Weekly Draft News

 

Weekly Draft Notes

 

 Good morning.

 

 1-7-21 - Ole Miss -

 

Ole Miss two-sport athlete Jerrion Ealy will undergo surgery on his throwing (right) shoulder Thursday, a procedure that will keep him from participating in the 2021 baseball season.

 

 

 1-6-21 - Joe @JoeDoyleMiLB

 

Pound for pound, SS Alex Ulloa might have the best bat speed in the 2021 class. The OSU commit is squarely in the conversation to go in the Top 100 picks next July. Scouts love the bat, twitch and explosiveness. We caught up with him to talk ball.

 

 

 

1-5-21 - Baseball America - @BaseballAmerica

 

James Wood has monster power. And if he goes as high as he’s ranked in our new mock, he’ll become IMG Academy’s highest-ranked draft pick

 

 

1-5-21 - PBR -

 

SS Noah Miller's deft touch in the middle of the infield remains his standout tool – and a tool that could get him drafted. He's an excellent and true shortstop who glides to baseballs on either his left or right and he swiftly funnels them through his exchange and calmly, confidently throws firm strikes to the center of his first baseman's chest. With that being said, Miller's only added strength at the plate and it's positively affected his swings from both batter's boxes. He takes repeatable and similar hacks from both sides of the plate and he looks like he a true switch-hitter at the next level. This weekend, Miller added some more smart at-bats, demonstrating an innate feel for the strike zone, and he slugged a deep double to center field from the lefty box. He is increasingly looking like a pro prospect as the countdown to the 2021 draft is officially on.

 

 

1-5-21 - BA's mock draft pick for Mets at 1.10 -

 

Jaden Hill - Louisiana State RHP

 

The Mets have invested a lot of their early picks in high school players in recent years, though their draft philosophy could change under new ownership.

 

Hill would be a tremendous value for New York and realistically may be gone long before the 10th pick comes around. If he had more than 21.2 collegiate innings under his belt, he might be regularly talked about in the same range as Kumar Rocker. He has three potential plus pitches on top of a great frame and clean delivery. Now he just needs to go out and perform. Hill has a chance to become the fourth LSU righthander drafted in the top 10 picks, joining Ben McDonald, Kevin Gausman and Aaron Nola.

 

1-5-21 - PBR -

 

Wes Kath is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound left-handed hitting infielder whose best traits are his skills at the plate.

 

At times, he struggled to hit premium pitching early last summer. He started the summer with a wide stance at the plate but shortened it up as the summer progressed. The change caused him to stand more upright, which improved his timing and made it easier to read the spin on the baseball, Kath said. It also allowed him to experience better results.

 

Kath currently is more of a contact over power hitter who possesses quick hands and some natural loft in his swing. He has the size and fundamentals to develop more power at the plate as he matures.

 

1-5-21 - Bless You Boys -

 

Jordan Lawlar is a physical specimen and one heck of a baseball talent. To take a prep shortstop top three is a massive endorsement of the upside of that particular player. Teams don’t take a selection like that lightly, hence the consistently good recent outcomes for prep shortstops at the top of the board. These guys can play. Lawlar is no different.

 

Really the biggest downside to picking Lawlar is getting the timing lined up with the top pitching prospects and the top hitters. As we start to see the fruits of this rebuild, like Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and company, the hitters need to be ready too. If the Tigers believe Lawlar fits into that picture, then it’s a genuinely great pick on the surface.

 

With so much time until the draft, everything is liable to change. For now, I like the Lawlar selection. I think Matt McClain, Adrian Del Castillo, and Jud Fabian are just a few other potential options right now for Detroit to take with their first pick, and presumably someone will boost their stock substantially this spring to enter that mix. But it’s quite possible that none of them bring as much upside to the table as Lawlar.

 

 

1-4-21 - Baseball News -

 

The Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season All-Americans for 2021, powered by Diamond Sports, include:

 

FIRST TEAM

 

RHP Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt

RHP Tommy Mace, Florida

RHP Jaden Hill, Louisiana St.

RHP Zach Pettway, UCLA

RHP Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt

LHP Connor Prielipp, Alabama

Relief Haylen Green, Texas Christian

C Adrian Del Castillo, Miami (Fla.)

1B Bobby Seymour, Wake Forest

2B Brooks Carlson, Samford

3B Zack Gelof, Virginia

SS Matt McLain, UCLA

OF Jud Fabian, Florida

OF Grant Richardson, Indiana

OF Parker Chavers, Coastal Carolina

DH Kenyon Yovan, Oregon

UT Davis Sharpe, Clemson                                                                                          

 

SECOND TEAM

 

RHP Mason Erla, Michigan St.

RHP Micah Dallas, Texas Tech.

RHP Christian MacLeod, Mississippi St.

LHP Zachary Torra, U.C. Santa Barbara

RHP Braden Olthoff, Tulane

LHP Doug Nikhazy, Mississippi

RHP Ty Madden, Texas

LHP Seth Lonsway, Ohio St.

RHP Pete Hansen, Texas

LHP Steve Hajjar, Michigan

RHP Trenton Denholm, U.C. Irvine

RHP Ryan Cusick, Wake Forest

RHP Jack Leftwich, Florida

RHP Sam Bachman, Miami (Ohio)

RHP Walker Powell, Southern Mississippi

Relief Ben Specht, Florida

Relief Devin Fontenot, Louisiana St.

C Hunter Goodman, Memphis

C Caleb Bartolero, Troy

C Henry Davis, Louisville

1B Alex Toral, Miami (Fla.)

1B Brandt Belk, Missouri

2B Austin Shultz, Kentucky

2B Daniel Harris, Eastern Kentucky

2B Zack Raabe, Minnesota

3B Cody Morissette, Boston College

3B Alex Binelas, Louisville

SS Blayne Jones, Dallas Baptist

SS Drew Swift, Arizona St.

OF Brendyn Stillman, St. Bonaventure

OF Chris Newell, Virginia

OF Jacob Young, Florida

UT Ben Wanger, Miami (Fla.)                                               

 

THIRD TEAM

 

LHP Hunter Barco, Florida

RHP Kevin Abel, Oregon St.

RHP Jonathan Cannon, Georgia

LHP Jordan Wicks, Kansas St.

RHP Tanner Bibee, Cal. St. Fullerton

RHP Boyd Vander Kooi, Arizona St.

LHP Sam Strickland, Samford

RHP Gunnar Hoglund, Mississippi

Relief Derrick Cherry, Houston

Relief Andrew Abbott, Virginia

Relief Michael Kirian, Louisville

C Luca Tresh, N.C. State

C Zach Presno, Fresno St.

C Jackson Campbell, Belmont

C Sam Praytor, Alabama

C Shane McGuire, San Diego

1B Maxwell Costes, Maryland

1B Wes Clarke, South Carolina

1B Kyle Manzardo, Washington St.

2B Luis DeLeon, N.C. Central

2B Juan Colato, Grand Canyon

2B Jordan Cozart, Murray St.

3B Rankin Wooley, Auburn

SS Ryan Bliss, Auburn

SS Cal Conley, Texas Tech.

OF Dylan Neuse, Texas Tech.

OF Parker Bates, Louisiana Tech.

OF Levi Usher, Louisville

OF John Rhodes, Kentucky

OF Dan Bolt, Bradley

OF Jason Hinchman, Tennessee Tech.

 Click here for the full list of Mack's Scouting Reports.