Chicago Cubs: How good were the position players in high school?

Recruiting rankings mean little if you are willing to work hard to get better.

Considering there are many multiple thousands of guys playing baseball at the high school level, maybe you aren’t exactly an underdog if you’re ranked among the 200 best.

But, considering how Anthony Rizzo panned out at the MLB level, he was far from one of those guys who peaked athletically in high school.

Rizzo and Nico Hoerner (#166)  are the most heralded guys on the list. The rest basically went from relative nobody’s in high school, continued to get better, and eventually made it to the highest level.

Victor Caratini, Daniel Descalso, David Bote, and Ian Happ weren’t ranked in PerfectGame.org top 1000 players in high school.

Victor Caratini:

Played baseball in Coamo, Puerto Rico

Perfect Game: N/R

Daniel Descalso:

Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California

MVP of his league in high school

Attended UC Davis

Perfect Game: N/R

Nico Hoerner:

Head-Royce School in Oakland, California

Four-time All-League selection and two-time league MVP; MaxPreps.org small school Player of the Year for California.

Batted .517 with six homers and 30 RBI as a senior

Perfect Game: #166

Anthony Rizzo:

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida

Perfect Game: #160

Kyle Schwarber:

Middletown High School in Middletown, Ohio

Batted .474 with eight homers and a .643 batting average as a senior. Co-Player of the Year in his league.

Played for Indiana University

Perfect Game: #385

Ian Happ:

Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

Two-time All-Section selection by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, WPIAL All-Star and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette All-Star accolades senior season.

.449 career average with 33 doubles, five triples, 12 home runs and 65 RBI in four seasons.

Attended the University of Cincinnati

Perfect Game: N/R

Baseball Factory: N/R

Steven Souza Jr. 

Cascade High School in Everett, Washington 

Perfect Game: #308

David Bote:

Erie High School in Erie, Colorado and Faith Christian Academy in Arvada, Colorado

State champion

Attended Liberty University and Neosho Community College

Perfect Game: N/R

Baseball Factory: N/R