How Close Was Arizona Wildcats Baseball to Claiming Top 25 Recruiting Class?
The Arizona Wildcats have a great history when it comes to baseball. Each year, the program consistently brings in great talent.
But, was their Class of 2024 talented enough for the Wildcats to finish in the Top 25 of Perfect Game’s final rankings?
Not quite. Arizona ended up No. 26, finishing just outside that Top 25 line. The Wildcats’ in-state rival, Arizona State, was No. 13.
These rankings were finalized after the MLB Draft once Perfect Game knew which players were signing pro contracts and which ones were still headed to college. From there, the site used the rankings created by PgCrossChecker to assign points to each of their Top 500 players, along with “high follow” players that were outside the Top 500.
Arizona came in with 70 points, bolstered by 27 points allocated to the Wildcats’ top two recruits, which were among the Top 100 players in Perfect Game’s player rankings.
That included Mason Russell, who was ranked No. 16. The versatile player, who can pitch, play infield and outfield, is one of several in-state recruits, as he played his prep ball in Queen Creek, Ariz.
He was drafted in the 20th round of the MLB Draft but opted to start his college career instead.
That should help the Wildcats, who are coming off a 36-23 campaign with a 20-10 record in the Pac-12, the program’s final year in the conference.
The Wildcats will play its first Big 12 Conference season in February.
Arizona’s other Top 100 player was a right-handed pitcher and outfielder named Smith Bailey, who is also Arizona-based and out of Mountain Ridge High School in Peoria.
The Wildcats nearly had a third player in the Top 100, which probably would have pushed the class into the Top 25. Tucson local Gunner Geile, who was ranked No. 105, played his prep baseball at IMG Academy and opted to return home.
Arizona had four other players ranked in the Top 500 were Jackson Forbes (No. 229), who also played at Mountain Ridge in Peoria; Anthony Lira (No. 351), who played for Oakmont in Citrus Heights, Calif.; Jack Sharp (No. 398), who played for Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas; and Salvador Valenzuela (No. 431), who played at Nogales, Ariz.
Transfers like Samford’s Aaron Walton and Rutgers pitcher Christian Coppola should help Arizona compete in its new conference, along with holdover players like Owen Kramkowski, Bryce McKnight and Zach Plasschaert. All three played with Walton in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
Earlier this year the Wildcats announced its fall exhibition schedule.
Arizona will play in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta in a doubleheader on Oct. 3 at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats will also host two premier Arizona-based programs at Hi Corbett Field — Pima Community College on Oct. 12 and Central Arizona College on Oct. 18.
MATT POSTINS