Unsigned Upperclass Spotlight: Ripken Roberts

Ripken Roberts, Skyridge (UT), 2026
Positional Profile: SS/3B The #9 ranked player in the '26 Utah class, Roberts has visited a handful of D1 schools for invite prospect camps and has interest from a number. Bloodlines galore and I expect a big year this spring from Ripken! College coaches this is a name you need to remember!
Body: 6-2, 172-pounds. Roberts has the classic 6-3 170 lean athletic frame with bloodlines of his father who was drafted 3 times and played at BYU/Cardinals. Brother Kai is 6-5 215 and is a 5 tool player. Runs a 6.4 and really took off frame and size wise in college. Late bloomer type candidate here!
Hit: RHH. Bent over semi-crouched even prop stance. Loads the barrel with his hands and at times can get out of sequence with his hands loading and the timing of his front foot. Only gives credence to the projection here and family track record Flatter plane and keeps the barrel in the hitting zone. High contact and will swing through vs chase 69.7 mph bat speed with 7 G's of rotational acceleration.
Power: 98 max exit velocity, averaged 82.1 mph. 295' max distance. Latent power is expected due to the movement patterns, athleticism and barrel control, suggests pull power is coming and all fields in college
Arm: RH. INF-75 mph. Clean quick arm from SS. Arm works properly
Defense: Educated feet and a loose wrist to soften the hands. Just figuring out his frame and the base is there to potentially stay in the dirt at 3B or an offensive tall 2B'man that can really run!
ATH: 6.78 runner in the 60. Runs well for his size and only looks to improve as he fills and matures like his older brother
Vizual Edge: 83.28 Edge Score

Another surprise prospect in that he comes from a big time baseball family and saw him briefly in the spring, but I get it, when your Dad is a decorated coach, you don’t want to pump your kid, but I’ll do it for Coach Roberts. The bloodlines are thick as Father Ryan is the head coach at Skyridge and was drafted 3 times at Utah Valley U (when it was a JUCO) and BYU. Ryan played a year in the Cardinals org and was the longtime BYU Recruiting Coordinator from 2000-2012. Ripken is the younger brother to Padres top prospect Kai Roberts, who is the all-time SB leader the U of Utah and was a 7th Rd pick in 2024, who went on to hit .340 in his first taste of pro ball with a California League Championship Ring! Roberts is lean and athletic like his Dad and brother at the same age and shows the frame and build to go from 6-3 185 to potentially 6-3 210 as he matures and fills out with his man strength. Ripken ran a 6.84/60, which was the second fastest time of the event, Roberts showed an all around game with his run tool, potential ability to hit and hit with some straightaway to pull power. An athlete that plays SS and shows the soft hands and educated feet with an 80 mph arm across the INF and wasn’t selling out for a reading, but just timed up ground balls and made easy short quick release of the ball for online target accuracy. With the run tool and athleticism, one can see a timeline like his brother, where Kai eventually went from being a HS catcher to D1 3B’man, but it was his move to CF that saw the prospect come into focus and just off a short look, one can see this trajectory taking hold possibly with Ripken. Like a few others that caught my eye, it will be fun to follow Rip’s projection and development over the next two years, as he also shows the tools, athleticism and projectability to be a next level D1 prospect!