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Who Are The Top Pitchers in the 2021 Class?

It feels like we should still be getting ready for the 2020 season rather than tying a ribbon on it. It feels like yesterday I was at Stony Brook covering their game against Iona. The next week was supposed to kick off the high school baseball season. As we know, that never happened. The next several months we were forced to watch old highlights and hope for better days. July 5 finally featured real live baseball games and since that time, it’s been a sprint to the finish line of the season.

Last night was the Northeast Elite 18U tournament which is an annual tournament at Baseball Heaven hosted by Phillies Director of International Scouting, Sal Agostinelli, which features the top teams from the region and it’s always a treat. This tournament began in 2007 when I was just a junior in high school pitching against John Franco‘s team. I had probably the best game of my life – with a two-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts in front of dozens of schools (they were there to watch the other team) and I still remember getting approached by Dan Gallagher after the game as he complimented me and asked what I got on my SAT. Sadly, Dan passed away this week at the age of 84.

The tournament did not disappoint this weekend. There was a parade of high-end players and at one point there was Matthew Canizares (Monsignor McClancy), Kyle Chase (St. John the Baptist), Brendan Williams (West Hempstead) and Tommy Ventimiglia (Longwood) as the only pitchers in the complex. All four of those pitchers are Division-I arms.

This was a long-winded start to the column but I have a lot to say this morning and I didn’t want to jump right into it.

This weekend I posted a graphic on Instagram on the top-5 pitchers in the 2021 class. After this weekend I can confidently add two more names to that elite category. Additionally, there was another publication that posed their top-15 players on Long Island. Just to be clear, we are in no way affiliated with them, nor do we endorse that list. Unfortunately, anyone with an Instagram account can be considered a journalist and that’s the blessing and the curse of social media.

This list is based off first-hand knowledge of each player. I have watched them all in-game action and in bullpen sessions. While you can argue about the order of this list, I’m not sure how anyone can actually make a case against one of them being in this category. Without further ado, here it goes.

    1. Rafe Schlesinger, Sachem East (Miami-commit)

Rafe has done nothing to hurt his reputation as being the top arm in the class. He’s arguably the best pitcher in the entire northeast. Since committing to Miami in July 2019, he’s done nothing but excel. As a sophomore on varsity, he was good but not lights-out. Had there been a 2020 high school season, he probably would’ve gone undefeated with two strikeouts per inning. Standing at 6’3 185 lbs, he has the ideal pitcher’s build. He has the clean arm action, except he’s from a lower arm slot that hitters do not enjoy seeing. He has the command and the tenacity that scouts look for. Rafe also pitches with a chip on his shoulder that Marcus Stroman always had. He likes to use any little sign of disrespect as a reason to dominate the opponent. You need that at the next level when the competition becomes fierce. This weekend he threw six no-hit innings with 15 strikeouts. He touched 91 MPH which is not even his best. I think 2021 is a special year for him and assuming he stays healthy, his future is incredibly bright.

2. Dylan Johnson, Newfield 2021 (St. John’s-commit)

I remember watching Dylan’s older brother pitch about four years ago and someone said to me, ‘wait till you see his brother – he’s only in 8th grade and he’s a stud.’ You hear those statements a lot and it’s not to say that people lie – it’s just that there’s still plenty of variables that could deter a middle schooler from becoming a great pitcher at the varsity level. Well, it turns out that might’ve actually been underselling his potential. Dylan has gotten markedly better each year and his most recent growth spurt took him from sitting in the low 80s to the low 90s and touching 92. He’s now 6’2 195 lbs and has man strength. As a sophomore, he was tasked with becoming the ace of his high school team’s rotation after an unfortunate injury took out their Division-I pitcher. He not only answered the bell, but was voted by our audience as the League III MVP. Since that time, he committed to the top baseball program in the state and has become virtually untouchable. He struck out nine against Sachem East during the highly-anticipated Town of Brookhaven Varsity Wood Bat Tournament. If we’re nitpicking, I think he maybe relied on his slider too much during that outing and I would like to see him trust his stuff because it is overwhelming. He allowed no runs in his outing this weekend. He has put himself firmly in the conversation to get drafted.

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3. Tommy Ventimiglia, Longwood (Stony Brook-commit)

After last night’s performance, I am almost tempted to move Tommy up on this list but No. 3 is still tremendously high praise. Ventimiglia achieved the highest vote of confidence from his coach last night – a game in which he took the ball in the championship against the opponent’s ace and did not bat an eyelash. The highest level of confidence, in my opinion, is that we would rather have you pitching at less than 100 percent than our bullpen. He went 9 innings, struck out 17 batters and allowed just four hits. He worked out of a 2nd & 3rd, 1 out jam in the 7th. He walked nobody. He proved his mettle once again and was rewarded with the victory. He can use any of his pitches to record a strikeout and has no fear in big moments.

When he committed to Stony Book, I was not shocked but a bit surprised because at the time he was mainly pitching in the low 80s and it wasn’t a certainty that he would reach that next tier of velocity. Credit to the Stony Brook coaching staff for realizing that potential and they will be rewarded with at least three years of his services. He was coming off a phenomenal sophomore season at the varsity level in which he not only worked his way into the rotation, not only became the staff ace, but also proved his was willing and capable of taking the ball on short rest to close out ballgames when needed. There’s not much more that you can do as a pitcher.

Next year he enters the season as one of the early favorites to capture the Paul Gibson Award, along with No. 1 & 2 on this list.

Ventimiglia has pro potential, the build of a pro pitcher and most importantly – he expects greatness from himself every time he takes the mound.

4. Jacob Steinmetz, HAFTR (Fordham-commit)

I was unfamiliar with Steinmetz before he announced his commitment to Fordham. He remained under-the-radar for much of the year. He attends the Hebrew Academy of the 5 Towns and Rockaway. I watched him for the first time back in September and it’s not just the 6’5 build you are impressed by but his repeatable mechanics and his incredibly sharp breaking ball. From a scouting perspective you can make the case he belong No. 2 on this list because of his size and ability to spin the ball. In this age of baseball, sometimes those two aspects are simply enough to justify drafting a kid. A high spin rate goes a long way in the modern game. The bottom line, though, is that I have just not seem enough game action from Steinmetz and it’s to no fault of his own he can’t control where he grew up or what league his high school plays in. He has forced everyone to take notice of him, though, and that’s a testament to him.

5. J.T. Raab, MacArthur (Stony Brook-commit)

Sometimes I feel like an idiot when I miss out on a kid. I had not seen Raab in a game until this year and I feel like I should’ve done a little more research on him and it would’ve clearly showed he was the real deal. He is not much of a self-promoter so there was no videos going around social media. He kept to himself and when the time came, he dominated when it mattered and Stony Brook rewarded him with a scholarship.

On July 21 he threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts and was committed by July 30. He has been the unheralded x-factor of that pitching staff of aces. I watched him last night and he was lights-out yet again. The comparison I keep coming back to is a mini Noah Syndergaard. Besides having the blonde hair like him, he has the same balance point and the same arm action. The ball explodes out of his hand – not at 98 – at 88 MPH and he commands it to all quadrants of the strike zone. I’m not sure if it’s by design (hopefully it is) but he seems to get a lot of strikeouts on fastballs up out of the zone. That’s impossible to hit and very hard to lay off as a hitter when you know a pitcher is usually around the strike zone and then expands only when necessary. Raab is going to dominate in 2021 and with his command, I think a bright future at Stony Brook is in store.

Honorable Mentions: Brendan Williams (West Hempstead), John Rizzo (East Islip), Tyler O’Neill (Mepham), Donald Lent (Deer Park)

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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