shows how well he sees the strike zone, with 81 career walks with the Terrapins compared to 77 strikeouts. His brief power display in the Cal Ripken League last summer will give teams another reason to give Cieri a shot.

Brandon Gum, 2B, Maryland

Gum played in just 11 games during his fourth year at George Mason after injuring his shoulder, and he was still on the recovery path when his season started in 2017 with Maryland, where he transferred. The injury didn’t do much to slow him down at the plate, as Gum led the Terrapins in hitting (.338) and on-base percentage (.451).