NEW INFO - 2023 Draft Prospect - C - Kyle Teel

 

Kyle Teel

C     Virginia 

2022 Virginia stat line - 58-G, 221-AB, .276, 6-HR 

 

1-20-23 - Top 25 Breakdown: No. 19 Virginia

https://d1baseball.com/season-preview/top-25-breakdown-no-19-virginia-2/

Pick to Click: Kyle Teel has played just about everyday for Virginia over his first two seasons, and as a .305/.409/.481 career hitter, there’s no arguing the fact that he’s been productive at the plate. But Teel took a step back by many measures last season, with his average dropping nearly 60 points while his power production stayed relatively flat, so there’s also a feeling that he has more in the tank to give. Certainly the offensive skills are in place. He already shows good plate discipline—he walked 41 times compared to 36 strikeouts last season—he has plus raw power and his athleticism makes him more of a threat on the bases than your average catcher. Teel has first-round upside, with his tantalizing defensive tools being a big factor there as well, and a breakout season offensively would help him cement his status as such.

1-9-23 - FIVE SUPER-SLEEPERS WHO COULD GO NO. 1 IN THE 2023 MLB DRAFT

https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2023/1/7/five-super-sleepers-who-could-go-no-1-in-the-2023-mlb-draft?s=03 

KYLE TEEL, CATCHER, VIRGINIA

Solid, projectable, accomplished college catchers are hard to come by and, if we’re going by upside alone, Teel represents one of the more exciting college catchers in recent years. A sweet-swinging lefty with tools aplenty, Teel has been on scouting radars since his high school days. He’s been a force for the Cavaliers with a career .305 average. In 2022, Teel slashed .276/.402/.439 with six homers and more walks than strikeouts. He started most of his time behind the plate but did log seven starts in the outfield where he’s proven plenty comfortable. 

The metrics really speak to a polished hitter here. Teel’s 13 percent strikeout rate and 80.4 percent contact rate are both impressive figures. Adding to the narrative is a 17.5 percent chase rate that ranked among the 93rd percentile for all college hitters. The deeper you dive, the better it gets. Teel doesn’t have one single pitch that gives him fits, nor does he have a pitch from righties or lefties that he tends to chase at an alarming rate either. The exit velocities here are rather healthy too, peaking at 109 mph. Teel hits a healthy amount of fly balls, maybe a tick too heavy if we’re nitpicking, but if he continues to add strength and his average exit velocity numbers move in the right direction, that could play to his advantage considering the amount of contact he makes.   

What Teel has can be very difficult to find behind the plate. He’s a fantastic athlete with above average run times, top-of-the-scale lateral mobility and a solid average arm. Baseball is moving in a different direction behind the plate, so it remains to be seen if a solid average arm will be enough in what figures to be a changing meta, but Teel checks every other box there is. It’s tough to find guys that move like this behind the plate and that will certainly have teams’ interest.   

The aforementioned added strength is where Teel will need to show growth in 2023. He doesn’t hit the ball nearly as hard as guys like Henry Davis, Adley Rutschman or Joey Bart did, so turning himself into a more physical, impact hitter will be the key if he hopes to go first overall.  

12-14-22 - Sox Machine

WAY-TOO-EARLY 2023 MLB MOCK DRAFT

https://soxmachine.com/2022/12/way-too-early-2023-mlb-mock-draft/

27. Philadelphia Phillies: Kyle Teel, C, Virginia Tech

Teel possesses offensive skills and defensive upside behind the dish. There are some swing questions here but the results have been good. Teel could go much higher as the top college catcher.

12-14-22 - Two Virginia Baseball Players Listed in Top 100 Prospects for 2023 MLB Draft - https://www.si.com/college/virginia/baseball/two-virginia-baseball-players-listed-in-top-100-prospects-for-2023-mlb-draft -

Junior catcher Kyle Teel came in at No. 28 in the Top 100 and was the 2nd-ranked catcher on the list. After earning Third-Team All-ACC honors at designated hitter as a true freshman, Teel started in all 58 games at catcher last spring. He batted .276 with 12 doubles, six home runs, and 45 RBI and hit three grand slams in 2022, the most grand slams by a Virginia hitter in a single season since 2000.

 

12-7-22 - MLB DRAFT 2023: WINTER'S MOCK DRAFT - https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/news/PBR/MLB-Draft-2023-Mock-Draft-First-Edition-4397815602?s=03 - 

23

Guardians

Kyle Teel

C/OF

Virginia; Mahwah HS (NJ)

Teel's dynamic athleticism allows him to play all over the diamond, but it is his left-handed bat that drives the buzz. The bat has a chance to flourish in the Guardians' system.

12-6-22 - 2023 MLB DRAFT - MOCK DRAFT 2.0 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022-mlb-mock-draft-n78w7-st9r4-wa35p-2n5ls-8addg-ed27s?s=03 - 

26. New York Yankees

Kyle Teel, C/OF, Virginia 

Kyle Teel is a freaky athlete for a catcher and it’s caught scouts’ attention. An above average runner with above average raw power, Teel can produce in a number of ways offensively. He’s a mature hitter who hardly ever punches out, and that has scouts excited about what’s to come when the raw power starts showing up more in games. He’s talented enough to stick behind the plate, but his tools could take him to a corner outfield spot, or even third base.

 

12-6-22 - Fall Report: Virginia - https://d1baseball.com/fall-report/virginia-2022/ - 

It starts with the return of junior third baseman Jake Gelof and junior catcher Kyle Teel, the cornerstones of the Virginia lineup and two elite prospects for the 2023 draft.

Virginia 3B Jake Gelof Teel is one of the best athletes in college baseball, to the point where Virginia brought him out from behind the plate to play right field some in 2021 while he and veteran backstop Logan Michaels shared catching duties before it became Teel’s job full time in 2022. Defensively, there is still some refinement to be done, but he moves extremely well and he has a plus-plus arm, which gives him a high ceiling in that regard. 

Offensively, Teel has done some nice things. He drew 41 walks compared to 36 strikeouts last season and has 15 career home runs across two seasons, but he’s looking to take the next step, which would help Virginia begin to replace the production from departed outfielder Alex Tappen, who had a breakout campaign as a fifth-year senior last season.

11-28-22 - 2023 MLB Draft: College Top 100 Prospects - https://d1baseball.com/prospects/2023-mlb-draft-college-top-100-prospects/ - 

12 Kyle Teel C/OF Virginia ACC

11-12-22 - 2023 MLB Draft – Top 50 College Prospects -

https://www.prospects1500.com/mlb-draft/2023-mlb-draft-top-50-college-prospects/ 

 

19. Kyle Teel, C/OF, Virginia – The best catcher in the college class this season, and it is not particularly close. Teel is incredibly athletic for a catcher and can easily play in the outfield if needed, something he does on his off days behind the plate for Virginia. His receiving ability has improved greatly over the past couple years and his arm is certainly above average. While watching him at the plate, it is easy to think he has an all or nothing approach, but he actually walks more than he strikes out, so there is a real approach to his ABs beyond the aggressive swings. He has really struggled with wood bats thus far, and he won’t get any more chances to prove he can adjust before transitioning to pro ball, but his success at the plate will determine if he flirts with being a mid-first round guy, or someone who slips deep into day two.

 

https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=21422&src=hmrep&s=03  

 

24. Cleveland Guardians | Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

 

The Guardians value contact/on-base skill as well as defensive versatility, and that sentence sums up Teel really well. It’s high-level contact skill with very good zone awareness, working plenty of walks, and he does a good job of fouling off borderline pitches in order to either work a walk or get a pitch he can drive. He’s an athlete who profiles well either behind the plate or in an outfield spot, and that versatility is key to an organization like Cleveland’s, which values the ability to juggle lineups and create ideal matchup scenarios. -BS

 

10-19-22 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022/1/15/2023-mlb-draft-prospects-fx4td?s=03 -

 

40 C

Kyle Teel

Virginia

Teel is a professional hitter with high contact rates and he really avoids punch outs. He's still learning and maturing into the slugger he'll eventually be, developing a profile at the plate. At times, he shows feel for lifting the baseball and tapping into his raw power, but more often than not as a true freshman Teel struggled with a consistent attack angle and ground ball woes. Still, at his best, Teel has above average or better raw power with feel for loft. He's a catcher in 2022, though some believe he may end up in a corner outfield spot, a position he played more often than not as a 19 year old. Teel has a lot of development ahead of him, but the pure ability on the field is plain and easy to see.

 

10-16-22 - 2023 MLB Draft: an early look at the ACC

http://dugoutedgebaseball.blogspot.com/2022/10/2023-mlb-draft-early-look-at-acc.html?m=1&s=03 -

 

8. C Kyle Teel, Virginia.

Bat: L. Throw: R. 6'1", 190 lbs. Born 2/15/2002. Hometown: Mahwah, NJ.

2022: 6 HR, .276/.402/.439, 3 SB, 36/41 K/BB in 58 games.

Kyle Teel didn't have quite as loud a season in 2022 as his teammate Jake Gelof, but his lengthy track record keeps them neck and neck in terms of prospect status. Teel had a chance to go in the top three rounds of the 2020 draft out of a New Jersey high school, but pulled his name before the event because he was dead set on Charlottesville. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, slashing .335/.416/.526 with nine home runs in 2021, but didn't hit for quite as much impact in 2022 as he dropped to .276/.402/.439 and he struggled in 14 games between the Collegiate National Team and the Cape Cod League (.146/.271/.195). Teel is a very disciplined hitter that works counts effectively, something you might expect from a seasoned ACC catcher, and that helps him continue to get on base consistently and provide value even when his bat goes cold. His load can get rigid as he stabs the handle towards his back foot a bit before exploding towards the ball, messing with his timing occasionally. Still, is strong pitch selection helps him keep the swing and miss to a minimum despite the moving parts in his swing, and when it's all clicking, he's a true impact hitter as we saw during that freshman season. Behind the plate, he's more athletic than most catchers and has shown the ability to handle multiple other positions around the diamond. His pure glovework is still a work in progress but that athleticism gives him a nice baseline and is plenty enough to give scouts confidence he'll eventually develop into at least an average defender back there. Left handed hitting catchers that can hit and field at a high level are hard to find, so if he can recapture his 2021 form while continuing to make strides on defense, he could go early in the first round.

 

 

9-19-22 - Top 20 college prospects for '23 Draft -

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/top-college-prospects-for-2023-mlb-draft.html - 

14. Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

The best college catcher, Teel is extremely athletic for the position, possesses well above-average arm strength and could develop into a plus receiver. Whether he goes in the first round depends on his offensive production after he batted .276/.402/.439 last spring and struggled at the plate in the Cape Cod League and with Team USA.

7-28-22 - 2023 MLB DRAFT - TOP 150 PROSPECTS 

https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022/1/15/2023-mlb-draft-prospects  

43  C Kyle Teel Virginia 

Teel is a professional hitter with high contact rates and he really avoids punch outs. He's still learning and maturing into the slugger he'll eventually be, developing a profile at the plate. At times, he shows feel for lifting the baseball and tapping into his raw power, but more often than not as a true freshman Teel struggled with a consistent attack angle and ground ball woes. Still, at his best, Teel has above average or better raw power with feel for loft. He's a catcher in 2022, though some believe he may end up in a corner outfield spot, a position he played more often than not as a 19 year old. Teel has a lot of development ahead of him, but the pure ability on the field is plain and easy to see.

All the 2023 Draft Prospects in the Mack’s Mets database can be viewed by going to www.macksmets.blogspot.com and clicking on 2023 DRAFT PROSPECT DATABASE found on the top, left of the front page of the site.