Here’s a first look at 2023’s top Draft prospects
Southeastern Conference groups have gained the final three College World Series. Now they’re poised to dominate the highest of the Draft like no league ever has earlier than.
The most gamers one convention has ever landed within the prime 5 picks is three by the SEC in 2020 with Arkansas’ Heston Kjerstad, Texas A&M’s Asa Lacy and Austin Martin of Vanderbilt. Only twice has a league produced even back-to-back decisions on the very prime of the Draft: the Southwest Conference with Jeff King (Arkansas) and Greg Swindell (Texas) in 1986, and the SEC with Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilt) and Alex Bregman (LSU) in 2015.
MLB Pipeline’s new 2023 Draft Top 100 begins with 5 SEC prospects, starting with three consensus top-tier skills in Louisiana State outfielder Dylan Crews, Tennessee right-hander Chase Dollander and Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford. They’re instantly adopted by LSU righty Paul Skenes and Mississippi shortstop Jacob Gonzalez.
1. Dylan Crews, OF, LSU
2. Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee
3. Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida
4. Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
5. Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Mississippi
6. Max Clark, OF, Franklin (Ind.) HS
7. Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick (N.C.) HS
8. Enrique Bradfield, OF, Vanderbilt
9. Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon
10. Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida
Complete listing »
Vanderbilt outfielder Enrique Bradfield and Florida right-hander Huston Waldrep additionally cracked the highest 10, whereas South Carolina righty Will Sanders and Tennessee shortstop Maui Ahuna additionally venture as first-round picks. Skenes (from Air Force), Waldrep (from Southern Mississippi) and Ahuna (from Kansas State) are a part of a sturdy SEC switch class.
“Not only does it just mean more in the SEC, this could be a historic crop for the conference, aided by several recent transfers and the advent of NIL [name, image, and likeness compensation],” mentioned an American League scouting official, quipping in regards to the league’s slogan.
“Crews has a rare blend of talent, skills and track record and is probably the best college position player at this time in the Draft since [2019 No. 1 overall pick] Adley Rutschman. Dollander stacks up well with some of the top college right-handers in recent years. Langford could emerge in that discussion with continued performance and development of his defensive profile.”
College place gamers might comprise half of the 28 first-round picks. Crews and Langford might hit the ball as laborious and as persistently as anybody within the class and each have stable pace and an opportunity to play middle discipline. Besides the 4 SEC stalwarts, contact-hitting Grand Canyon shortstop Jacob Wilson and regular Texas Christian third baseman Brayden Taylor are additionally potential top-10 alternatives.
Dollander’s mixture of 4 high quality pitches (starting with a 95-99 mph fastball), command, athleticism and efficiency might make him the most effective faculty pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg (2009) or Gerrit Cole (2011). Skenes might rival him if he can carry the explosive stuff he confirmed throughout fall follow into the spring, and Waldrep additionally appeared higher than ever this fall. They aren’t riddled by accidents like final yr’s group, however the 2023 crop of faculty arms is not notably deep in apparent first-rounders as of now.
As with their faculty counterparts, there’s an outfield debate on the prime of the highschool hitters group. Max Clark (Franklin, Ind., HS) has maybe the most effective all-around instruments accessible, whereas Walker Jenkins (South Brunswick HS, Southport, N.C.) is a bodily athlete with significantly extra energy. Third baseman Aidan Miller (Mitchell HS, Trinity, Fla.) and catcher Blake Mitchell (Sinton, Texas, H.S.) are two extra prep bats who might issue into the higher half of the primary spherical.
The crop of highschool pitchers seems thinner than ordinary, with no apparent candidate to go within the prime 10 picks. Right-handers Noble Meyer (Jesuit HS, Portland, Ore.) and Charlee Soto (Reborn Christian Academy, Kissimmee, Fla.) and left-hander Thomas White (Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.) are potential first-rounders. So is righty Travis Sykora (Round Rock, Texas, HS), the toughest thrower within the class.
In an fascinating twist, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the 2020 Draft, however it additionally contributed to what’s shaping as much as be a greater than common crop of expertise for 2023.
While Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association scrambled to avoid wasting the 2020 season, in addition they agreed to shorten the Draft from 40 rounds to 5. That decreased the cash accessible to groups of their bonus swimming pools (that are primarily based on alternatives within the prime 10 rounds) in addition to their flexibility to shift money round inside these swimming pools. Players, particularly on the highschool aspect, additionally had much less time to bolster their instances in recreation motion.
As a end result, a number of prepsters who might need signed in a traditional Draft wound up attending faculty. Three years later, they’re eligible once more and a part of a robust faculty class.
“The Covid pandemic forced a lot of teams away from second-tier high school prospects in 2020,” a scouting director with a National League membership mentioned. “It’s the strength of those players that may have created an extremely deep 2023 Draft. While teams were taking top-tier high school talent in 2020, the 2020 Draft simply didn’t allow for deep spending pools and virtually eliminated any creativity that typically rewards second-tier players. Those players are now in college.”
For instance, Crews was top-of-the-line place gamers within the 2020 prep class however pulled out of the Draft as soon as he realized his bonus calls for would not be met. Dollander was beginning to come into his personal that spring, but the abrupt finish to highschool baseball meant that he did not have sufficient runway to take off. Bradfield was the highest speedster accessible however the decreased bonus swimming pools made it much more troublesome to attempt to divert him from Vanderbilt.
“Based on everything we know today, this has a chance to be a really good Draft,” the AL scouting official mentioned. “The strength is the college crop, especially the college bats. If this group of college juniors didn’t have their high school seasons shut down by the pandemic and the five-round Draft, a lot would already be in pro ball.”
