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Baseball America
2024 Team USA Collegiate National Team Top 10 Prospects
By Carlos Collazo,
9 days ago
USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team annually puts together a roster of some of the top players in the country, giving scouts and draft fans an early preview of the best-in-class talent for next year’s class.
This year USA Baseball fielded two college rosters: an international friendship series roster composed mostly of rising juniors who will be eligible for the 2025 draft and a summer league tour roster composed mostly of rising sophomores who won’t be eligible until 2026.
Here we rank the top 10 players from the “senior” team, which isn’t quite as hitter-heavy as last year’s CNT—which featured 2024 first-rounders JJ Wehterholt, Braden Montgomery, Seaver King, Jac Caglianone and Charlie Condon—and is instead led by a pair of high-profile, high-probability starters in righthander Tyler Bremner and lefthander Jamie Arnold.
Team USA went 5-0 in their friendship series against Taiwan and then won a July 4 game against the summer league tour roster, 4-3. Team USA stats referenced include trials roster and Taiwan series games and are pulled from SynergySports.
Bremner is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound righthander who this spring with UC Santa Barbara posted a 2.54 ERA over 88.2 innings and nine starts, with a 30.2% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate. He’s one of the best pitchers in the 2025 class. With Team USA in two outings this summer he struck out six, walked two and allowed only a single hit while showing three pitches that might be plus.
Bremner works with a fluid and easy delivery that features a quick arm out of a high three-quarters slot. He averages 94-96 mph with his fastball and runs the pitch up to 98 with excellent riding life and armside run that should make it a plus offering. He has great feel to land a diving mid-80s changeup that averages more than 10 mph in separation from his fastball and has an 85-87 mph slider with hard biting action.
Arnold trailed only Chase Burns for the top pitcher in the Atlantic Coast Conference this spring and posted a 2.98 ERA over 105.2 innings and 18 starts, with a 29.6 K-BB% that was good for fifth-best in the country. A 6-foot-1, 191-pound lefthander, Arnold added plenty of power to his arsenal this spring which pairs nicely with a deceptive slot and advanced command and makes him one of the most complete arms in the class.
With Team USA in two outings Arnold struck out eight, walked three and allowed only one single. He works with a drop-and-drive action in his delivery and throws from a sidearm slot that creates an extremely low release height that amplifies his pitch mix. Arnold sits 93-95 mph with a fastball that touches 97 and features tons of run, and also mixes in a sweepy mid-80s slider, a low-80s curveball with more depth and a mid-80s changeup.
Taylor is a strong and physical outfielder with a powerful 6-foot-1, 215-pound frame who’s had a pair of tremendous offensive seasons with Indiana. He’s a career .338/.440/.660 hitter with 36 home runs for the Hoosiers and played left field and DH for Team USA this summer. While Taylor went just 7-for-27 (.259) in six games, it’s easy to see why his offensive profile is so appealing.
He employs a crouched stance in the lefthanded batter’s box with a tight bat wiggle before taking a fairly typical leg kick and hand press in his load stage. Taylor has above-average bat speed and a level plane with his swing but enough strength for home run power to all fields. He has fair contact skills but can be overly aggressive with his swing decisions—he struck out six times to no walks with a 30% chase rate with Team USA. He profiles as a corner outfielder and has mostly played left with Indiana.
Burress earned top-three-rounds consideration out of high school in the 2023 class, but ultimately made it to campus at Georgia Tech where had a Freshman of the Year campaign in 2024, when he led all freshmen with 25 home runs and slashed .381/.512/.821. He became Team USA’s leadoff hitter and primary center fielder this summer and went 9-for-24 (.375) in seven games with a pair of homers.
A 5-foot-9, 182-pound righthanded hitter, Burress uses his size to his advantage and rarely expands an already small strike zone. He chased just 15% of the time this spring—the best mark of any Team USA hitter—walked more than he struck out and has a strong combination of bat-to-ball skills and raw power that mostly plays to his pull side. An above-average runner with a strong arm, Burress has the tools to be a strong defender and stick in center field.
Bodine is the top-ranked catcher in the class and followed up a 2023 Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year season with another strong campaign as a hitter and receiver this spring. He’s a career .347/.432/.564 hitter with Coastal Carolina and shared catching duties with Troy backstop Brooks Bryan for Team USA this summer.
A 5-foot-10, 197-pound switch-hitter, Bodine stands out mostly for his bat-to-ball skills. He rarely swings and misses, has walked more than he’s struck out in his college career and with Team USA walked four times to two strikeouts with a 91% overall contact rate.
Bodine has unusual movements from both sides of the plate, specifically with a late hand raise, high back elbow and barrel tip in his load, but has made the operation work for the most part. He has a hit-over-power offensive profile and also has the above-average arm strength and solid receiving chops to stick behind the dish.
Schubart was a high-profile high school hitter who showed some of the best power upside in the 2022 prep class and has become one of college baseball’s most fearsome sluggers in two seasons with Oklahoma State. Now a 6-foot-5, 227-pound outfielder, Schubart is a career .352/.480/.743 hitter with the Cowboys who homered 23 times this spring and then led Team USA with a 1.571 OPS and five extra-base hits this summer.
Schubart has tremendous raw power and posts eye-opening exit velocities—including a 111.6 mph 90th-percentile mark this spring—but has plenty of contact questions in his game. He looks to do damage on all of his swings with fierce hacks from the left side and phenomenal bat speed but will need to improve the 63.3% contact rate he managed this spring.
While Schubart will swing and miss versus all pitch types, to his credit he has done a nice job staying within the zone on his swing decisions and walking at a high clip. He’s a definite corner outfield profile with more than enough power to profile there.
Scott is a big and broad righthander with a 6-foot-7, 247-pound frame and background as a high-profile prep prospect who ranked as a top 200 player in the 2022 class. While his career 5.57 ERA with Stanford over two seasons is unexceptional, he has solid peripherals and pure stuff to dream on. With Team USA he struck out four, walked three and allowed just two singles in two outings.
Scott throws from a high three-quarters slot and boasts a four-pitch mix, though his fastball and slider are his go-to offerings. He sits 92-94 mph with his fastball but has been up to 98 with tremendous riding life and he filled up the zone with a mid-80s two-plane breaking slider this summer. Scott also mixes in a low-80s split-changeup and 87-91 mph cutter, though both pitches need more polish.
Houston is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound shortstop who earned an early reputation as one of college baseball’s most impressive defensive infielders. After a light-hitting 2023 season with Wake Forest, Houston posted a .949 OPS this spring with Wake Forest and served as Team USA’s primary shortstop this summer. The righthanded hitter went just 3-for-19 (.158) in seven games but drew eight walks to manage a .429 on-base percentage in that time.
High-level defensive ability is the name of the game for Houston. He’s a reliable defender who has all the tools necessary to stick at shortstop and play the position at an above-average level. While he’s not a burner, he shows a quick first step with good range to both sides and pairs above-average arm strength with an advanced internal clock, no-doubt middle infield actions and footwork and impressive body control. His upside as a prospect will depend on his progress as a hitter next spring.
Witherspoon began his college career with Northwest Florida State JC but transferred to Oklahoma this spring where he posted a 3.71 ERA over 80 innings and 11 starts. He continued to perform with Team USA. In two outings he struck out eight, walked two and allowed just one single.
A 6-foot, 205-pound righthander, Witherspoon is solidly filled out now with broad shoulders and a well-developed frame. His arm action features an odd, hitch-and-hook movement in the back of his stroke but he fires to the plate with tons of arm speed from a three-quarters slot. He sits 95-96 mph with his fastball and has touched 99 with solid ride and cut. He uses a mid-to-upper-80s slider as his go-to secondary.
Witherspoon also has a firm, upper-80s changeup that he uses infrequently as well as a cutter around 90 mph. There’s some inherent reliever risk given Witherspoon’s delivery and control.
Davis has primarily pitched out of the bullpen in college but did make five starts for Oklahoma State this spring before pitching in a relief capacity for Team USA this summer. Davis appeared in three games and struck out seven of the 12 batters he faced without allowing a hit or walk. A monstrous presence on the mound, Davis is listed at 6-foot-9, 225 pounds and throws from a relatively easy delivery and three-quarters slot.
Scouts loved what they saw from Davis this summer. He averaged 95 mph and touched 100 this spring at OSU and was a tick higher on average with Team USA. His fastball might play up because his extension is above-average and his perceived velocity is likely greater than the TrackMan readings. He generated eight whiffs on 15 swings with the pitch with Team USA. He paired it with a hard mid-80s slider that was also a swing-and-miss offering.
Davis showed impressive command in his brief summer stint. He’ll need to replicate that next spring and improve on his career 13.3% walk rate.
2024 Team USA CNT Best Tools
Best Hitter: Caden Bodine Best Power: Nolan Schubart Best Plate Discipline: Drew Burress Fastest Runner: RJ Austin Most Exciting Player: Tyler Bremner Best Pitcher: Tyler Bremner Best Fastball: Tyler Bremner Best Breaking Pitch: Gabe Gaeckle Best Changeup: Tyler Bremner Best Control: Jamie Arnold Best Defensive C: Caden Bodine Best Defensive INF: Marek Houston Best Defensive OF: Drew Burress
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