Georgia 2024 Rankings Update: The Top-10
August 22, 2022
The 2022 summer circuit has come to a close. It was a busy two months,for our staff and thousands of prospects across the state. With all that has transpired, it is an appropriate time to revisit the rankings. The 2024 class is already shaping up to be as good as any that has come out of the Peach State in recent years. The top-250 is deep, loaded with hidden gems, which we will help shine a light on in the coming days. For now, we want to take a deep dive into the top-10. The No. 1 and No. 2 prospects in the state remain the same, but we have plenty of movement in the rest, with a few new faces.
The Top-10
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Michael Mullinax OF / North Cobb Christian, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 1 / POS: 1
Georgia Commit. 6-foot-1, 190-pounds. Mullinax is right on pace with the Joneses and Johnson’s as a prospect. The physically advanced beast is just advanced mentally. He has impressive plate discipline, showing a good feel for pitcher’s tendencies and rarely chasing out of the zone. To have a power hitter who’s just as content taking a walk as hitting a bomb at his age is pretty special in this day & age of OPS (on base plus slugging %). His toe tap is so timed up it seems to control the pitcher he’s facing. With his closed off hips & shoulders creating torque as he gains ground in stride, he lands backside dominant, then works forward to his center of balance, unleashing violent cuts. The beast creates lift on the ball with his hips, getting low as possible and clearing them on an incline. His hands & core are so connected with hips, that his swing path follows the same plane. Mullinax has 3 standout tools that will play every day (++ run, field, ++throw), and pure hitter capabilities to go with his ridiculous raw power. |
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Bryce Clavon SS / OF / Kell, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 2 / POS: 1
Uncommitted. Clavon is possibly the top two sport athlete in the country as standout shortstop on the diamond and quarterback on the gridiron. There is not a single thing that Clavon does that can’t be described as explosive. The bat, the hands, the arm, the feet, it is all next level. One of the top hitters in the country, Clavon’s swing works short and compact to the zone with elite bat speed. He gets level and extended, letting him use all of the force his powerful, twitchy lower half generates. The ball jumps off the bat to all fields. He has advanced bat to ball skills, routinely extending at-bats or drawing walks. It is a professional approach. An elite runner, he can fly around the diamond and is a constant threat to run. His speed also lends itself to the defensive side where Clavon has elite range and a huge arm. |
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Arnold Abernathy Jr SS / North Cobb, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 3 / POS: 2
Tennessee commit. 5-foot-10, 160-pounds. Abernathy burst onto the scene this past spring at North Cobb with his explosive left-handed swing and game changing speed. He only continued to impress into the summer, and left many scouts/coaches walking away from the PBR Future Games believing he was the top prospect at the event. From top to bottom, there is a level of athleticism few prospects possess. At the plate, he is naturally explosive. There is smooth rhythm as he builds up his swing. He creates good separation with his hands and fires his hips through with elite pace. The hands create easy effort bat speed, allowing him to drive the ball to all fields. What takes him to another level is his bat to ball skills, knowing his elite speed is a weapon. Abernathy can beat the ball into the ground when he wants and blaze a trail down the line to snag a single. Once on base, he is one of the country’s most dangerous baserunners. There is an ability to read pitchers and get jumps that few in the class have. He can steal a bag against some of the top catchers in the country. Finally, you get to the defensive side of things, where Abernathy excels. His athleticism shines once more, allowing for him to have elite range and make highlight reel type plays look easy. There are no questions about his arm strength, and there is a savvy confidence to his fielding. |
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Ford Thompson LHP / Parkview , GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 4 / POS: 1
Georgia Commit. 6-foot, 175-pounds. This nasty lefty is an exciting blend of athleticism, arm speed, and pitchability. He has one of the more explosive deliveries in the country. It’s a near perfect gradual buildup of momentum, promoting ease of operation and arm health. The pace is slow to square up, medium through up+down+out phases, and fast after landing. This allows for optimal backside connection with the arm and big muscles, which projects much more velo for Thompson. Pitching is keeping control, balance & sequence before landing, and being in a good position to throw with late violence+extension after landing. Ford has these pitching absolutes figured out at a young age before his physical ceiling. This is a testament to athleticism, work ethic, and passion for the position. He can be even more effective with his angles if he moves to the right side of the rubber, which would cause him to be more on top of LHH, and even tougher to track for RHH. His deep, full circle AA is very smooth from a low ¾ slot and creates a nasty late tail on his 89-91 FB that plays up due to extension & angle. His sweeping 70-72 CB is sharp with two plane depth and it works to both side of the plate. |
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Erik Parker SS / North Gwinnett, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 5 / POS: 3
South Carolina Commit. 6-foot-3, 185-pounds. Without question one of the most projectable athletes in the country who drips standout tools. The actions he shows in all facets are very natural and simplified. He can manipulate the barrel to any pitch in any zone, and has the long levers to square up pitches outside the zone. The swing mechanics are smooth and he creates easy momentum with the lower half, allowing him to leverage the front side. He repeats his hand trigger and launch position extremely well, promoting a consistent and lofty bat path. Parker has plenty of potential as a defender - his footwork is coordinated and he has smooth hands with a subtle push through the ball. His exchange is very impressive for his size and has the cannon arm to go with it that will surely be plus or better. An above avg runner now, his career can go two ways successfully. He can go the lean, twitchy route and become an exciting 5 tool SS/CF. Or, he can bulk up as a 3B, focus more on the hit tool and reach his top of the scale power potential. Either way we’re in. Big ceiling on the mound as well! |
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Duke Stone RHP / Jeff Davis, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 6 / POS: 1
Georgia commit. Not much has changed for the 6-foot-5, 205-pound mountain of a right-handed pitcher. As we said in our last update, “Stone has a whip-like arm, using his long arms to get good extension. This allows for his present 90 mph fastball to play even harder. Stone has all the makings to be the next big power arm out of the Peach State as he continues to fill out his extra large frame.” He remains at No. 6 overall, and the No. 1 RHP, largely because he has developed the offspeed pitches. The slider can play in the upper 70s and has flashed sharp, swing and miss action. He can actually take some off into a more slurvish pitch. Plus, Stone can mix in a fading changeup when he wants to. Given his length and extension, the offspeed will play up at all times. The biggest weapon will remain his fastball, that has the potential to be one of the hardest in the entire class. |
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Rustan Rigdon SS / RHP / Metter, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 7 / POS: 4
Vanderbilt commit. Rigdon established himself as one of the top hitters in the country at the 2021 PBR Future Games, and has only elevated his game since then. There is no fear in Rigdon, no situation that is too big, he is as unflappable as they come. A switch-hitter, he carries that calm, cool, collected demeanor into the box. His timing is near perfect every at-bat. He uses a controlled toe-tap stride and an athletic cocking of the hands to get timed up and on plane. From there, he can spray the ball to all fields with no effort, almost nonchalantly. The part that really separates him is he can do it from both sides equally as well. There is no weaker side at the plate. He showed glimpses of it this summer, but as he continues to fill out and grow into his 5-foot-11, 165–pound frame, the power production will emerge in a forceful way. On the infield, there may not be a better, more consistent shortstop than Rigdon. He makes plays with easy effort and has plenty of arm. |
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BJ Gibson OF / Wilcox County , GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 8 / POS: 2
Tennessee commit. The National Program Invitational (NPI) earlier this summer gave Gibson an opportunity to showcase why he was one of the top 2024s in the country in front of our national scouting staff. PBR Vice President of Scouting Shooter Hunt had this to say following the NPI, “Gibson’s sheer physicality and athleticism are instantly appealing on the diamond, and combined with the eye-opening outputs that he produces, he has the tools to blossom into a big prospect in the class. The 6-foot, 175-pound outfielder sports lean, defined strength throughout an uber-projectable frame, and presents plenty of twitch in all facets of the game including the ability to build bat speed in a short window while producing big exit velocities that registered as high as 101.7 mph in game for 5 Star National. Setup in an athletic crouch from the right side, the hands work fairly smoothly into a deeper load before exploding the barrel through the zone. There is some rawness to the approach, but Gibson has lots of unteachable characteristics including the chance to be a plus-runner in the future. Overall, the Tennessee recruit is clearly a name to know in the class, and one that will be followed closely in coming years.” |
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Terrence Kiel II OF / Pace Academy, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 9 / POS: 3
Uncommitted. This future impact defender in CF has easily one of the fastest bats in the country. It could aggressively be argued that this 2 sport star is the best HS athlete in our state regardless of class or sport. Kiel has every skill needed to become a 5 tool monster at the game's highest level. “TK” has unreal swing mechanics and nothing he needs to fix in that domain. This allows his tools to consistently show in game, instead of just dreaming on him. Most HS hitters (even top prospects) don’t have a feel for sinking into their legs and staying down thru the swing, it's usually learned in college or MILB. Kiel looks to have been doing this his whole life. His hip fluidity can time him up with any arm, and his perfect separation creates big torque. Creates serious lag out of launch position and the knob leads his short swing, producing ridiculous barrel acceleration. Being so mechanically advanced with a solid approach - he can now focus on pitch recognition, and plate discipline. Although raw in those areas, we’ve seen good improvement this summer. Kiel brings just as much excitement to an evaluator defensively with ridiculous instincts, range, and jumping ability. He might be most exciting on the basepaths, where he forces bad throws from C/P/IF/OF in all situations and gets easy jumps on the basepaths with incredibly quick acceleration. Kiel told us this spring he was coming for the Top 10, and here he is!
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Owen Hancock RHP / Worth County, GA / 2024Rankings StateRank: 10 / POS: 2
Ole Miss Commit. 6-foot-3, 165-pounds. We couldn’t be more excited about this prototype RHS from down near Tifton. This future flamethrower has a good mix of movement and feel in his arsenal, along with the best, most balanced delivery in the class. It starts with his offset windup that allows him to square up easily, and a slight bend in knees that keeps him on the legs from start to finish. His footwork is very repeatable in a small area, keeping his chest over the balls of feet with great direction (consistent line) to the plate. All of this allows him to move through his delivery at a very quick pace, suffocating hitters. Hancock’s fast pace promotes less thinking, more strike throwing, and a great rhythm that can last for innings on end. It only gets better, as he’s got one of the better arm actions in the class as well! Owen has a near perfect mid depth AA that moves extremely efficiently with a gradual buildup of momentum. Its very consistent, and it stays connected to the biggest muscles (hamstrings, glutes, obliques, chest, etc) so it never fires alone. This allows him to repeat his release point on all pitches, making him much more unpredictable and advanced. He tunnels 3 pitches better than anyone in the class. His late running FB works in the low 90’s early in starts, with steep downhill plane that forces hitters to steepen barrel angle to have any shot at matching plane. He’s got a power CB in the 78-80 range with tight rotation and late bite that flashes 2 plane depth. He has a downer 82-84 CH that is very tough to recognize. This one is far from done developing!
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