What a beautiful weekend it was for college baseball. The College Park Regional did not disappoint. The #15 Maryland Terrapins were the host with UCONN, Wake Forest, and Long Island rounding out the four teams. It came down to game seven to decide the winner. UCONN barely ousted the hosting Terrapins 11-8 in the final game to punch their ticket to the NCAA Super Regional in Stanford. I had the fortunate opportunity to get some live looks in game 1 (Wake Forest vs. UCONN), game 4 (Maryland vs. UCONN), and game 5 (Maryland vs. Wake Forest).
The regional was also stocked full of potential MLB Draft prospects for both 2022 and 2023. Last week I covered some intriguing arms. This week we dive into the bats that could make some noise on draft days.
2022 MLB Draft
Brendan Tinsman, C, Wake Forest
Final Regional Stats: .462 AVG, 2 R, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Tinsman was by far the hitter who impressed me the most in the Wake Forest lineup. No matter who was on the mound he seemed far from overmatched. Power seems to be his carrying tool as the ball is LOUD off of his bat and he is able to showcase it to all fields. He has shown much improvement on his swing and miss since his time stepping onto the Wake Forest campus and showed a sound hitting approach in this series. He had a plus feel for the strike zone and was able to maximize his production by finding his pitch. The strong, well built catcher showed above-average receiving skills behind the plate to go along with a strong arm with a quick release. It can be hard to find a backstop with his kind of hitting ability so expect teams to be interested in Tinsman in the first couple of days of the draft.
Maxwell Costes, 1B, University of Maryland
Final Regional Stats: .380 AVG, 6 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K
I covered Costes earlier this year and I saw a lot of similarities in his game, this time against much better pitching than when they faced Siena. The most impressive part was Costes ability to lay off pitches out of the zone and has a good idea at the plate of what he is looking for. His at bat against Teddy McGraw in game 5 was the stuff you want to see from a potential draft pick. Costes worked the count in his favor and waited until he got his pitch, which was a hanging slider over the middle of the plate, that he drove over the fence for a two-run home run. He has solid bat speed through the zone so catching up to velocity isn’t much of an issue. His overall approach at the plate seems to be much improved. His short, bulky frame and his strong legs really helps Costes generate his above-average power. He profiles as a first-base only type, so a lot of stock will go into his bat. Defensively, he is a reliable fielder at first with good instincts. He reads the ball well off the bat and is going to make the plays that come his way. His improved approach at the plate and the fact he can hold his own defensively at first should have teams calling on draft day.
Chris Alleyne, OF, University of Maryland
Final Regional Stats: .192 AVG, 6 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 3 K
This Maryland team revolves around Chris Alleyne. The Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist was the heart and soul of this Maryland lineup all year and you could see it well on display in this regional despite the numbers not being perfect. Even with some of the early struggles at the plate, Alleyne is aggressive in all areas of the game. He leaves every once he has on the field. He is the guy who is going to try and make something happen out of nothing. Whether it was when he hit a ground ball and he was sprinting down the line to try and beat it out. Or when he got on the base paths and he was trying to take that extra bag. When he struggled offensively, he also made up for it defensively. He made one of the nicest defensive plays I may have ever seen live. He has an unbelievably quick first step and is able to get solid reads off the bat in centerfield.
Alleyne still displayed his raw power in this one. In game 5, he hit a deep shot to centerfield to help extend Maryland’s lead over Wake Forest. Even with his short and stocky frame, Alleyne is able to develop some above-average power with his bat speed. The ball just jumps off his bat. Alleyne seemed to struggle a tad with catching up to some of the velocity of the arms early on as well as picking up spin as he was chasing a few pitches out of the strike zone. Alleyne’s well above-average speed was on display as he was quick out of the box and booked it down the line as soon as he put the ball in play. He has excellent acceleration. He’s very aggressive on the base paths which leads to him taking the extra base. But he could also use improvement on his ability to get reads on the base paths. Alleyne’s speed and power combo should have teams interested in the fifth year senior in some capacity.
Erik Stock, OF, University of Connecticut
Final Regional Stats: .235, 6 R, 4 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
Sort of like Maryland’s Chris Alleyne, Erik Stock is just a fun player to watch on the field. His leadership traits are obvious and you can tell the other guys in the dugout look up to him. He plays with a lot of intensity and you can tell he shows up every day ready to compete. Stock has gone a bit under-the-radar for UCONN this year and has pulled together a really good season. There isn’t much swing and miss to his profile and Stock generates good speed that develops a decent amount of gap power. He fits more of an extra-base hit type profile and has a good rhythm at the plate. He doesn’t get fooled easily with offspeed out of the zone and his above-average eye at the plate helps him draw a lot of walks. He has a widespread, crouched stance at the plate but stays pretty compact and there isn’t a lot of movement in his swing. He is above-average defensively in the outfield and his glove is good enough to stick in most likely left field.
Stock is obviously confident in his skill set which is good to see. He won’t blow you away with his speed, but he also will most definitely not be a clog on the base paths. With the potential to hit for double-digit home runs and a good average, a team could take some STOCK in Erik Stock late on draft day in 2022.
2023 MLB Draft
Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest
Final Regional Stats: .385 AVG, 4 R, 5 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 K
BROCKSTAR! Wilken is someone many evaluators have had high on their radar for the 2023 MLB Draft and it is easy to see why. His freshman year numbers and success in the Cape Cod League had people turning their heads. His tools are LOUD, especially in the power department. Even on his singles, the ball was driven with authority off his bat. He has more of an upright stance with his tall, large frame. There was a lot of swing-and-miss in Wilken’s game throughout the year, but he showed a good eye at the plate in this one and was patient at the plate. He definitely can struggle from time to time at picking up off-speed pitches out of the zone.
His defense was a bit suspect. I watched him in both warmups and during the game. There were things to like and dislike for sure. On the positive side, he has a ROCKET arm and can react quickly to the ball of the bat at third. He shows average hands and is able to make good transfers quickly. He charged the ball on a bunt play at one point and his transfer was quick enough to get a speedy runner out. He lacks range due to slow feet and even though his arm is plus, he lacks accuracy with it. He is usually around the bag, but the ball can sail on him and there is lots of room for improvement. With improvements to his approach at the plate and defense at third, Wilken could really make his way to becoming a first round pick in next year's draft. His tools are loud enough that a team might be willing to take the risk regardless of any improvements.
Matt Shaw, SS, University of Maryland
Final Regional Stats: .250, 5 R, 6 H, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB, 7 K
Shaw is a well-built, strong middle infielder with above-average raw power. He possesses enough above-average tools to do a little bit of everything right. Shaw wants to hit and attacks the ball which led to a lot more swing-and-miss in this one than usual. He seemed to be pressing at the plate a bit, trying to do too much instead of sticking with his normal game. Even with his more aggressive approach, he was still productive driving in four. He looked more like himself in game four against UCONN where he had two very hard hit singles. He wasn’t leveraging much of his power in the looks I got, but you know it is there. When I saw him earlier in the year, Shaw had good plate coverage and knew the strike zone really well. He would work deep into counts, drawing a ton of walks. Defensively, Shaw has the range to stick at shortstop but likely ends up a second baseman given his muscular stature. He has very soft hands and quick instincts, so if he can improve his strides he can likely stick at short. Shaw should still solidify himself as a top 100 player going into the 2023 season.