A pair of California outfielders head the list of the nation's top 100 baseball players.
Video: Preseason baseball rankings - Oxford (MS)Oxford's Thomas Dillard is on the list of Top 100 seniors.Blake Rutherford and
Mickey Moniak, a pair of outfielders from California, top MaxPreps' list of the top 100 senior baseball players in the United States for 2016.
Rutherford is an outfielder from
Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), who batted .435 last year with four home runs. Moniak is a center fielder from
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), who batted .426 last year.
Both Rutherford and Moniak are highly decorated, each earning a trip to the Perfect Game All-American Classic last summer and playing on the same team as members of Team USA 18U that won the World Cup in September. Rutherford and Moniak are also expected to be among the first high school position players chosen in the Major League Baseball draft in June.
The California duo outranks a pair of pitchers who are expected to be the top two high school players chosen in the draft.
Jason Groome of
Barnegat (N.J.) is regarded as the top overall draft prospect. He played at IMG Academy last year, but he has returned to his hometown in New Jersey for his senior season.
Photos by: K. Owens, V. Pugliese, R. Schmoke
Meanwhile
Riley Pint of
Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.) is expected to be the second high school player chosen in the MLB draft. Groome played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic last year while Pint pitched in the Under Armour All-American Game.
Kevin Gowdy of
Santa Barbara (Calif.), a pitcher who was also a team member with Rutherford and Moniak on Team USA 18U, rounds out the top five players.
The top 100 seniors are chosen by MaxPreps based on several factors,
including postseason honors, statistics, recruiting rankings and draft
projections. The list can be found here:
MaxPreps 2016 Top 100 Senior Baseball Players
