Mack - Weekly Draft Notes

 4-16-21 - Jesse Litsch @JesseLitsch

 

2021 Jac Caglianone - Plant High School

 

Caglianone looks the part again going 6 innings giving 1 run with 7 K’s.

Continues to show great mound presence and attacks hitters.

 

FB: 90-94 Top 95  CB: 75-79  CH:83

 

 Rocco Iervasi Jr. @rocco_iervasi

 

Straight domination right now from Castellano.

 

6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 15 Ks

 

Mack’s spin -

 

Have heard the name but have no current ink on him.

 

 4-16-21 - Rocco Iervasi Jr. @rocco_iervasi

 

2021 LHP Dominic Castellano - UCF

 

5-11, 185 lbs.  2019 Future Gamer is definitely on tonight. Loose arm with natural tilt on the fastball. Missing barrels consistently striking out 6 of 7 batters he’s faced so far. FB: 87-89 SL: 77-79 (2400)

CH: 80

 

Mack’s spin -

 

Also no ink here.

 

 4-15-21 - BA -

 

Joshua Baez, OF, Dexter Southfield HS (Brookline, Mass.)

 

I've seen Baez play four games this spring, which is every game his team has played, with the exception of one road game where no outside spectators were allowed (including scouts) due to the school's Covid-19 restrictions. Right now, James Wood in Florida is the top-ranked high school outfielder in the class, but Baez has a case for that claim, and he's playing like a first-round pick (currently the No. 21 prospect on the BA board).

 

Baez has an exciting package of physicality, explosive athleticism and loud tools. He's 6-foot-3, 220 pounds with fast bat speed, lots of strength and plus raw power that could develop into a 70 tool. He's also one of the youngest players in the class, turning 18 at the end of June, so he's nine months younger than Wood. There's little question about Baez's power, but he did show some swing-and-miss tendencies last summer and fall. Last year he didn't seem to be out of control at the plate for the most part, and so far this year, he has done the same. In his first plate appearance of the season, he lined a breaking ball into the left-center field gap for a double. In 14 trips to the plate that I've seen, he's gone 5-for-11 with three walks and no strikeouts, and three of those six outs were smashed for hard contact. He has swung and missed just three times, once on a breaking ball and twice on fastballs in 2-0 and 3-1 counts where he was looking to launch. He isn't a free-swinger, showing the ability to manage his at-bats well. He overswings at times when he tries to do too much, so there will probably always be some strikeouts that come with his power, but the quality of his at-bats this spring have been encouraging.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

There are seven great outfielders in this draft. Baez is one of them.

 

He will be gone halfway through the second round.

 

 4-15-21 - Ian Smith @FlaSmitty

 

Checking in with another JUCO arm that I mentioned early this spring.

 

McLennan RHP Logan Henderson is currently 2nd in the nation in Ks with 73 in just 43.1 IP. ERA sits at 1.87 and opponents batting just .148

 

Explosive low-mid 90s FB with a pair of breaking balls and plus CH

 

Mack’s spin -

 

I have nothing on Henderson.

 

And I always caution picking JUCO pitchers, because of the poor talent they pitch again. If I was wrong here, you would see a bunch of them successful on the major league level.

 

 4-14-21 - royals review -

 

Georgia infielder Brady House has been on the radar playing in Perfect Game events since he was 12 years old. His size, power, and arm strength immediately moved him to the top of the class as he grew rather quickly as a youngster. Since then, he’s added a couple of inches to his current 6’3’’ height and plenty of muscle to his 210 pound frame. That size is more similar to potential draftees in college than what you would expect from a player that is just turning 18 in June.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

The good news… he’s the 4^th best shortstop in this draft.

 

The bad news… the three above him are much more talented.

 

Still, House will go in the first round. Quality shortstops are so needed for the future plans of all 30 teams.

 

Well… maybe 29.

 

 4-14-21 - miami student net -

 

In 20 innings pitched this year, Sam Backman struck out 32 and given up two runs. That’s an earned run average (ERA) below one and a K/9 over 14.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

I just moved him up to the 6^th righty, passing McCabe Brown, and just behind Andrew Painter.

 

 4-14-21 - BA -

 

Who’s more equipped to evaluate Robby Martin than the man himself?

 

The lefthanded-hitting Florida State outfielder can bring a more detailed background, in-depth insight and experience to the table than anyone, so it would seem a no-brainer to tap into that resource. Martin knows his strengths, the areas he’s working to improve, and what has led him to success.

 

Breaking down his toolset, Martin ranks his assets in an order atypical to any generic position profile. First, of course, is the plus hit tool, which is followed by an arm that saw the 21-year-old drafted as a pitcher out of high school in the late rounds of the 2018 draft. Typical hit-first profiles are saved for players manning second, third or left. The only generic position profile with the arm at the top of the tool box is that of a catcher. Martin has exclusively been playing right field for the Seminoles this year.

 

Mack’s spin -

 I have him at the 11^th outfielder, in between the Montgomery boys, Benny at 10 and Braden at 12. No relations.

 

 4-14-21 - shore sports network -

 

As one of the top high-school pitchers in the country, Shane Panzini is a legitimate Major League Baseball Draft prospect – ranked on Top-100 Draft prospect lists by FanGraphs (No. 46) and MLB.com (No. 92). Over the past year, he has grown accustomed to the hoard of baseball talent evaluators crammed behind backstops around the country to watch him showcase his arsenal: a fastball that reaches 97 miles-per-hour, a hard slider that he has evolved from its start as a sharp curveball and a changeup that is picking up steam as Panzini’s best potential secondary pitch.

 

Mack’s spin -

 

Panzini is on my board at the 15ty outfielder slot.