The spotlight has been on Bryce Rainer since he was a freshman. That year, he helped Harvard-Westlake High School win the CIF Southern Section Division I championship and played the entire game in the tournament semifinals. It was the second championship in a school history that includes future MLB stars Jack Flaherty, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, among others. .
Scouts have flocked to watch Lehner play over the past four years, but instead of withering under the scrutiny, he has thrived. He performed well at the National High School Invitational Tournament 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 increased each year as he got closer to draft eligibility, Lehner never let the pressure get to him.
“I really try not to think too much about it,” he said at the MLB Draft Combine last month. “At the end of the day, it’s just a ranking. It doesn’t really mean anything. You can get up and down just as easily as anyone else. I just think it’s about playing a sport that I love, and if the rankings come with that and the success, that’s great .
Renner enters the season as one of the most highly regarded high school talents in the class of 2024, and was the top high school player listed at No. 8 in Keith Law’s most recent Top 100 Prospects rating. Moving on in his most recent mock draft, he was selected seventh overall by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Confidence in his abilities led Lehner to a surprising decision after his freshman season. Rather than continuing to play a two-way role at Harvard-Westlake, Renner chose to focus on becoming a position player. He didn’t pitch during his sophomore season and only pitched a few innings during his junior and senior seasons. While Lehner has attracted many scouts with his 96 mph fastball, his prospects have grown as he develops into a smooth outfield shortstop with an above-average arm, feel and power potential in the left side. status can be improved.
But has he completely ruled out pitching? Reyna left that door open.
“It’s definitely something I would reconsider,” he said of the decision to stop pitching full-time. “I pitched a little bit this year, but we just didn’t feel the need to go out and pitch a lot of innings early in high school.”
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MLB draft combine notes: Bryce Rainer not feeling pressure, Jack Findlay returns
