An Early Look at the 2020 Draft's Top Prospects

[weams]

On 9/30/2019 at 10:35 PM, Stotle said:

For my money he's probably the best overall college hitter in the class and will be an average defender at 2b, long term.  

Thank you.

[Luke-OH]

Here's a rising HS arm who probably doesn't have the frame to get into the top of the 1st round, but has premium stuff and great mechanics. 

 

[Luke-OH]

5 hours ago, doccat said:

I saw Asa Lacy pitch.    Very polished, big,  college Lefty with good stuff.   Not sure why he hasn't cracked top 10.   My bet is that he will be in the conversation at some point.

He didn’t have the same level of secondary stuff as the other top arms, but I’m pretty sure everyone has him as a 1st round guy. 

However his velocity and secondaries were reportedly improved this fall so it’s very possible he jumps into that first tier of arms this spring.

[Spl51]

https://www.prospectslive.com/mlb-draft/2019/9/19/the-biggest-sleeper-in-the-2020-mlb-draft-who-no-one-knows-yet

Only 6 foot, so he's not very projectable and only sits at 90-92, but that slider is special. 

[Greg Pappas]

Illinois prep SS Ed Howard (6-2/185) is a potential target for the O's if he continues to shine this coming season.
Here's what PerfectGame.org has to say about Howard:

Quote

SHOWED BIG POTENTIAL WITH BAT AT WWBA AND FOLLOWED UP WITH OUTSTANDING SHOWING AT PG NATIONAL. SKY IS THE LIMIT FOR HIM.

2019 NATIONAL SHOWCASE -- Ed Howard is a 2020 SS with a 6-2 185 lb. frame from Lynwood, IL who attends Mount Carmel. Long and projectable athletic build. 6.76 runner, has very athletic actions in the middle infield, plays balanced and smooth while showing big range, very fast and sure hands, solid arm strength with a very quick release from multiple arm angles, accurate throws. Right handed hitter, hits from a slightly open stance, simple repeatable load, same lightning quick hands drive the barrel, very good bat speed with loud contact and consistent hard loud barrel, line drive contact now with power to come. Everything in his game is balanced, athletic and explosive and will continue to improve as he gets stronger. Good student, verbal commitment to Oklahoma.

 

[Luke-OH]

Howard definitely has top of the draft upside, big-framed tooled up SS.

[Spl51]

It's becoming increasingly likely to me that we pick Torkelson. Austin Martin just seems too tempting for the Tigers not to pick him, they are in desperate need for close to ready hitters and in this day and age most front offices say pick the one that has positional value. I like Hancock a lot, but I can't see Elias picking a pitcher with an injury history especially with the experience Elias has had.

High school pitching is a no that high up, and none of them blow me away. The high school position players are mostly interchangeable tall center fielders, the infielders seem pretty far behind. Of them I like Zac Veen the most, but I'm pretty bad at scouting high school players. Torkelson is just in another league. He's a first baseman, if he plays left field it's gonna be a Schwarber-esque left field, but it's one of the top of the league 1st base.

[Can_of_corn]

Why do you think the Tigers will be targeting guys that are close to ready?

[Spl51]

9 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Why do you think the Tigers will be targeting guys that are close to ready?

With Manning already getting MLB time and Mize coming soon, as well as other pitching prospects that are more advanced, they have almost no impact position players coming up. The Tigers are old school, looking to fill holes with the draft, they've drafted pitching heavily for a while. There's a chance they go with Torkelson, it just doesn't seem likely for a first baseman to go 1st overall over the shortstop.

[LookinUp]

On 11/3/2019 at 12:57 PM, Spl51 said:

I like Hancock a lot, but I can't see Elias picking a pitcher with an injury history especially with the experience Elias has had.

Dang. Didn't realize Hancock had an injury history. 

[7Mo]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

Dang. Didn't realize Hancock had an injury history. 

Hard to say how serious any of it was.

Georgia’s ace and one of the country’s best starting pitchers will sit out a second consecutive series this weekend against Florida due to soreness in his lat muscle.

“He's really mad at me because he wants to pitch,” pitching coach Sean Kenny said. “With somebody that talented, it's our job to take the emotion out of it and kind of protect him. I expect him to be ready to roll down the stretch and be as good as he's always been.”

https://www.redandblack.com/sports/georgia-baseball-dealing-with-multiple-key-injuries-going-into-series/article_fe954dbc-6d22-11e9-ad38-cf646e8f02ce.html

At 7-2 with an ERA of 1.04, Hancock has been one of the best pitchers in the entire country, while Schunk is not only one of the team’s top hitters, but serves as Georgia’s closer with 11 saves on the year.

“He’s got an Achilles tendon strain. He was in a walking boot but that was more to keep it mobilized and comfortable,” Stricklin said. “We’re going to sit him (Tuesday), again as a precaution, and we hope to have him back by the weekend. He’s going to get checked out further today, but we don’t think it’s anything further than an Achilles tendon strain.”

Stricklin said Schunk suffered the injury during Friday night’s loss to Mississippi State.

“It was a play he made. He didn’t limp at all, and he didn’t say anything during the game, but he tweaked it,” Stricklin said. “When he woke up on Saturday morning, he really felt it. He said it was really sore, and he was struggling to put some pressure on it. That’s when it really came to light.”

https://uga.rivals.com/news/stricklin-offers-injury-update-on-hancock-schunk

[LookinUp]

2 minutes ago, John Welch said:

Hard to say how serious any of it was.

Wow. It's impossible to know (from that article) if he has an uber-careful coach who's protecting his player or if he's fragile. That really stinks. I personally want Hancock to be our pick, though I'm sure anyone we take will be a significant upgrade who will figure prominently in the org's future.

[7Mo]

4 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Wow. It's impossible to know (from that article) if he has an uber-careful coach who's protecting his player or if he's fragile. That really stinks. I personally want Hancock to be our pick, though I'm sure anyone we take will be a significant upgrade who will figure prominently in the org's future.

One of those articles talks about getting him back for the Auburn series. He went 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs in that series.

From the outside looking in, I think it's fair to guess "careful coach" or you wouldn't pitch him into the 7th. But I have no inside information. 

[MountUrCastle]

On 11/5/2019 at 6:31 PM, 7Mo said:

One of those articles talks about getting him back for the Auburn series. He went 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs in that series.

From the outside looking in, I think it's fair to guess "careful coach" or you wouldn't pitch him into the 7th. But I have no inside information. 

Would prefer to have a coach who keeps the body underneath as little wear/tear as possible, preserving his durability for the bigs, rather then spend it all in college, theoretically.

 

Re: Gonzales, experience w/scouting in other sports tells me that if the talent is noticeable and the results are there..... it's probably real. Understand the hesitation w/hitters parks but he's performed elsewhere.

I'm generally in the camp that would prefer to avoid pitchers at the top as they're very risky and while Hancock is great, if he's not at that transcendent level the potential loss in value is too high. I would be okay w/ a high-schooler due to more years to develop, could break into the league before one of the college kids, esp. if their tools translate well.

 

I'm firmly in the Martin camp, followed by someone like Crow-Armstrong/high-schooler/Gonzales. You have a large pool to pick from, take pitchers later/get from FA.

[sportsfan8703]

At this point I want Martin or Hancock. Torkelson would be next if there was a serious issue with the first two. I recently read some Bregman comps for Martin.