2021 MLB Draft: Top High School, College Prospects

With the 2020 draft now in the rearview mirror, we’re moving ahead to the 2021 class, and today have updated rankings for the top 100 high school and college players in the class, which you can find below.

The 2021 class will be impacted by the novel coronavirus just as the 2020 class was, though the full degree to which the class is impacted is yet to be determined. Certainly the summer evaluation period has been disrupted, with no Cape Cod League, no USA Baseball teams and limitations on how many scouts per club can attend events.

Because of the altered summer and the shortened spring, teams could take longer than usual to get a nuanced feel for the class as a whole, and the industry consensus on players could be much further apart. In any year, though, the summer is just the starting point and much is sure to change in the future.

For now, the 2021 class looks solid, and the artificial depth created by a five-round 2020 draft is sure to help on the back end. Currently, 22 players who were eligible in 2020 are among the 2021 top 100, including Ohio State lefthander Seth Lonsway and Florida righthander Tommy Mace.

At the top, the college class is led by high-octane and polished Vanderbilt arms Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, as well as a trio of potential up-the-middle bats in Miami catcher Adrian Del Castillo, UCLA shortstop Matt McLain and Florida outfielder Jud Fabian.

On the high school side, the class is led by physical Georgia toolshed Brady House, who has loud power as a hitter and a huge arm on the mound, though at this point most evaluators seem to prefer his significant upside as a position player.

Arms have stood out early on in the process for the preps, with loud performances from Alabama lefthander Maddux Bruns, Missouri righthander Christian Little and Tennessee righthander Chase Burns, among others. Scouts have been impressed with the pure velocity and stuff that the 2021 prep class is showing, though that tends to be the case at early events in shorter outings.

On the position player side, there are plenty of shortstops and center fielders with athleticism and tools, which gives the class impact potential at the top, but evaluators are still trying to get a better gauge on hit tools.

This is only the start of a year-long process, but for now the 2021 class looks like another strong one.