Justin O'Connor
Rumors

The 2010 high school pitching class is very talented and most of the talk has been centered around possible Top 5 pick, Jameson Taillon.  However, as Jason Churchill from espn.com points out, there are a number of other high school pitchers who could be selected in the first round.  One player who is threatening to break into the Top 10 along with Taillon is Karsten Whitson.

Though he took the loss in his first start of the season, Whitson struck out the side in the first two innings and threw his fastball 94-92, touched 96 and has a sharp slider.  "He was pretty much as advertised," said the scout who watched the outting. "The fastball was consistent, and he worked both sides."

Karsten Whitson could be a Top 10 pick in June

Other possible high school pitchers would could be taken in the first round include:

• AJ Cole, Ovideo High School, FL: Sits comfortably in the low 90s and has touched as high as 96 mph. He combines athleticism, velocity and movement with a decent curveball and developing change to dominate high school hitters
• Dylan Covey, Marantha High School, GA: Covey has one of the best breaking balls in the 2010 class; a sharp breaker with excellent depth and well above average velocity in the 78-81 mph range.

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Jason Churchill of espn.com recently took a look at the top high school players that could end up first-round draft picks when MLB amateur draft gets started in June.  Previously we reviewed Jason's analysis of collegiate first rounders.

• Jameson Taillon figures to be the top high school player, pitcher or hitter, taken in the draft.  He could likely go as high as the #1 overall pick depending upon how his spring goes.
• AJ Cole (Ovideo HS, FL) and Karsten Whitson (Chipley HS, FL) both made Keith Law's Top 50 and will go in the first round.
• Other high school pitchers expected to be selected in the first round include Kaleb Cowart (Cook County HS, GA), Andrew Smith (Rosewell HS, GA), Kevin Gausman (Grandview HS, CO) and Justin O'Connor (Cowan HS, IN).

Kevin Gausman figures to be a first round draft pick in June

• Stetson Allie (St. Edwards HS, OH) will likely go in the first round, the question is whether a team will select him as a pitcher or a hitter.
• Kris Bryant (Bonanza HS, NV) and Josh Sale (Bishop Blanchett HS) both figure to be taken in the top half of the first round.
• Nick Castellanos (Archbishop Mccarthy HS, FL), Manny Machado (Brito HS, FL), Marcus Littlewood (Pineview HS, UT) and Chad Lewis (Marina HS, CA) are all possibilities for the first round

USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars had plenty of 2010 draft talent in attendance and Keith Law of espn.com gives us a review of how they played.

• Bryce Harper lived up to his recent scouting report and struck out twice by not being patient with the pitchers attempting to pitch around him.
• Jameson Taillon from the Woodlands HS in Texas was tracking at 90-94mph on his fastball and a good slider. His curveball and changeup were also decent.
• Kris Bryant from Bonanza HS in Las Vegas showed plenty of power from the right side of the plate along with an arm to throw from third base.
• Brian Ragira out of Martin HS in Texas showed great wrists and the ability to stay inside the ball to generate power with his swing.
• Marcus Littlewood from Pineview HS in Utah was very deft at the shortstop position, demonstrating very smooth hands.
• Nick Castellanos out of Archbishop McCarthy HS in Florida had great power on anything below mid-thigh, but struggled with pitches up in the zone.
• Sam Wilson from El Dorado HS in New Mexico uses an upper cut swing to generate good power, but needs to adjust that to hit higher quality pitching and can do so without sacrificing power.
• Yordy Cabrera from Lakeland HS in Florida is very athletic, playing both thirdbase and RHP. While he has nice power he needs to improve his plate discipline.
• Justin O'Connor plays infield and pitches for Cowan HS in Muncie, IN and while considered more of a prospect as a pitcher, did not throw at the tournament. Nevertheless, he demonstrated one of the most disciplined swings at the tournament. "He is, in the words of one scout who has seen him aI few times, 'obnoxiously talented.'"

The 2010 MLB Draft class might not have the star power at the top that the 2009 MLB Draft class did (Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Ackley) or be as loaded as the 2011 draft class (Sports Illustrated coverboy Bryce Harper, Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen) but there's plenty of talent to track.

College Bats

• Bryce Brentz, OF, Middle Tennessee State
• Christian Colon, SS, Cal-State Fullerton
• Derek Dietrich, SS/3B, Georgia Tech
• Yasmani Grandal, C, Miami
• Josh Rutledge, SS, Albama
• Ross Wilson, 3B, Albama
• Blake Forsythe, C, Tennessee
• Leon Landry, OF, LSU
• Andy Wilkins, 1B, Arkansas
• Micah Gibbs, C, LSU

College Arms

• Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU
• Justin Grimm, RHP, Georgia
• Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi
• Nick Tepesch, RHP, Missouri
• Matt Harvey, RHP, UNC
• Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, Oregon State
• Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State
• Kyle Blair, RHP, San Diego
• Chris Hernandez, LHP, Miami
• Brandon Workman, RHP, Texas
• Chad Bettis, RHP, Texas
• Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State

High School Bats

• Trey Griffin, OF, Martin Luther King HS, GA
• Austin Wilson, Harvard-Westlake School, CA
• Kris Bryant, SS/3B, Bonanza HS, NV
• Krey Bratsen, OF, Bryan HS, TX
• Nick Castellanos, 3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL
• Yordy Cabrera, SS/RHP, Lakeland HS, FL
• Reggie Golden, Wetumpka HS, AL
• Taylor Lindsay, OF, Desert Mountain HS, AZ
• Marcus Littlewood, SS, Pineview HS, UT

High School Arms

• AJ Cole, RHP, Oveida HS, FL
• Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS, TX
• Stetson Allie, RHP/SS, St. Edward HS, OH
• Zach Lee, RHP, McKinney HS, TX
• Justin O'Connor, RHP/SS, Cowan HS, IN
• Kevin Gausman, RHP, Grandview HS, CO
• Rudy Acosta, RHP, Mt. Miguel HS, CA
• Cam Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HS, GA