Inherently, second base is a fickle beast. There’s a bit of a miscast industry narrative that big league second basemen are ultimately failed shortstops or third basemen. From this chair, that’s a bit of a mischaracterization of talented ballplayers. Jake Cronenworth was drafted as a second baseman (and a reliever). Jose Altuve has been a second baseman from the offset. Jeff McNeil, Brandon Lowe, Max Muncy, Keston Hiura, Cavan Biggio, Nick Madrigal, Kolten Wong… they were all drafted as second basemen. Sure, there will always be the Ozzie Albies and the DJ LeMahieu converts, but it’s far from the norm.
2021 saw a handful of pure second basemen drafted in the first couple rounds. Tyler Black and Connor Norby are extremely talented hitters that figure to stick on the dirt as professionals. Cooper Kinney and Peyton Wilson have the versatility to move around a little, but most believe their future home is on the left side of the dirt. Some later round selections like Cooper Bowman, Lucas Dunn and Dayton Dooney were site-favorites and we believe have big promise at the next level.
2022 features a handful of exciting second base prospects that blend offensive upside and quick, twitchy hands around the bag. Let’s dive in.
Robert Moore – Arkansas
Moore is pretty clearly the cream of the second base crop this class, even if there are those in the industry who’d like to give him a shot at shortstop at the next level. Moore slashed .283/.384/.558 in 2021 with 16 homers and six stolen bases. He kept his strikeout rate under 18 percent and walked over 14 percent of the time. Moore is just one of those types of players who makes things happen.
Just 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, Moore isn’t the most physically imposing player you’ll ever find, but pound for pound, he puts some decent thump into the baseball. It’s largely average exit velocity figures, but Moore has an efficient swing designed to drive the baseball and create some lift. In that sense, he’s a bit like Alex Bregman.
Moore receives off-the-charts grades for his makeup both on and off the field. He’s a leader in the clubhouse and is revered by his teammates, coaches and community. He’s a plus-plus defender at second base with an average arm, though it plays up as Moore is comfortable throwing from obscure angles.
If he’s to break into the first round in July, Moore will have to cut his strikeouts down a tick next spring and get on base at a higher clip. Scouts want to see a plus hitter with 40-grade power to supplement his ability to run and defend.
Andrew Pintar – Brigham Young
Pintar is coming off two strong years with the Cougars, especially his 2021 campaign slashing .333/.433/.556 with nine homers over 226 plate appearances. He added four stolen bases for good measure. His strong showing earned him the title of Freshman of the Year in the West Coast Conference (WCC) in 2021, as well as All-WCC First-Team last season.
Pintar is certainly the most physical player on this list, possessing a frame (6-2, 195) the others do not have the luxury of having. Some evaluators believe the tools are strong enough to handle shortstop at the next level, but he’s played a good deal of second base in Provo. Pintar is a solid performer with a strong approach from the left side and above average run times. It may only be an average arm, maybe even a tick below, but some believe a mechanical tweak could unlock some more arm strength here. Pintar gets almost all of his game power to the pull-side, but there are evaluators out there who believe he should eventually lean into 40-grade game power.
Sean McLain – Arizona StatE
By now, the McLain brothers are household names in draft circles. Older brother Matt has been selected twice in the first round (2018, 2021) and younger brother Nick just enrolled at UCLA after being a big-time draft name in the spring. But less about the siblings and more about Sean, a super-talented infielder in his own right. McLain is coming off a big 2021 campaign with the Sun Devils slashing .322/.386/.519 with seven homers. The 5-foot-11 third-year sophomore figures to be a mainstay at the top of Arizona State’s lineup next season.
McLain has plenty of juice to his pull-side and extends well to get into that power. He’s got quick hands and a super-reliable arm on the dirt. McLain is extremely aggressive at the plate and looks to attack early and often in an at-bat. He can expand the zone at times resulting in more strikeouts than you’d like to see. Subsequently, walks aren’t yet a part of McLain’s game. That said, it’s one of the stronger swings you’ll find from a second baseman. McLain will need to cut down his swing-and-miss and chase rates in 2022 should he hope to jump into the top of day two consideration. All the tools are there, just unrefined. Optimists think that polish is inevitable.
Mitchell Daly – Texas
Daly is a draft-eligible true sophomore who just turned in a mighty impressive 19-year-old inaugural campaign in Austin. Daly started almost every single game for the Longhorns in 2021, slashing .316/.413/.416 with two homers and eight stolen bases in 256 plate appearances. For his efforts, Daly was awarded Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Second Team honors.
Daly can do a little bit of everything on the field. He’s got an athletic frame, posting above average run times. He’s got great hands on the dirt and twitchy lateral mobility, with more than enough arm to handle second base at the next level. He’s an aggressive hitter who prefers to stay up the middle of the field and work the pull-side on off-speed stuff. Daly did a nice job avoiding punch outs in 2021, though scouts would probably prefer to see him work the count a bit more in 2022, potentially leading to more walks. In any case, Daly is one of the few pure second basemen on this list who not only has the tools to fend off playing time from converted shortstops, but is also tooled-up enough to work his way up the ladder to an eventual big league role. If all breaks right and Daly improves upon his 2021 numbers, he could hear his name called in the first 100 picks in July.
D’Andre Smith – Southern California
Smith will also be a draft-eligible true sophomore in 2022. A spark-plug for the Trojans in 2021, Smith stepped foot on campus and hit right away. As a true freshman, Smith slashed .341/.471/.366 with five stolen bases in just 51 plate appearances. He was injured in February and missed most of the first half of the season. After the spring, Smith then went out to the Appalachian League for some summer ball where he posted a .294/.383/.412 line in 60 plate appearances. That said, strikeouts were a bit more of a crutch this summer than they were for the Trojans.
Smith has fairly average tools across the board, but he’s got lightning quick hands and a reliable, compact release that should help his longevity at second base. Smith hits the ball harder than most of his second base peers, averaging north of 91 mph in 2021, though he’ll have to learn to lift the ball a bit more should he hope to be an impact hitter at the next level. As it stands, he’s more of a slasher at the plate. If Smith posts a K-rate even remotely close to what he did in 2021 (7.8 percent) and hits the ball with a little more authority into the gaps and over the fence, he could certainly hear his name called on day two of the 2022 draft.
Jorge Bojorquez – Sacramento State
Bojorquez is coming off an awfully impressive, albeit truncated, 2021 campaign with the Hornets where he slashed .330/.429/.510 with four homers, posting a 10.3 percent K-rate and a similar walk rate. Bojorquez missed the last two months of the season after being hit in the jaw with an errant pitch.
It’s a lean, 6-foot, 170-pound frame that produces mostly hit-over-power numbers at the plate. Bojorquez has a clean, simple swing that utilizes the entire field. He controls the zone beautifully and is a mature, patient hitter. His speed probably won’t be stealing too many bases at the next level, but he definitely adds value on the dirt with soft hands and a super reliable arm. He can certainly stay on the dirt and may have a shot to move to shortstop at the next level. That said, the bat certainly profiles better at second base.
If Bojorquez comes back fully healthy in 2022 like most expect he will, and generates another strong year at the plate, he’s definitely a draft guy. His profile could elevate even more should he get the reps he probably deserves at shortstop.
Nate Furman – UNC Charlotte
Like Smith and Daly, Furman will be young for the 2022 MLB Draft, a true sophomore with just two years of college baseball under his belt. As a 19-year old freshman with the 49ers, Furman was one of the more impressive hitters in Conference USA posting a .301/.431/.452 slash in 120 plate appearances. He walked seven more times than he struck out, generating a 12.5 percent punch out rate and an 18.3 percent walk rate. On the dirt, Furman did not make a single error in 63 opportunities.
Furman followed up his impressive freshman campaign by heading to the Valley Baseball League this summer slashing .400/.556/.580 in 135 plate appearances. He hit three homers and stole 25 bags in just 29 games. Considering he hit just one homer and stole just one base for Charlotte in 2021, this was quite a development. Most believe he sits somewhere in the above average-to-plus bucket of runners.
Hitting for more power in 2022 will be the key to how high Furman’s draft stock can go. It’s clear he has an extraordinary eye at the plate, but finding more barrels will be important. He’ll need to show he can be more physical in the box. Maybe his time in the Valley Baseball League this summer is a sign of things to come.
Others To Watch: Joe Lampe, Arizona State; Jacob Blas, Arizona; Paul Toetz, Purdue; Danny Serretti, North Carolina; Kyle Russell, Washington State; Brooks Carlson, Samford; Harold Coll, Arkansas; Jared Poland, Louisville
Texas Tech infielder Jace Jung is obviously an enormous omission here if you believe he’s a second baseman. For the time being, we’re considering Jung a third baseman as that’s where he played a majority of his innings in 2021, as well as in his time with the US College National Team.
It’s an exciting year at the top of the second base prep ranks with Mays HS bluechip Termarr Johnson being mocked at the top of the first round by most prognosticators. It’s an extremely advanced hit tool with the potential for above average power at the highest level. Other second base prepsters to watch include Blake Cyr, Windermere; Ivan Arias, Dexter Southfield, Josh Tate, Starrs Mill, and Matt Rose, Calvary Christian.
Conclusion: More players are destined to break onto this list as the winter and spring rolls on. Players will transition from shortstop and centerfield (Lampe) to second base this spring and their positional designation may change as we approach the draft. We still consider guys like Colby Halter, Jordan Sprinkle, Alex Freeland and Tanner Schobel, among others, as shortstops. That is destined to change as time goes by.