The Top 20 New York Mets prospects headlined by Brandon Sproat
The Top 20 Atlanta Braves prospects headlined by Drake Baldwin
The Top 20 Toronto Blue Jays prospects headlined by Trey Yesavage
The Top 20 Baltimore Orioles prospects headlined by Samuel Basallo
In recent years, Major League Baseball has seen a surge of pitching prospects drafted after the first round skyrocket up prospect lists. These pitchers generally have one or two things in common. They’re either exceptional movers with considerable projection, or they’re metric darlings with outlier pitch-shaping qualities.
The Preseason Top 25 of 2023 is upon us and the LSU Tigers stand alone atop our proverbial mountain. Jay Johnson and staff have put together a Wardaddy lineup with a stable of arms the envy of the rest of college baseball. Outfielder Dylan Crews enters the season as our Preseason Player of they Year. He’s complimented by a myriad of premium arms in Paul Skenes, Thatcher Hurd, Grant Taylor, Ty Floyd, Blake Money, Christian Little and more. Pitching depth was an issue at times in 2022 for the Tigers. That doesn’t appear to be a problem in 2023.
Tennessee is our No. 2 overall ranked team and it’s a close second. The Volunteers are headlined by elite arms headlined by our Preseason Pitcher of the Year; Chase Dollander. Mix in guys like Chase Burns, Wyatt Evans and Drew Beam and they’ll be a headache for opposing lineups. Tennessee brings a ton of wallop into their lineup this season too.
Two teams we’re rather bullish on are the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (No. 3) and the Iowa Hawkeyes (No. 18). Both of these programs have more pitching than they know what to do with. Wake Forest also features some real offensive firepower in 1B/OF Nick Kurtz, supplemented by a stable of really nice hitters. Iowa doesn’t have quite as much thump in their lineup, but they do possess an anchor in 1B/OF Keaton Anthony. On the pitching side, Iowa may have the two pitchers with the best pure stuff in college baseball in RHP Marcus Morgan and RHP Brody Brecht. They’ve both struggled with command at times, but if they lock it in, the Hawkeyes may have two first rounders in 2024 there. True freshman Cade Obermueller has also been up to 96 this spring and has an argument to go really early next July too.
For a couple years now, ever since arriving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana State outfielder Dylan Crews has been revered by just about everyone in the baseball industry as one of the most feared hitters on the amateur scene. A career .356 hitter with 40 homers to his name in just two seasons, Crews has put his name in the lights among some of the most impressive bats to ever bulldoze the SEC. The seemingly invincible Crews has bludgeoned pitchers with increasing authority the last two years. So how does one get him out? Is he already too advanced for college baseball? Is there a blueprint to balance the scales?
According to sources close to the event, only 70 percent of players who attended the 2022 MLB Draft Combine opted to take Major League Baseball’s pre-draft physical. Those who didn’t take the physical have currently voided their guarantee of receiving 75 percent of their future draft slot bonus. 255 players attended the event. Roughly 180 of those players took the physical.
One area in CBA talks where there does appear to be some likeminded thinking is using the MLB Draft as a reformation tool in anti-tanking efforts. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single soul in the game who doesn’t think some owners and front offices are purposefully running out less-than-stellar lineups to save money, and to a lesser degree, stockpile draft capital.
