An Early Look at the 2020 Draft's Top Prospects

[Ruzious]

After Torkelson, any thoughts on who the best OF prospect is:  Dylan Crews, Zac Veen, Austin Hendrick, Pete Crew-Armstrong?

[Greg Pappas]

The first is a review of Jim Callis' Top 15 College Draft prospects, and the second is from Nathan Rode of Prep Baseball Report with his Top 10 HS prospects.

[ShoelesJoe]

While it appears there's going to be a lot of great pitching available in the next draft  I hope the Orioles choose to go with the best position player available. The attrition rate among pitching prospects is just horrific, and in our position we need to hit on every top pick we have. Pack the minor league system with lots of good young position players, and then deal the excess for major league arms that have already made it to the big leagues in healthy condition. 

[7Mo]

25 minutes ago, ShoelesJoe said:

While it appears there's going to be a lot of great pitching available in the next draft  I hope the Orioles choose to go with the best position player available. The attrition rate among pitching prospects is just horrific, and in our position we need to hit on every top pick we have. Pack the minor league system with lots of good young position players, and then deal the excess for major league arms that have already made it to the big leagues in healthy condition. 

I agree. Austin Martin is my guy but from the Callis article above, take a look at this:

4. Garrett Mitchell, OF, UCLA
A better all-around player than Torkelson or Martin, Mitchell is a lefty hitter who already gets some plus grades for his bat, speed, arm and center-field defense, and he also has the bat speed to develop similar power. He broke out as a sophomore, batting .349/.418/.566 with 32 extra-base hits and 26 steals, though his Type 1 diabetes is a concern for some clubs.

[Greg Pappas]

On 8/27/2019 at 7:48 AM, Ruzious said:

After Torkelson, any thoughts on who the best OF prospect is:  Dylan Crews, Zac Veen, Austin Hendrick, Pete Crew-Armstrong?

Torkleson is a 1B.  Naturally it's way too early to know who will rise up the boards, but those high-schoolers could be in the running, along with Garrett Mitchell of UCLA, and a few others. 

[Greg Pappas]

 

[sevastras]

With as deep of a class this is, I am excited to see what is available for the competative balance and second round picks.  There could be some good signings to be had there.  I feel especially encouraged since they got Gunnar this year and signed.

[Luke-OH]

I've been looking at some of the HS names and there are a couple guys I really like who could push their way towards the top of the draft, IMO.

Dax Fulton - Lefty, 6'6", high 3/4 slot, clean mechanics, advanced command and feel for a guy his size. Lacks the present stuff of some of the higher rated lefties (per Fangraphs BOARD), but he does sit 90-92 and there is more coming with a good 12-6 curveball shape and advanced feel for a changeup. If he can get 2-3 ticks by spring (doable I think with his quick arm and frame), he could move towards the front of the line. 

Ed Howard - silky smooth SS, potential to add value with the glove at short. Physical, athletic guy just starting to figure it out. Good plate coverage and approach, no problem with velocity. Hasn't really figured out how to turn on the ball at the plate yet, but if that comes, he has the look of a top of the class SS. 

 

[Greg Pappas]

I just found this from Callis. I was looking to see if he had posted this around the time he did the college Top 15, but somehow missed it. 

[Greg Pappas]

More Callis... https://www.mlb.com/news/constructing-the-ultimate-prospect-lineup?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Quote

A couple of weeks ago, I broke down the top 15 college prospects and the top 15 high school prospects for the 2020 Draft. As of now, the three prime candidates to go No. 1 all come from the college ranks.

The consensus is that Georgia right-hander Emerson Hancock (who's similar to 2018 No. 1 overall choice Casey Mize) and Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson (who parallels 2019 No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn) are 1 and 1A. Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin, who might be the best pure hitter in the 2020 class, could work his way alongside them next spring. The two best high school prospects are both right-handers, Jared Kelly (Refugio, Texas, HS) and Mick Abel (Jesuit HS, Portland, Ore.) -- and no prep righty ever has gone No. 1 in the Draft.

 

[MountUrCastle]

Any opinions on Nick Gonzalez? Numbers look really good, at the least.

[Greg Pappas]

25 minutes ago, MountUrCastle said:

Any opinions on Nick Gonzalez? Numbers look really good, at the least.

I read up on him a bit... here's an article that discusses his amazing season in the Cape Cod League: 
https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=17501
 

Here is what MLBPipeline has on Nick... rating him as the 7th best collegiate prospect in the 2020 MLB Draft: 

Quote

7. Nick Gonzales, 2B, New Mexico State
Gonzales topped NCAA Division I in batting (.432) while also ranking second in OPS (1.305), third in slugging (.773) and fifth in on-base percentage (.532) in the spring. He dispelled the notion that those numbers were simply a product of favorable hitting conditions by making a run at the Cape Cod League triple crown this summer, with scouts admiring his compact right-handed stroke, hitting ability, solid raw power and plus speed. He's not as advanced defensively and probably would be stretched at shortstop, though he does have arm strength.

 

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, birdwatcher55 said:

I'm no scout but off this info I would be looking at Martin or the second best pitcher if no big drop off after Hancock with that likely second pick.

I will not write off Torkelson, but Martin is my favorite position guy. I’m interested to see if Elias sticks with college guys at the top of the draft, or is willing to go with a HS player. 

[Ruzious]

3 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

I will not write off Torkelson, but Martin is my favorite position guy. I’m interested to see if Elias sticks with college guys at the top of the draft, or is willing to go with a HS player. 

Things can obviously change, but Torkelson would be my first pick.  His power appears to be remarkable to go with good hitting skills and fwiw, he appears to be excellent defensively at 1st base.    

[Luke-OH]

22 hours ago, MountUrCastle said:

Any opinions on Nick Gonzalez? Numbers look really good, at the least.

Nick Gonzalez is a very good prospect, think Nick Madrigal with a bit more power and a bit less hit and a bit less glove at 2B. The history of college 2B drafted is pretty rough, but he's a good player, should definitely go in the first round. 

But to put his stats in context, New Mexico State's home park is the most hitter friendly park in D1 college baseball by a fair margin. It's like Coors field on steroids. 

For example, Joey Ortiz (Orioles 4th round pick, SS, with well below average power) had a .292 ISO there in 2019 and proceeded to have a .026 ISO in Aberdeen.