On Campus: Recruiting Top 100 Prospects

The Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list will be revealed tonight at 9 p.m. ET on MLB Network. In the spirit of the Top 100 list, this week’s On Campus includes the recruiting stories of five players who made last year’s Top 100 and went on to graduate to the major leagues.

Corey Seager, ss, Dodgers

2016 Top 100 Ranking: No. 1. College commitment (high school graduation): South Carolina (2012).

Seven years younger than his older brother, Corey Seager was still a kid when Kyle Seager began his college career at North Carolina. He would come to Chapel Hill to visit his older brother and it was on those visits that Chad Holbrook, then the Tar Heel’s recruiting coordinator, first saw him. Holbrook also watched him play on a youth AAU team, where he was teammates with Holbrook’s nephew. Seager was still a preteen then, but his ability was already evident to Holbrook.

“He was always very advanced, not only his skill set but his baseball savvy,” Holbrook said. “He was always well ahead. I thought I was watching a college player when he was 14 years old. Some people are just born to be a baseball player, born with great instincts, great work ethic, great character.”

Holbrook left North Carolina to join Ray Tanner’s staff at South Carolina following the 2008 season. When Seager began looking at schools, Holbrook already had a familiar relationship with the family, but it was not an easy recruitment.

“Corey wanted to pick a college, he wanted to do his own thing,” Holbrook said. “He loved North Carolina, he watched Kyle go through that, but he just wanted to do something different than his brother. There was a familiarity (with us). Once Corey and the Seager family met coach Tanner, came and visited, they felt comfortable here.”

Holbrook, who succeeded Tanner as South Carolina’s head coach, said he knew the chances of getting Seager to school were slim. The Dodgers drafted him 18th overall in 2012, starting him on a path to winning Rookie of the Year honors last season. Holbrook said he has followed Seager’s progress, often getting updates from former Gamecocks in pro ball.

Holbrook is sure Seager is just beginning a special big league career.

“The game comes so easy to him,” Holbrook said. “It came easy to him at 12 and 13. Some kids are put on this earth to be great baseball players. If he continues to grow and advance like I know he will, he’s a future Hall of Famer in my book and those don’t come around very often. I’ve been blessed to watch him grow.”

Steven Matz, lhp, Mets

2016 Top 100 Ranking: No. 13. College commitment (high school graduation): Coastal Carolina (2009).

Coastal Carolina recruiting coordinator Kevin Schnall was at Perfect Game National when he got a tip that Matz, then a rising senior, was seriously interested in the Chanticleers. Schnall said he worked hard to recruit him that summer.

Schnall was impressed with Matz and thought there was a chance Coastal would get the lefthander to school.

“I thought we were going to get him because he didn’t spin the breaking ball that great,” Schnall said. “He had a really good arm. He got a lot of swings and misses on his fastball. I thought some would walk away because he didn’t spin the breaking ball well. But his fastball was like a swing-and-miss breaking ball because he got so many swings and misses.”

Ultimately, the Mets liked Matz, a Long Island native, enough to draft him 72nd overall in 2009.

“I remember laying on my couch that night when he got drafted,” Schnall said. “It was twofold: one, I was happy for him, but two, if he doesn’t get drafted where he did, I think he’s coming to school.

“He was an awesome kid, unbelievable throughout the whole process. The family is one we’ll always remember.”

Jon Gray, rhp, Rockies

2016 Top 100 Ranking: No. 37. College commitment (high school graduation): Oklahoma (2010).

Tim Tadlock was Oklahoma’s recruiting coordinator when he first saw Gray, pitching at a Sooners’ prospect camp as a high school junior. One viewing was all it took to get Tadlock interested.

“That day he was up to 93 (mph) and his fastball just jumped out of his hand,” Tadlock said. “You could tell it had late life and he had a feel for a breaking ball. You could tell he liked to pitch. He wasn’t running from anything that day. He probably didn’t have the best command, but you could see the stuff was going to be electric.”

Soon after that camp, which was organized by Oklahoma director of baseball operations Ryan Gaines, Gray committed to the Sooners. But because Oklahoma had so many returning pitchers, Tadlock, Gray, his mother and his advisor, Jay Franklin, agreed that it would be in his best interest to spend his freshman season at Eastern Oklahoma State JC so he could get more innings to develop.

Gray had been drafted in the 13th round out of high school by the Royals, and began to take off in junior college, touching 97 mph with his fastball. The Yankees drafted him in the 10th round, but Tadlock said Gray told him early in the summer that he wasn’t going to sign and would transfer to Oklahoma.

“We’ve all had guys tell us they’re coming to school and then they don’t, but Jon was different,” Tadlock said. “He grew up wanting to pitch (at Oklahoma). He could see he could develop and achieve his goals either way. By him being able to go out and pitch in some big time environments in the Big 12, he really helped his development. Every time I saw him pitch the guy was chasing perfection.”

Gray arrived on campus to join a pitching staff that also had Damien Magnifico, Steven Okert and Dillon Overton. “You could see it was about to get real,” Tadlock said. “Those guys were going to be tough to hit.” The Sooners made back-to-back super regionals with Gray in the rotation, and he went on to become the third overall pick in the 2013 draft.

Tadlock, now the Texas Tech head coach, said Gray has always had a strong drive to achieve, which has helped him reach the major leagues.

“Jon carried himself in a way that he was going to give himself every chance to make the big leagues,” Tadlock said. “He had all the intangibles that you’re looking for.”

Michael Fulmer, rhp, Tigers

2016 Top 100 Ranking: No. 47. College commitment (high school graduation): Arkansas (2011).

Todd Butler was the recruiting coordinator at Arkansas when he got a tip from a friend about Fulmer and infielder Brian Anderson, an infielder in the Marlins’ system. At the time, they were teammates at Deer Creek High in Edmond, Okla. Butler didn’t have to see Fulmer many times before deciding to offer him. Eventually, both Fulmer and Anderson committed to Arkansas.

Butler, now head coach at Wichita State, believed in Fulmer’s projection and watched him move up draft boards the spring of his senior year.

“I felt like it would come, he threw strikes, he had an out pitch, his delivery was good,” Butler said. “Talking to area scouts and cross checkers, I felt like he was going to blow up. Once we got close to the draft, I knew.”

Fulmer was ultimately drafted 44th overall by the Mets, enough to convince him to sign. Had he made it to campus, he would have been a part of Arkansas’ 2012 College World Series team that featured Nolan Sanburn and Ryne Stanek on the pitching staff. Butler said someone texted him last year, asking if he could how good the Razorbacks’ pitching staff would have been in 2012 with Fulmer.

“I said, ‘No, because he was too good,’” Butler said with a laugh.

Fulmer was voted American League Rookie of the Year last season after going 11-7, 3.06 for the Tigers. Butler followed his progress and enjoyed one game last season when he saw a shot on TV of Fulmer pitching with James McCann catching and Logan Forsythe batting, a trio of Razorbacks recruits and former players.

“As you get older, you see so many guys that are so committed,” Butler said. “It’s awesome to follow them.”

Braden Shipley, rhp, D-backs

2016 Top 100 Ranking: No. 77. College commitment (high school graduation): Nevada (2010).

The summer following Shipley’s senior year at North Medford (Ore.) High, he was playing for his American Legion team in the Josh Anderson Memorial Tournament at Nevada’s home stadium. Chris Pfatenhauer, then the Wolfpack’s recruiting coordinator, was watching the tournament when he first saw Shipley, who spent most of the week playing shortstop.

While Pfatenhauer wasn’t interested in recruiting Shipley as a shortstop, he also pitched in relief in his team’s first game. He then threw a complete game in the championship game, working 85-88 mph with a good slider. At the time Shipley was committed to Western Nevada JC, but that quickly changed.

“The tournament ended and once they were released from team, I sat with him,” Pfatenhauer said. “We made him an offer within a week.”

Shipley ended up playing shortstop as a freshman, but Pfatenauer, now the head coach at Dixie State (Utah), said that was never the intent.

“We brought him in to pitch,” Pfatenhauer said. “For the first several weeks of fall ball he was just with the pitchers. We just weren’t very good in the middle. We put Shipley at shortstop and that stuck for the rest of that year.”

The next season, Nevada brought new middle infielders to allow Shipley to return to pitching, and he took off. He quickly became the Wolfpack’s ace and the D-backs drafted him 15th overall the next season.

Pfatenhauer said he and Shipley have maintained their relationship and enjoyed watching him in the big leagues last year.

“I always try to watch his outings and we text back and forth a little bit,” Pfatenhauer said. “By no means am I a pitching guy, so we don’t talk pitching, but we talk about pride, how proud I am of him.”

News and Notes

Atlantic Coast Conference: Georgia Tech sophomore righthander/first baseman Tristin English will miss this season due to Tommy John surgery. He wasn’t able to pitch last season, but did have an impressive freshman season at the plate, hitting .215/.351/.477 with five home runs. The Yellow Jackets’ pitching staff was hampered by injuries last season and keeping the rest of their pitchers healthy this spring will be key to their success.

Big 12 Conference: During an intersquad game last weekend, Texas welcomed back former head coaches Augie Garrido and Cliff Gustafson. The pair combined to lead the Longhorns for the last 49 years before Garrido stepped down following last season and David Pierce was hired as the new head coach. Under Garrido and Gustafson, Texas won 2,290 games and four national championships.

Forty-nine (and a half) years of Texas Baseball history. pic.twitter.com/DQCDHvDO0d

— Texas Baseball (@Texas_Baseball) February 4, 2017

Big Ten Conference: Michigan’s outfield trio of Jonathan Engelmann, Miles Lewis and Johnny Slater should be the most athletic in the conference. All three are plus runners and track down fly balls well. Engelmann (.257/.308/.321) and Slater (.207/.270/.348) are coming off tough years offensively, but have the potential to lengthen Michigan’s lineup if they can put it together at the plate. Lewis is a transfer from North Dakota, where he was the Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year last season, and will slot right into the top of the Wolverine’s lineup.

Pac-12 Conference: Arizona announced last week that Indians manager Terry Francona, who won the 1980 Golden Spikes Award during his junior year with the Wildcats, has committed $1 million to the program. The donation will help fund the Terry Francona Hitting Facility at Hi Corbett Field. Construction is slated to begin this summer.

Southeastern Conference: Longtime Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn retired following last season, and head coach Dave Van Horn hired Wes Johnson as his successor. Johnson, an Arkansas native, has had success at Dallas Baptist and Mississippi State, and Van Horn said the Razorbacks have responded well to him. “It’s a little different style, a little more modern type of pitching approach, I think,” Van Horn said. “Wes is very upbeat. So far he’s been an A+ here. It’ll show in demeanor and the way they pitch this spring.” The Razorbacks will be without righthander Keaton McKinney (1-5, 6.66) this spring, however. The junior will miss this season after suffering an elbow injury that requires Tommy John surgery.

Other conferences: Rice closer Glenn Otto has dealt with shoulder soreness during the preseason and his status for Opening Day is uncertain. He is pain free and threw a light bullpen Thursday, but Rice will proceed cautiously. Otto went 9-2, 2.26 with eight saves in 71.2 innings last season. He pitched for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team during the summer. . . Wichita State sophomore Greyson Jenista won All-Freshman honors last season as a first baseman, but will move to right field this spring. He has slimmed down to 215 pounds, down from the 240 pounds when arrived on campus, and is an average runner. Jenista (.326/.431/.471, 31 BB, 27 SO) was the Shockers’ leading hitter last season and will likely leadoff this spring.