Mack – Draft News – Austin Wells, Brett Auerbach, Zavier Warren, Kyle Nicolas, Nick Bitsko

Athlon Sports    offered up their list of their top 50 college prospects that will be available in the 2020 draft.

One is

Austin Wells, C/1B, Arizona       6-2      220

Arizona Wildcats -

 Arizona 2020 (Sophomore)*

Started in all 15 games of sophomore season...Earned recognition on the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award watch list...Hit .375 (21x56) with 12 runs scored, six doubles, two home runs, and 14 RBI...Drew more walks (17) than strikeouts (14) on the way to posting a .527 on-base percentage...Led or tied for the team lead in hits (21), doubles, total bases (33), slugging percentage (.589), walks, and on-base percentage...Notched first career Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Feb. 18 after hitting .545 (6-for-11) with four runs, four doubles, one home run, and eight RBI over the opening week of play...Put together six multi-hit performances and four multi-RBI games...Collected a season-best four hits on March 7 vs. Houston (4x5)...Logged time on defense at catcher (12 games) and left field (1 game) while also serving as the designated hitter twice...Boasted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage over a team-leading 121 chances...Allowed just one passed ball while serving as the team's every day catcher.

BA Top Seniors in Draft -

            3. Brett Auerbach, 3B/C, Alabama

A versatile player and skilled hitter who enjoyed a breakout on the Cape in 2019, Auerbach was well on his way to ending his career with an exclamation point in 2020 and becoming a very enticing senior sign for some professional organization.

Perhaps Auerbach will still have that chance, even with a shortened draft, but if not, the Crimson Tide would certainly love to have back a guy who was hitting .388/.506/.642 with eight doubles, three home runs and 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts and who can play all over the diamond.

Michigan Players in Draft  -

            C/SS   Zavier Warren        Central Michigan

The switch hitter has played catcher, shortstop, third base and first base at CMU. The 6-foot Birmingham Groves graduate hit .363 with eight home runs and 68 RBIs in 2019. He was off to a strong start in 2020 with a .328 average in 17 games.

BA scouting report: "Warren doesn’t have a real standout tool but is solid across the board and has a pretty and consistent swing from both sides of the plate. He has solid power, but it plays more in the gaps for doubles (he set the single-season Central Michigan record with 22 doubles in 2019) than true over-the-fence power. That could create problems with how he profiles at the hot corner, though scouts have said he’s athletic enough to return to catching at the next level, and if he can handle the defensive grind there, his bat all of a sudden looks extremely impressive.

Players Raising Draft Stock        -

          Kyle Nicolas, RHP, Ball State (No. 95 to No. 60, up 35 spots)

Scouts knew Nicolas could overpower hitters with a mid-90s fastball that reaches 100 mph and a mid-80s slider that touches 90, but it was unclear whether he could harness his stuff well enough to remain a starter. He did a much better job of finding the strike zone and not overthrowing this spring, fanning 17 in seven one-hit innings against Sacred Heart in his final start.

Ian Smith's - Mets pick in first round –

            RHP                Nick Bitsko               Central Bucks HS (PA)

A year removed from taking the oldest prep of the class in Brett Baty in the first round, the Mets take a chance on a cold weather pitcher who just recently reclassified from the 2021 class and is still just 17-years-old. Nick Bitsko may not be the oldest prospect in the class, but he’s just as advanced as any prep arm in the pitch feel department. An old school, overhead delivery allows his fastball to comfortably sit 93-95 mph and topping at 98; Bitsko pairs it well with one of the best curveballs in the prep class. He looks like a true innings eater at 6-foot-4 and 225 lbs., and he’s shown-up against the top competition he’s been exposed to. Lack of a true third pitch and general lack of exposure has kept him out of the Abel/Kelley range, but thankfully the Mets will be thrilled if he falls to overall pick-19. New York has now added Matthew Allan and Nick Bitsko in back to back years to inject some top-tier pitching into a Simeon Woods-Richardsonless, bat heavy system.