MLB Draft: Week 4 Live Looks

Another week in the books and a whole lot of live looks from our team.

Ivan Melendez, 1B, Texas

There’s no one else in the college landscape with more raw power than Melendez, and with a nickname like the “Hispanic Titanic”, you’re in for a show when he steps to the plate.

This weekend was a power display that I have never seen before from the Longhorns’ first baseman. He went deep three times during the weekend, two to deep left center field and one high off the batter's eye. There’s top of the scale raw power in his bat, with the longest of these blasts went 493 feet and hit the top of the concession stand beyond the batter’s eye. Not to mention, he’s got top of the scale bat flip prowess, too. He generates a ton of bat speed and separates his hips and shoulders relatively well, with a similar swing to current Boston Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez. There’s always going to be swing-and-miss with his profile at the plate and he’s more than likely stuck at first base at the next level. It’s an average arm with some athleticism to his frame, but he struggles to move well laterally. With the hit tool, it’s likely no more than below-to-fringe average at best, but a team on Day 2 will be giddy to add that kind of power to their farm system.

-Tyler Jennings

Douglas Hodo III, OF, Texas

Hodo is an intriguing profile to watch in this draft class. He’s the Longhorns’ center fielder and lead off man, and while no one tool completely stands out, you’re looking at a guy that can do all the little things right, à la Tyler McDonough and Brock Holt.

He started the weekend off hot, recording three hits in the first game of the series, including a long opposite field triple that very nearly left the yard. He added a double off prominent 2023 arm Will Sanders in game two, as well. There’s some good bat-to-ball skills with his swing and he does a good job of avoiding strikeouts. He’s able to use all fields at the plate and he’s got some thump in the bat, primarily to his pull-side. In the field, he’s a solid runner with good routes, though the arm is probably fringe-average at best. He’s done a good job of raising his draft stock early on this year, cracking our Top 200 in the latest update. Keep an eye on him to go somewhere on Day 2, much like Melendez.

-Tyler Jennings

Pete Hansen, LHP, Texas

Texas has one of the top pitching staffs in the country and after not being selected in the 2021 draft, Hansen came back to Texas to take over the Friday night spot that was previously held by now Tigers farmhand Ty Madden.

Hansen was not his usual self on Saturday, however. South Carolina jumped on him early and hit him hard, which is mainly due to Hansen catching too much of the plate. He’s a pitchability-first kind of arm with solid command and strike-throwing, though he only threw 60 strikes out of 98 pitches, a total of 61%. He won’t throw hard, pitching from the 88-91 MPH range with solid run and a good ability to locate east-west in the zone. His primary off-speed pitch was the slider, which primarily had sweeping movement in the low-80’s. He’s got a good change-up with solid fading action, but he also throws it hard in the mid-80’s with little separation off the fastball. Overall, Hansen managed fifteen swings-and-misses, with eight on the slider alone. There’s a good likelihood he gets selected somewhere late on Day 2 this year.

-Tyler Jennings

Tristan Stevens, RHP, Texas

Stevens is another Texas arm that was draft eligible last year, but much like Hansen, went undrafted and came back to Texas. He’s an intriguing arm that doesn’t throw hard, but utilizes his arsenal well to generate quite a bit of ground ball outs. 

It’s a unique sinker profile on Stevens, who has a high release point but gets a ton of sink on his fastball. He primarily sat in the 88-92 MPH range with great sinking action, but much like Hansen, he got hit around quite a bit by the Gamecocks lineup. His best off-speed was a low-80’s change-up that plays well off the sinker with good fade and had a short slider/cutter that sat in the mid-80’s. Ultimately, he got dinged up quick and often by South Carolina and was pulled after 4.2 innings, his shortest outing of the year. He’s a redshirt senior and likely fits the mold of a senior discount signing, but there’s definite intrigue in his profile.

-Tyler Jennings

Aaron Nixon, RHP, Texas

Nixon is a draft-eligible sophomore that has been a pure reliever for the Longhorns throughout his career and has been their closer so far this year. He didn’t get much showing against the Gamecocks though, only pitching two-thirds of an inning in the last game of the series.

The outing was filled with mixed reviews. The fastball sat in the 92-93 MPH range, but lacked command. He threw one strike overall with the fastball and missed to both sides of the plate. This isn’t anything new, as he’s struggled to throw strikes with the heater in his career. However, the slider is a menace with great biting action and is thrown hard in the mid-80’s with tight spin. He threw a total of four sliders on Sunday and garnered swings-and-misses on three of them. It’s easily a plus pitch that he has better command of than the heater. He’ll likely be one of the first college relief arms off the board come July.

-Tyler Jennings

Trystan Vrieling, RHP, Gonzaga,

Trystan Vrieling showed out against LBSU proving that there is substance to his early spring buzz. Vrieling has a lanky frame with loads of projection and he pitches with a short and quick arm action. Vrieling’s final line was 8 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, and 9 SO. However, it was two different outings wrapped together for Vrieling as he continually improved as the game progressed. Vrieling struggled early on with his fastball command missing arm side more often than not allowing the LBSU hitters to sit on his offspeed pitches and foul them off running up his pitch count. Nevertheless, Vrieling found his fastball command as the game went on showing he could command it up in the zone, letting his cutter and slider eat down in the zone. The cutter looked to be his best pitch as it generated an abundance of whiffs with its hard 2 plane movement. The hard slider also played well off his cutter with good shape and later bite leading to a lot of awkward swings. The entire outing was awesome from Vrieling as he showed he is capable of making in-game adjustments leading to more strikes and whiffs. Vrieling looks like a quality round 3 arm talent but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found himself in round 2 for the 2022 draft. 

-Jackson Thomas

Devereaux Harrison, RHP, Long Beach State

Harrison had a very short and quick outing going 3 up 3 down on the Gonzaga hitters in the 9th inning. He filled up the strike zone with a live fastball and bending curveball inducing all of his outs on balls in play. Harrison pitches with great extension from his medium sized frame generating tons of ride with his drop and drive delivery. He gets the most out of his legs with strong rotation and drive towards the plate. Harrison has a great combination of stuff, delivery, and tenacity that are very appealing as a RP prospect in the upcoming draft.

-Jackson Thomas