The highlight has burned brightly on Bryce Rainer ever since he was a freshman. That yr, he helped lead Harvard-Westlake Excessive College to a CIF-Southern District Part Division I title, throwing a whole sport within the semifinal of the event. The title was the second at school historical past, a historical past that features future MLB stars Jack Flaherty, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, amongst others.
Scouts have flocked to observe Rainer play for the previous 4 years, however reasonably than wither underneath the scrutiny, he has thrived. He starred on the Nationwide Excessive College Invitational earlier this spring and hit a career-best .505 throughout his senior season, whereas main Harvard-Westlake to the CIF-SS remaining sport. Although the stakes have continued to rise yearly as he’s moved nearer to being draft-eligible, Rainer has by no means let the stress trouble him.
“I actually tried not to consider it an excessive amount of,” he mentioned final month on the MLB Draft Mix. “On the finish of the day, it’s only a rating. It doesn’t actually imply a lot. You possibly can rise and fall as simply as anybody else. I simply give it some thought as taking part in the game that I like, and if rankings include that, with success, then that’s superior.”
Rainer entered this season as one of the vital extremely regarded highschool abilities within the 2024 class, and he was the highest highschool participant listed in Keith Regulation’s most up-to-date top-100 prospects ranking, coming in at No. 8. Regulation has Rainer going with the No. 7 decide to the St. Louis Cardinals in his newest mock draft.
His confidence in his talents allowed Rainer to make a stunning choice after his freshman season. Quite than proceed to play a two-way position for Harvard-Westlake, Rainer elected to deal with being a place participant. He didn’t pitch in any respect his sophomore season after which threw solely a handful of innings his junior and senior seasons. Although Rainer intrigued loads of scouts together with his 96 mph fastball, his prospect standing solely grew as he established himself as a clean fielding shortstop with an above-average arm, a really feel to hit and energy potential from the left facet.
However has he dominated out pitching altogether? Rainer has left that door open.
“It’s positively one thing I might rethink,” he says of the choice to cease pitching full-time. “I threw a little bit bit this yr, however we simply felt there wasn’t actually a have to exit and throw a bunch of innings early on in highschool.”
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MLB Draft Mix notes: Bryce Rainer not feeling the stress, Jack Findlay returns