(I’m still not sure what format I like best, but we’ll start with a quick ranking of 2016 MLB Draft prospects and then transition into team-by-team follow lists. I tried to cover the bulk of the analysis with yesterday’s post, but still feel weird about doing a ranking/list post without the accompanying commentary. We’ll figure this out yet…)

The Southland Conference had 19 players selected in last year’s draft. That’s good for thirteen straight years of double-digit draftees. I’ll guarantee a fourteenth right now. Seeing as that’s not particularly bold, I’ll go a step further (farther?) and predict that the 2016 total of Southland MLB Draft selections will push past last year’s rjght up into the twenties. Much like last year’s group, I think this year will wind up as a pitching-heavy draft haul. My confidence in the hitting ranking extends only past the first few names — we’ll say Menard is the cut-off point — yet at the same time I wouldn’t be shocked to see a dozen or more pitchers off the board with little hesitation from pro scouting departments.

I won’t pretend to know the ebbs and flows of the Southland Conference any better than a guy who tries to cover an entire country’s worth of prospects by himself can, but I feel comfortable in saying that 2016 looks like a good year for the league. I’m excited for it, if nothing else. I’m particularly intrigued to see if either of my current top prospects — Jameson Fisher or Jake Smith — can beat last year’s top draft finisher (Grant Borne) as a seventh round selection. Others could rise up obviously, but I think if Fisher’s arm proves healthy and effective enough to withstand the rigors of catching by mid-season and Smith’s arm is electric as the early reports indicate then there’s a real shot.

Hitters

1. Southeastern Louisiana rJR C/1B Jameson Fisher
2. Lamar SR SS Stijn van derMeer
3. Southeastern Louisiana SR 2B/3B Daniel Midyett
4. Northwestern State SR 1B/OF Cort Brinson
5. Southeastern Louisiana JR OF Jacob Seward
6. Southeastern Louisiana JR SS/2B Kennon Menard
7. Central Arkansas SR SS Logan Preston
8. Southeastern Louisiana JR 2B Carson Crites
9. Southeastern Louisiana rSR C Sam Roberson
10. Northwestern State rJR C Daniel Garner
11. Nicholls State JR OF Justin Holt
12. Central Arkansas SR OF Tyler Langley
13. McNeese State rJR OF Matt Gallier
14. Stephen F. Austin State rJR OF/1B Conner Fikes
15. Southeastern Louisiana JR OF Webb Bobo
16. Sam Houston State JR 1B/3B Matthew Broadbent
17. Nicholls State SR 3B Kyle Reese
18. Stephen F. Austin State SR 1B Kyle Thornell
19. Lamar rJR OF Cutter McDowell
20. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rJR OF Zacarias Hardy
21. Incarnate Word SR 3B Brance Kahle
22. Southeastern Louisiana SR OF Julian Service
23. New Orleans JR OF Hezekiah Randolph
24. Southeastern Louisiana SR C Chris Eades
25. Northwestern State rJR OF Nick Heath
26. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi SR 3B Cody Clarke

Pitchers

1. Nicholls State JR RHP Jake Smith
2. Nicholls State JR RHP/1B Cole Stapler
3. Southeastern Louisiana SO RHP Mac Sceroler
4. Abilene Christian rSO RHP Bryce Welborn
5. Sam Houston State rSO RHP Dakota Mills
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi JR LHP Chris Falwell
7. Northwestern State JR RHP Adam Oller
8. McNeese State rSR RHP Kaleb Fontenot
9. Lamar SR RHP Will Hibbs
10. Abilene Christian SR RHP Nate Cole
11. Sam Houston State JR RHP Sam Odom
12. Houston Baptist SR RHP Dylan Zarosky
13. Southeastern Louisiana SR LHP Kyle Cedotal
14. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rJR RHP Nolan Holland
15. McNeese State SR RHP Ethan Stremmel
16. McNeese State JR RHP Collin Kober
17. Southeastern Louisiana SR RHP Domenick Carlini
18. McNeese State SR RHP Bryce Kingsley
19. New Orleans JR RHP Riley Hodge
20. Sam Houston State JR RHP Cody Brown
21. McNeese State JR LHP Austin Sanders
22. Southeastern Louisiana JR RHP/1B Derrick Mount
23. Nicholls State SR RHP Justin Sinibaldi
24. McNeese State SR RHP Tyler Day
25. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi JR RHP Devin Skapura
26. Southeastern Louisiana JR RHP Cliff Hurst
27. Southeastern Louisiana SR RHP Pat Cashman
28. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi SR RHP Kaleb Keith
29. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi SR RHP Dalton D’Spain
30. Northwestern State SR LHP Chase Hymel
31. Abilene Christian SR RHP Kyle Carroll
32. Sam Houston State SR RHP Jordan Church

Abilene Christian

SR RHP Nick Palacios (2016)
SR RHP Nate Cole (2016)
SR RHP Garrett deMeyere (2016)
rSO RHP Bryce Welborn (2016)
JR LHP Austin Lambright (2016)
SR RHP Kyle Carroll (2016)
JR 2B/RHP Aaron Draper (2016)
SR C Alex Copeland (2016)
JR 1B/OF Russell Crippen (2016)
FR OF/LHP Derek Scott (2018)
FR SS Mark Pearson (2018)
FR OF Hunter Markwardt (2018)
FR OF Willie Harris (2018)

High Priority Follows: Nate Cole, Bryce Welborn, Kyle Carroll

Central Arkansas

SR RHP Connor Gilmore (2016)
SR RHP Derek Beier (2016)
JR RHP Riley Echols (2016)
JR RHP Jacob Murray (2016)
SR C Brandon Montalvo (2016)
SR 2B Chris Townsend (2016)
SR OF Tyler Langley (2016)
SR SS Logan Preston (2016)
SR C/1B Travis Hull (2016)
SR 1B/3B Matt Anderson (2016)
JR 2B Butch Rea (2016)
SO RHP Tyler Gray (2017)
SO 2B/SS Ty Tice (2017)
FR RHP Cody Davenport (2018)
FR 1B/OF Hunter Strong (2018)

High Priority Follows: Tyler Langley, Logan Preston, Travis Hull

Houston Baptist

SR RHP Dylan Zarosky (2016)
SR LHP Matthew McCollough (2016)
SR RHP Matt Harding (2016)
SR 2B Greg Espinosa (2016)
SR SS Louie Payetta (2016)
SR 1B Andrew Alvarez (2016)
SR OF Brandon Morones (2016)

High Priority Follows: Dylan Zarosky, Greg Espinosa, Louie Payetta

Incarnate Word

JR RHP Trevor Hardee (2016)
SR 3B Brance Kahle (2016)
SR OF Matt Morris (2016)
JR OF Mark Whitehead (2016)
SR C Christian Divelbiss (2016)
SR 2B Trey Rodriguez (2016)
SO RHP John Shull (2017)
SO RHP Tyler Miller (2017)
FR RHP Bernie Martinez (2018)
FR RHP Jake Bedevian (2018)
FR LHP Denson Hull (2018)
FR SS Ryan Gonzalez (2018)

High Priority Follows: Brance Kahle

Lamar

SR RHP Will Hibbs (2016)
SR LHP Joe Farley (2016)
SR RHP Jayson McKinley (2016)
rSR RHP Billy Love (2016)
JR RHP Brent Janak (2016)
SR LHP Travis Moore (2016)
SR RHP Ryan Cawthon (2016)
SR RHP Enrique Oquendo (2016)
SR SS Stijn van derMeer (2016)
rJR OF Cutter McDowell (2016)
SR 1B Jake Nash (2016)
JR 1B Trey Silvers (2016)
JR OF Reid Russell (2016)
SR OF Jacoby Middleton (2016)

High Priority Follows: Will Hibbs, Stijn van derMeer, Cutter McDowell

McNeese State

rSR RHP Kaleb Fontenot (2016)
SR RHP Bryce Kingsley (2016)
SR RHP Ethan Stremmel (2016)
JR LHP Austin Sanders (2016)
SR RHP Tyler Day (2016)
JR RHP Collin Kober (2016)
JR RHP Trent Fontenot (2016)
SR 1B/OF Connor Crane (2016)
SR OF Lewis Guilbeau (2016)
rJR OF Matt Gallier (2016)
SR C Cameron Toole (2016)
JR SS Will Fox (2016)
JR 1B/LHP Ricky Ramirez (2016)
SO 2B Joe Provenzano (2017)
FR OF Shane Selman (2018)

High Priority Follows: Kaleb Fontenot, Bryce Kingsley, Ethan Stremmel, Austin Sanders, Tyler Day, Collin Kober, Matt Gallier

New Orleans

SR RHP Daniel Martinez (2016)
JR LHP Hunter Medine (2016)
rSR LHP Jordan Priddle (2016)
JR RHP Riley Hodge (2016)
JR C Kyle Bracey (2016)
SR OF Chaz Boyer (2016)
JR 2B/SS Samuel Capielano (2016)
JR OF Hezekiah Randolph (2016)
SR OF Ryan Calloway (2016)
JR 2B/SS Aaron Palmer (2016)
SO RHP Shawn Semple (2017)

High Priority Follows: Daniel Martinez, Riley Hodge, Hezekiah Randolph

Nicholls State

SR RHP Justin Sinibaldi (2016)
SR LHP Zach Thiac (2016)
SR RHP Robbie Petty (2016)
JR RHP Jake Smith (2016)
JR RHP/1B Cole Stapler (2016)
SR OF Alex Shermer (2016)
SR 3B Kyle Reese (2016)
JR OF Justin Holt (2016)
JR C Alex Tucker (2016)
SO SS Joey Morales (2017)
SO OF Gavin Wehby (2017)
FR 2B Ethan Valdez (2018)

High Priority Follows: Justin Sinibaldi, Jake Smith, Cole Stapler, Kyle Reese, Justin Holt

Northwestern State

SR LHP Chase Hymel (2016)
JR RHP Adam Oller (2016)
JR RHP Evan Tidwell (2016)
JR RHP Tim Winders (2016)
rSO RHP Brandon Stane (2016)
rJR OF Nick Heath (2016)
JR OF Matt Valdez (2016)
SR 1B/OF Cort Brinson (2016)
rJR C Daniel Garner (2016)
rJR 1B Regan Kaufman (2016)
rSR OF Bret Underwood (2016)
rFR INF Brandon Frazier (2017)
SO OF Kwan Adkins (2017)
SO SS Miller Parker (2017)
SO OF Cade Jones (2017)
SO SS David Fry (2017)
FR RHP Austin Reich (2018)
FR RHP Nathan Jones (2018)
FR 3B/RHP Austin Townsend (2018)
FR INF Lenni Kunert (2018)

High Priority Follows: Chase Hymel, Adam Oller, Nick Heath, Cort Brinson, Daniel Garner

Sam Houston State

rSO RHP Dakota Mills (2016)
JR RHP Cody Brown (2016)
SR RHP Greg Belton (2016)
SR RHP Jordan Church (2016)
SR LHP Hayden Nixton (2016)
JR RHP Sam Odom (2016)
JR 1B/3B Matthew Broadbent (2016)
SR 1B Spence Rahm (2016)
SR 2B Zach Smith (2016)
SR SS Miles Manning (2016)
SO OF Bryce Johnson (2017)
FR SS Andrew Fregia (2018)
FR 2B/RHP Riley McKnight (2018)
FR OF Hunter Hearn (2018)
FR OF Jaxxon Grisham (2018)
FR RHP Riley Gossett (2018)

High Priority Follows: Dakota Mills, Cody Brown, Greg Belton, Jordan Church, Sam Odom, Matthew Broadbent, Spence Rahm, Zach Smith

Southeastern Louisiana

SR LHP Kyle Cedotal (2016)
SR RHP Domenick Carlini (2016)
SR RHP Pat Cashman (2016)
JR RHP Cliff Hurst (2016)
JR RHP Gage Pickett (2016)
rSO RHP Dreagen Bethel (2016)
SO RHP Mac Sceroler (2016)
JR RHP/1B Derrick Mount (2016)
rJR C/1B Jameson Fisher (2016)
rSR C Sam Roberson (2016)
SR C Chris Eades (2016)
SR OF Julian Service (2016)
SR 2B/3B Daniel Midyett (2016)
JR SS/2B Kennon Menard (2016)
JR OF Webb Bobo (2016)
JR OF Jacob Seward (2016)
JR OF Ryan Byers (2016)
JR 2B Carson Crites (2016)
SO RHP Kade Granier (2017)
SO LHP/OF Drew Avans (2017)
SO C Nico Cuccia (2017)
FR LHP Payton Robinson (2018)

High Priority Follows: Kyle Cedotal, Domenick Carlini, Pat Cashman, Cliff Hurst, Mac Sceroler, Derrick Mount, Jameson Fisher, Sam Roberson, Chris Eades, Julian Service, Daniel Midyett, Kennon Menard, Webb Bobo, Jacob Seward, Carson Crites

Stephen F. Austin State

JR LHP Patrick Ledet (2016)
JR RHP Jarred Greene (2016)
SR OF Matthew Dickey (2016)
SR 1B Kyle Thornell (2016)
rJR OF/1B Conner Fikes (2016)
rSR OF Garrett McMullen (2016)
JR 2B Nick Ramos (2016)
SO 3B Eric DeJesus (2017)

High Priority Follows: Kyle Thornell, Conner Fikes

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

JR LHP Chris Falwell (2016)
SR RHP Kaleb Keith (2016)
SR RHP Dalton D’Spain (2016)
rJR RHP Nolan Holland (2016)
JR RHP Devin Skapura (2016)
rJR OF Zacarias Hardy (2016)
SR 3B Cody Clarke (2016)
SR 1B/OF Austin Krajnak (2016)
rSR OF Zack Gibson (2016)
JR OF Brian Deaver (2016)
SR SS Casey Thomas (2016)
rSR 1B Justin Perales (2016)
FR RHP Dustin Lacaze (2018)

High Priority Follows: Chris Falwell, Kaleb Keith, Nolan Holland, Devin Skapura, Zacarias Hardy, Cody Clarke, Austin Krajnak