MLB Draft Combine notes: Bryce Rainer not feeling the pressure, Jack Findlay returns

PHOENIX — The spotlight has been bright on Bryce Rainer since he was a freshman. That year, he helped lead Harvard-Westlake High School to a CIF-Southern District Section Division I title, throwing a complete game in the tournament semifinals. The title was the second in school history, a history that includes future MLB stars Jack Flaherty, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito.

Scouts have flocked to see Rainer play over the past four years, but instead of withering under the criticism, he has done well. He played at the National High School Invitational earlier this spring and hit a career-best .505 during his senior season while leading Harvard-Westlake to the CIF-SS finals. Although the stakes continued to rise each year as he got closer to draft eligibility, Rainer never let the pressure get to him.

“I really tried not to think about it too much,” he said Wednesday at the MLB Draft Combine. “At the end of the day it’s just a ranking. It doesn’t really mean much. You can rise and fall as easily as anyone else. I just look at it as playing the sport I love, and if that comes with rankings, with success, then that’s great.”

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Rainer entered this season as one of the top high school prospects in the class of 2024, and he was the top high school player listed in Keith Law’s latest top-100 prospect ratingcoming in at No. 8. Law has Rainer going No. 7 to the St. Louis Cardinals his latest test design.

His confidence in his abilities allowed Rainer to make a surprising decision after his freshman season. Instead of continuing to play a two-way role for Harvard-Westlake, Rainer opted to focus on being a position player. He didn’t pitch at all in his sophomore season and then threw only a handful of innings in his junior and senior seasons. Although Rainer intrigued many scouts with his 90-mph fastball, his status as a prospect only grew as he developed himself as a smooth shortstop with an above-average arm, hit feel and power potential from the left side.

But has he ruled out pitching altogether? Rainer left that door open.

“It’s definitely something I would reconsider,” he says of the decision to retire from pitching full-time. “I pitched a little bit this year, but we just felt like it wasn’t really necessary to throw some innings early in high school.”

Regardless of whether he ever pitches again, Rainer figures he’ll head to professional baseball (or college if he chooses to honor his commitment to Texas) as a shortstop. The 6-foot-4 Rainer grew up a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and drew a lot of attention from another tall, left-handed swinging shortstop: former Dodgers and current Rangers star Corey Seager. Rainer points to Seager and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder (and SoCal native) Christian Yelich as players he has tried to emulate over the years.

Rainer is an excellent athlete, but although he played a little basketball in his youth, baseball has always been his greatest love.

“I remember watching a game on TV as a kid and thinking, I want to play that sport,” he said. “I haven’t looked back since.”

Rainer has had the chance to score in a few Major League games now, but as he looked at Chase Field on Wednesday, he admitted it’s still surreal for him to be on a Major League field.

“It’s a deal that’s coming true,” he said with a smile.

Notre Dame lefty Jack Findlay returns to the mound

Left-hander Jack Findlay got a chance to throw in front of scouts on Wednesday, about 14 months removed from the Tommy John surgery that cost him half of his 2023 season and the entire year. The redshirt sophomore out of Notre Dame was one of the Fighting Irish’s best players as a freshman in 2022 and helped lead the team to the College World Series. He had a 2.17 ERA in 49 2/3 innings in 2022, making eight starts and twelve relief appearances. He continued that hybrid role in 2023 and had a 3.79 ERA in 40 1/3 innings at the time of his injury. In 90 career innings at Notre Dame, he has a 108:27 K:BB.

Findlay has two years of eligibility remaining, but will turn 22 on August 18. The New Jersey native threw four different types of pitches in his 14-pitch bullpen session: a four-seam fastball, a slider, a curveball and a changeup. His fastball reached a top speed of 90.3 miles per hour.

Jack Findlay, who helped Notre Dame get to Omaha as a freshman in 2022 but had Tommy John surgery midway through the 2023 season, is back on the mound at the Combine: pic.twitter.com/KaDT95I9eF

— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) June 19, 2024

Pitching performance: Dennis Colleran leads a hard-throwing group

• Northeastern right-handed reliever Dennis Colleran had an ugly 7.97 ERA in 40 2/3 innings this season in his return from Tommy John surgery, but he struck out 46 while walking 18, lowering his BB/9 from 9.0 in 2022 to 4.0 this season. Home runs hurt Colleran, as he allowed nine.

On Wednesday, he led the rankings in fastball velocity, throwing a four-seamer at 99.2. He also threw a sinker at 98.6. He mixed in several other four-seamers and sinkers from the 90s and threw a cutter that ranged from 91.4-90.7 and a changeup at 88.

• Lefty Brandon Clarke started his collegiate career at Alabama, but after redshirting in 2022, he transferred to two-year State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. Clarke threw just 3 2/3 innings in his first season, but made 14 starts this year, posting a 4.36 ERA and a 107:35 K:BB in 74 1/3 innings. At 6-4, 220, he cut an imposing figure on the mound Wednesday and showed off an arsenal of power, with a four-seam fastball that topped out at 98, a high-80s changeup and a high-70s curveball.

• Grant Knipp spent most of his collegiate career behind the plate with Campbell, but he appeared in four games as a pitcher this season and showed impressive speed on the mound on Wednesday. He threw eight fastballs and five were between 97.2 and 97, with the other two coming in at 96.6 and 95.5. He also threw three changeups, two sliders and a curveball. The 22-year-old could be an interesting senior signing selection late in Day 2 for a team that believes in arm strength.

• Brock Moore transferred to Oregon from two-year Menlo College this year, and the 6-6 right-hander had a 5.81 ERA in 31 innings with a 52:20 K:BB for UO. He threw a mix of sinkers and four-seamers on Wednesday, most of which were thrown 96 or higher. It reached a top speed of 98.1 mph. Moore also had a cut fastball, a changeup and a slider.

Highlights: Samuel Richardson builds on solid HS Showcase performance

• Samuel Richardson, a third baseman from Lewisburg High School in Mississippi, hit the two hardest balls during the High School Series Showcase game Tuesday night, with an exit velocity of 110 mph. He performed solidly in batting practice on Wednesday, producing three exit velocities above 100 (108.3, 103.7 and 102.5). One of his blasts traveled 100 yards. Richardson is committed to Texas.

• Two-way player Tague Davis recorded exit velocities above 100 on 10 of his 11 hits during BP, with a top velocity of 112.3. He hit one majestic blast at 175.3 km per hour and it traveled a distance of 120 meters, with a projected distance of 126 meters and a launch angle of 28 degrees. Davis threw a bullpen later in the day and the 6-3 left-hander/first baseman reached a top speed of 90.2 mph. Davis is the son of former big leaguer and current Phillies broadcaster Ben Davis. The Malvern Prep (Penn.) alum is committed to Louisville.

• South Alabama outfielder Joseph Sullivan led all batters with four balls hit faster than 110 mph. Mississippi State first baseman Hunter Hines was the distance leader, hitting one blast from 440 feet (107.6 exit velocity/31 degree launch angle) and another 424 feet (110.1 exit velocity/30 degree launch angle).

• UC-Irvine outfielder Myles Smith hit a career-high 10 home runs for the Anteaters this season. On Wednesday he hit one ball 100 yards directly into the pool, right center.

(Photo of Rainer at the NHSI this spring: Tracy Proffitt/Four Seam Images via Associated Press)