Draft Notes

 

3-11-21 - BA -

 

Eric Cerantola wasn’t born to pitch.

 

Though it’s easy to forget when the 6-foot-5, 220-pound righthander takes the mound as Mississippi State’s Saturday night starter, as yet another pitcher in the SEC throwing in the mid-to-upper 90s and hitting triple digits, Cerantola grew up in the way stereotypical Canadians do—in hockey.

 

Consistency has eluded Cerantola in his first two appearances of the season and his control has been erratic. After missing his team’s opening weekend, he has yet to record an out in the fourth inning in either of his first two starts. He’s walked seven and struck out seven over 5.1 innings. Struggles to locate his fastball have kept him from being able to blow away hitters with his exceptional velocity, and he’s been hittable in the early going—allowing nine hits, responsible for his 11.81 ERA. But he’s young, and the guys who saw the beginning of his latest adjustment period firsthand, and worked with him on that consistency, efficiency, control, and having his arm on time with his front foot landing, look forward to what might be yet to come.

 

 

3-10-21 - Chris Clegg @RotoClegg

 

I have been very high on Garrett Mitchell for a while, having him inside my top 5 for FYPDs.

 

Mitchell has excellent contact skills and plate discipline. He has 70 grade speed and can provide plenty of stolen bases.

 

Mack’s spin - I have no paper on Mitchell past this blurb.

 

 

3-10-21 - draft risers -

 

Henry Davis, C, Louisville (No. 19)

 

.395/.520/.684, 3 HR, 2 2B, 8 BB, 3 K, 5-for-5 SB

 

College catchers can easily move up draft boards with strong production, so it’ll be interesting to see what teams do with Davis, who entered the season as a first-round talent and has continued to impress with the bat.

 

Davis has collected hits in all 11 games so far this season, including four multi-hit games and he has great zone discipline. Like Frelick, Davis is getting the ball in the air more than he has in the past, but most of his extra-base hits have come against secondary stuff or lower-velocity fastballs. How he handles 90-plus velocity against ACC pitching will likely be something scouts bear down on the rest of the season.

 

Baserunners are 2-for-6 in stolen base attempts against Davis, with one of those stolen bases coming in a first-and-third, no-throw situation. His good throws to second have been in the 1.95-2.00-second pop-time range, and Davis has also aggressively hunted for backpicks at first and second base—keeping runners on their toes.

 

Davis’ preseason to-do list was built around proving his offensive game this season and he’s done just that.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

Davis continues to be one of my top three picks at 1.10.

 

As you can see, he has done nothing this year to change my mind here. 

 

 

3-8-21 - Baseball News - Top Players Week 3 -

 

RHP Dominic Hamel, Dallas Baptist: Hamel struck out a career-high 13 batters in 6 scoreless innings against Missouri. He only allowed 2 hits. In 16 2/3 innings this season, Hamel has struck out 30 batters for an average of 16.7 strikeouts per 9 innings.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

I currently have him in the 100-120 range pick in this draft. 

 

 

3-8-21 - 3-8-21 - Prep Baseball Report -

 

MASON MARRIOTT RHP / 3B / TOMBALL, TX / 2021

 

Rankings  STATERANK: 10 / POS: 5 OVERALLRANK: 86 / POS: 27

 

Marriott left little doubt that he is one of the top arms not only in Texas, but in the country, and helped carry Tomball to a 12-1 victory with a stellar showing. Going the distance in a run-shortened 12-1 victory (6 innings), he struck out 12 while yielding just three hits (all to Matt King. More on him below) and two walks. He threw 104 pitches (66 percent strikes) including an especially high number of sliders that provided for a plethora of swings and misses from a lineup that featured a couple division 1 recruits. At 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, Marriott is built compactly with defined strength across the upper and lower-half including a noticeably strong back side. He has a clean delivery with a continuous, medium-sized arm stroke that borders on casting out of the mitt before quickly coming out of the hand out front…

 

Mack’s spin -

 

Going into this season, I had him in the 225^th-250th range…

Let’s see what develops this season.

 

 

3-8-21 - I asked Joe Doyle if he thought this was a good catcher draft -

 

3-8-21 - Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB

 

@JohnMackinAde It's a good year for catchers. But as always, depends how many will actually stay behind the plate. I'd say half won't.

 

 

3-8-21 - Lookout Landing - 

 

Quality college catchers that can hit and profile to stick behind the plate at the next level generally don’t last long in the draft. Add in the plus raw power and you’ve got a bat that I think will be pretty popular come draft day. Personally, I don’t see Tresh making it out of the first day... 35 or so picks... but we’ll see what happens. He just really isn’t too dissimilar from Bailey a year ago.

 

Tresh hasn’t had the long track record behind the plate to buoy his stock higher and higher over his career. But now that Bailey is gone and he’s the star of the show, you certainly get the feeling with every passing weekend, his name will get more and more popular as we approach the MLB Draft.

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