| 1 |
|
| Jackson Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS (OK): Holliday is one of a few top prospects with big-league bloodlines working in his favor. His father Matt made seven All-Star Games over a 15-year career, and his uncle Josh is the head coach at Oklahoma State (where he’s committed to play in the unlikely event he attends college). Holliday hasn’t coasted on his name or his connections; he spent the past year getting himself into better shape, and improving his offensive game. He’s no longer pulling off pitches as frequently as he had in the past, and he’s more open to using the whole field. His explosiveness allows him to smoke almost anything thrown over the plate, and he can run and throw well, too. |
| 2 |
|
|
Druw Jones, CF, Wesleyan HS (GA): Jones, whose father Andruw is a borderline Hall of Famer, was in the running for the top spot entering the spring. He’s since emerged as the industry’s preferred choice. It’s not hard to understand why. He’s a good to great defender at a premium position who could finish his development arc with five plus or better tools, including both components of his bat. Indeed, he has the kind of projectable frame and handspeed that should allow him to add muscle and power as he matures. Jones might end up losing a little speed as a result, but he’s believed to have the instincts and innate feel for the position that should enable his game to remain lush with secondary value. There’s legitimate All-Star potential here.
|
| 3 |
|
|
Kumar Rocker, RHP, Tri-City Valleycats: Rocker, who previously suffered from overexposure, was absent from most of this year’s cycle after the Mets failed to sign him following his selection at No. 10 overall in last year’s draft. He resurfaced recently in the Frontier League, running his fastball up to 99 mph and overwhelming indy-league hitters with a 70-grade slider. Heraclitus said that no man steps in the same river twice, for neither he nor the river are the same. Even if Rocker was the same — and he’s not, if only in age — the river has changed. The industry was already skeptical about him because of his lagging changeup and the potential command and durability concerns created by his mechanical deficiencies; now, there’s also the matter of last summer’s post-draft physical that caused the Mets to bail. We have to write that it does feel silly to obsess over what could go wrong with Rocker’s arm in a draft where almost every other top pitcher already has an elbow zipper.
|
| 4 |
|
|
Termarr Johnson, 2B, Mays HS (GA): Johnson was the top player on CBS Sports’ board entering the spring, and a few evaluators argued he should’ve remained there. He still has a hit tool that one veteran scout graded as an 80 — meaning, in layman’s terms, as good as it gets — and surprising power. The downfall for Johnson is (and was always going to be) his defensive value. He’s likely just a second baseman, and there’s always reluctance in taking high school second basemen for obvious reasons; they have less margin of error than shortstops or other up-the-middle players as it pertains to moving down the defensive spectrum. Oh well. Johnson is going to hit, and hit a lot, and he’s going to do it while displaying one of the best feels for the game in the class.
|
| 5 |
|
|
Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy (FL): Green is a fascinating and polarizing prospect, a walking example of bimodal distribution who seems to inspire forecasts invoking only his left- and right-tail outcomes. To hear most scouts tell it, he’s either going to make several All-Star Games, or he’s going to wash out before becoming arbitration eligible. His boosters point to his near-elite power and speed combination, as well as his potential to play center field despite being listed at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. (This is where we note, to little surprise, that his father Eric played in the NFL.) Conversely, Green’s critics say that his game needs a lot of refinement for him to max out his tools, and that his extreme swing-and-miss tendencies will cause him to deviate, from being a red-hot chili pepper to not, more frequently than John Frusciante.
|
| 6 |
|
|
Jacob Berry, 3B/OF, LSU: Berry has changed locations twice in the past year. First, he followed coach Jay Johnson from Arizona to LSU; next, he started playing the outfield to ease concerns about his defensive value. It didn’t work. Scouts contend that he lacks the hands and the feet to be a tolerable defender anywhere on the diamond. (One even compared Berry to Seth Beer, who was held as a conscientious objector to defense when he was drafted 28th overall in 2018 out of Clemson.) That wouldn’t matter too much if Berry’s offensive upside was considered ironclad, but multiple evaluators warned that his underlying exit-velocity data suggests his power potential has been overstated.
|
| 7 |
|
| Cade Horton, RHP, Oklahoma: Horton, a draft-eligible sophomore who missed the 2021 season because of Tommy John surgery, put himself into first-round consideration with a phenomenal run during the College World Series that culminated with a Finals record 13 strikeouts. His arsenal is all about power, including a high-spin fastball that can touch into the upper-90s and a slider that was clocked as high as 90 during that aforementioned start. Horton has a limited track record (he threw just over 50 regular-season innings for the Sooners), and scouts still have lingering doubts about whether he’ll be a starter for the long haul. |
| 8 |
|
|
Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly: Lee might have the best feel for the game of any prospect in the draft. (If not, then that distinction goes to Termarr Johnson.) He’s a coach’s son and a switch-hitter who should be good from both sides (especially the left). He struck out in fewer than 10 percent of his plate appearances this season, all the while showing a good feel for the zone and for quality contact. Defensively, he’s not the most athletic individual, and his arm is in the average-to-tick-above range. That combination usually makes scouts cast doubt on someone’s ability to remain at the six, though Lee’s aforementioned wherewithal and the recent optimization of defensive positioning has them open to the idea that he at least starts his big-league career at shortstop.
|
| 9 |
|
| Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech: The Hokies had not had a player selected in the first round since Joe Saunders in 2002. Cross, who is projected to become an above-average hitter and a fine right fielder, ended the decades-long drought. He trended in the right direction this season in all the pertinent areas. At the plate, he improved upon his strikeout and walk rates while increasing his power output; in the field, he slid to center and fared better than expected for someone who is slated to play right field as a professional. There’s not much chrome to his game, but his offensive skill set should make him a welcomed addition |
| 10 |
|
| Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga: Hughes is a big, physical power pitcher who this season improved his velocity (he can touch into the upper-90s) and his control and who has a good slider. There is some relief risk here should his past wildness return (he had previously walked a batter every other inning in his collegiate career) or if he can’t improve his changeup. The pitch has decent action, but he’s too prone to getting underneath the ball, as opposed to working through it, for evaluators to have confidence in its effectiveness. |
| 11 |
|
| Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets had produced three first-round catchers since 1993: Jason Varitek, Matt Wieters, and Joey Bart. Parada became the fourth. He’s always hit despite an unusual pre-swing stance that sees him lift his front elbow to his nose and drape the bat the length of his spine, his barrel dangling down around belt-level until he begins his operation. That remained true this season, as he homered 26 times and nearly posted a 1-to-1 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 60 games. Parada’s ball-tracking data, predictably, supports the notion that he could develop into a middle-of-the-order hitter with the potential for more pop than country radio. He’s not as promising behind the dish, but he’s improved enough there for scouts to see him as a tolerable option to begin his career. |
| 12 |
|
| Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech: Jung’s surname is pronounced like “young,” as in, Jace is the younger brother of Josh, a third-base prospect with the Rangers who was the No. 8 pick in the 2019 draft. Jace came off the board in the same neighborhood thanks to an impressive combination of offensive skills. He has an excellent feel for the strike zone and for making contact, a combination that allowed him to walk 17 more times (59) than he struck out (42). Scouts believe he has plus raw strength, though they’re skeptical it’ll play as such in-game because of his hit-over-slug mindset. Whatever his philosophy, he’ll go as far as his bat will take him; he’s a below-average fielder, even at the keystone, who’ll need to be positioned well to avoid giving back runs with his glove. |
| 13 |
|
| Zach Neto, SS, Campbell: Neto is a well-rounded player who found the Big South to be a Little Challenge. You can choose your own most impressive statistic: is it that he nearly homered more times (15) than he struck out (19); is it that he did record as many stolen bases as strikeouts; or is it that he had a walk-to-strikeout ratio exceeding 2.0? Neto hits the ball hard and at a good angle, and he receives compliments for his general knowhow. If there are blemishes to his game, it’s that he faced weak competition and that he’s unlikely to become more than a second-division shortstop. |
| 14 |
|
| Jett Williams, SS, Rockwall-Heath HS (TX): Williams, a Mississippi State commit, has more helium than most other prospects in the draft. Some evaluators have said they see him as the second-best prep hitter in the class (no small compliment given the names in the class), thanks in part to a hit tool that could reach double-plus status. Williams is listed at just 5-foot-8, but he’s strong and athletic and the combination of his effective swing and fast bat could allow him to generate average in-game power. |
| 15 |
|
| Dylan Lesko, RHP, Buford HS (GA): Lesko underwent Tommy John surgery in April, pushing him down a hair compared to where he would’ve ranked otherwise. Presuming he makes a full recovery, he has all the right ingredients to become an above-average starter, including the requisite size, athleticism, command, and arsenal depth. His top offering is his changeup, which one veteran scout tabbed as the best pitch he’s ever seen from a high-school arm. Lesko isn’t just smoke-and-mirrors; his fastball has been clocked into the upper-90s and he imparts good spin on the pitch thanks to a high release point. If there is a potential bugaboo with his arsenal, it’s his breaking ball. Though a Trackman darling, some evaluators worry that the pitch features too much depth, and that big-league hitters will notice the hump out of his hand and spit on it (relative to their younger counterparts). |
| 16 |
|
| Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison: DeLauter, our preseason No. 2, is a polarizing prospect. All he’s done throughout his college career, including a stint in last summer’s Cape Cod League (essentially a proving ground for small-school players), is hit and hit some more. He slid down boards because he started the season off with some of his worst games, and they just so happened to come against the best pitchers he faced all year. It didn’t help matters that he later fractured his foot and missed the rest of the campaign. Mind you, he still hit .437/.576/.828 with seven more walks than strikeouts in 118 plate appearances; he still displayed a strong eye and above-average pop; and he still looked like a defensive asset in a corner. If there’s one other common gripe about DeLauter, beyond his weak quality of competition, it’s the unusual footwork he displays at the plate. His back foot tends to kick out, creating an odd scissoring aesthetic. |
| 17 |
|
|
| 18 |
|
|
| 19 |
|
|
| 20 |
|
|
| 21 |
|
|
| 22 |
|
|
| 23 |
|
|
| 24 |
|
|
| 25 |
|
|
| 26 |
|
|
| 27 |
|
|
| 28 |
|
|
| 29 |
|
|
| 30 |
|
|
