John Peck
SS Pepperdine
1-9-23 - FIVE SUPER-SLEEPERS WHO COULD GO NO. 1 IN THE 2023 MLB DRAFT
JOHN PECK, SHORTSTOP, PEPPERDINE
Of the five names mentioned here, Peck is certainly the biggest longshot to go first overall, but he’s extremely interesting and worth a deep dive. In 2022, Peck slashed .361/.417/.578 with seven homers and seven stolen bases. He logged 39 starts, all at the shortstop position, missing about a month with an undisclosed injury. That performance landed him a roster spot with Bourne in the Cape Cod League. Peck would struggle, slashing .195/.270/.260, uncharacteristic strikeouts slowing his summer.
Despite the underwhelming showing, it’s Peck’s batted-ball data that has analysts raving about what it could look like if he puts it all together. Over 96 balls in play, Peck peaked north of 111.5 mph. He hit close to 43 percent of his balls in play over 98 mph. Mix in his launch angles and suddenly we’re talking about a college shortstop who ranked among the best in college baseball in terms of barrel percentage. Peck has an extremely whippy bat path and his hands can get outside of his body too often, especially when he’s fooled. His hands and inconsistent swing plane affect his ability to impose consistent backspin on the baseball. Thus, home run numbers that don’t necessarily line up with his batted-ball data. Peck makes more than enough contact. It’s a solid average hit tool. If he irons out the bat path, he could unlock a new level of game power. If Peck can put it all together in 2023 and turn those missile ground balls and line drives into fly balls, he could put up prodigious numbers in the West Coast Conference.
At 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, Peck is a well-built infielder with a glide to his game. He moves around the dirt well showcasing a quick first step and a quick release when fielding the ball. Peck has shown a willingness to change his arm angles when necessary and has more than enough arm to make most throws, though he’s in no rush to show it off when he doesn’t need to. From this chair, it looks above average. He projects an average, maybe a solid average defender at the position, though his tools would play quite literally anywhere on the field. There are some similarities between Peck and 2022 Brewers first round pick Eric Brown, though Peck may be the superior defender, Brown the better pure athlete.
It should come as no surprise Peck will need to annihilate the West Coast Conference this season to wipe away what was a frustrating summer with the wood bat. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took the Logan Davidson route this year. Davidson, the 29th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Clemson, was a career .290 hitter with 42 home runs in college. On the Cape however, Davidson batted .201 with three homers and a 30 percent strikeout rate over 263 plate appearances. Peck will have every opportunity to prove himself in front of legions of scouts. It’s a long shot he jumps to the front of the pack, but you heard it here first. For now, he likely projects in the 3rd to 5th round range.
11-28-22 - 2023 MLB Draft: College Top 100 Prospects - https://d1baseball.com/prospects/2023-mlb-draft-college-top-100-prospects/ -
87 John Peck SS Pepperdine West Coast
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.
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