Early 2021 Top Draft Prospects

[TheWall]

It's way too early and I know the top 3 pitchers and Lawlar seem like the premium picks, but I'd be shocked if at least 1 college bat doesn't emerge. Have to imagine Elias and co would love to have their pick of any college bat in the country at #5. 

[Just Regular]

On 2/27/2021 at 7:40 AM, OrioleDog said:

Hill for LSU made it 6 innings last night to get his Junior Year workload up to 2 starts and 10 innings (same as Freshman Year), allowing 1 hit to Youngstown State with a 4/0 K/BB ratio.  

That gets his entire NCAA career up to 31.2 innings, with just 11 hits allowed.   Two more non-conference Friday nights before SEC league play starts (no offense to upcoming Oral Roberts and UTSA).

Sorry Jaden Hill for giving Oral Roberts bulletin board material.

https://www.secsports.com/boxscore/baseball/401280953

That is literally so awful that I imagine many good games will be needed to restore his rep, barring any super weird circumstance.

[DocJJ]

Ughhh.... someone has to step up.   I don't see any obvious guy to take at #5 at this point.   Leiter and Rocker will be gone.

Hill was so awful against a very mediocre Oral Roberts team, that it takes him out of consideration for now until he proves it was a total fluke....

Fabian's college career batting average is .240.  

Lawlor is old for competition.  

[ArtVanDelay]

58 minutes ago, DocJJ said:

Fabian's college career batting average is .240.

According to baseball reference, it’s .254.  It’s dragged down because he hit .232 as an 18 year  freshman in the SEC.  60% of his career plate appearances were from his freshman season. 

[DocJJ]

23 hours ago, DocJJ said:

Ughhh.... someone has to step up.   I don't see any obvious guy to take at #5 at this point.   Leiter and Rocker will be gone.

Hill was so awful against a very mediocre Oral Roberts team, that it takes him out of consideration for now until he proves it was a total fluke....

Fabian's college career batting average is .240.  

Lawlor is old for competition.  

 

I have only seen video and not live performance, but at this point the only 2 guys outside of Rocker/Leiter I'd consider are Marcelo Meyer and Ty Madden.   Madden has looked especially dominant with a recent 14 K performance and 99 MPH heater....

[DocJJ]

On 3/10/2021 at 12:19 PM, ArtVanDelay said:

According to baseball reference, it’s .254.  It’s dragged down because he hit .232 as an 18 year  freshman in the SEC.  60% of his career plate appearances were from his freshman season. 

But his strikeouts are eye-popping and would you use a top 5 pick on a guy who hit .250 in college?

 

 

[Hazmat]

Fangraphs has Kahlil Watson ranked ahead of Lawler.  

https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2021-mlb-draft/summary?sort=-1,1&type=0

 

[ArtVanDelay]

23 hours ago, DocJJ said:

But his strikeouts are eye-popping and would you use a top 5 pick on a guy who hit .250 in college?

 

 

I didn’t say I would draft him top 5, but I guarantee teams don’t care about freshman year batting average when evaluating a player. 

[Gatoriole]

On 3/12/2021 at 6:38 PM, ArtVanDelay said:

I didn’t say I would draft him top 5, but I guarantee teams don’t care about freshman year batting average when evaluating a player. 

I agree. This year will be very important for Fabian (and other 3rd year college players). The freshman statistics, and largely, the lack of a second season will make the third year very important.

Regarding Fabian, my understanding is that much of the hype comes from his performance at Cape Cod and another Florida wood bat league. I haven't looked up statistics, but apparently he has done well in wood bat leagues against good competition.

[Jammer7]

Fabian hit a 415 foot shot to right-center last night. And RHP Tommy Mace looked pretty solid as well. 

Regarding Fabian, remember he graduated in December and immediately enrolled at UF to play. So, he was a freshman when he should have still been playing in high school. I am not saying he is definitely a top 5 pick, but he should be solidly in the conversation. A long way to go.

[Can_of_corn]

Leiter had a no-no against South Carolina.

Here is a report from the SC viewpoint.

https://southcarolina.rivals.com/news/gamecocks-no-hit-as-losing-streak-hits-six-games

16K 1BB, 124 pitches.

[DocJJ]

On 3/20/2021 at 3:13 PM, Can_of_corn said:

Leiter had a no-no against South Carolina.

Here is a report from the SC viewpoint.

https://southcarolina.rivals.com/news/gamecocks-no-hit-as-losing-streak-hits-six-games

16K 1BB, 124 pitches.

Too bad he'll be long gone by the time the O's pick....

 

The O's hosed themselves last year, winning just enough games to take us out of the Rocker/Leiter running.   The other top tier guys all have question marks.   Jaden Hill got roughed up twice this year including by Oral Roberts.   Jud Fabian is hitting .250.  McClain is hitting a soft .300.  Granted, the season just started and there's time for guys to heat up.   

 

At this point, I'd be taking a hard look at Lawlor and Mayer, and if Elias really wants a college arm, then I'd take a hard look at Hoglund and Madden.

[Gatoriole]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:02 PM, DocJJ said:

Too bad he'll be long gone by the time the O's pick....

 

The O's hosed themselves last year, winning just enough games to take us out of the Rocker/Leiter running.   The other top tier guys all have question marks.   Jaden Hill got roughed up twice this year including by Oral Roberts.   Jud Fabian is hitting .250.  McClain is hitting a soft .300.  Granted, the season just started and there's time for guys to heat up.   

 

At this point, I'd be taking a hard look at Lawlor and Mayer, and if Elias really wants a college arm, then I'd take a hard look at Hoglund and Madden.

Fabian is currently hitting .289. He was also hitting .289 when you posted.

He's also slugging .627 with 8 HRs in 20 games (83 ABs).

[odogs101]

Baseball America released updated draft rankings.

Top 10         

1. Rocker  Previous (1)

2. Leiter  (5)

3. Lawler (2)

4. Mayer (4)

5. Del Castillo (3)

6. Sal Frelick (17)  OF Boston College 

7. Henry Davis (19) C Louisville

8. Jaden Hill (6)

9. Ty Madden (12)

10. Gunner Hoglund (23)

[Can_of_corn]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:02 PM, DocJJ said:

Too bad he'll be long gone by the time the O's pick....

 

The O's hosed themselves last year, winning just enough games to take us out of the Rocker/Leiter running.   The other top tier guys all have question marks.   Jaden Hill got roughed up twice this year including by Oral Roberts.   Jud Fabian is hitting .250.  McClain is hitting a soft .300.  Granted, the season just started and there's time for guys to heat up.   

 

At this point, I'd be taking a hard look at Lawlor and Mayer, and if Elias really wants a college arm, then I'd take a hard look at Hoglund and Madden.

Maybe the team picking second goes with the ninth ranked player in an effort to save money to use later in the draft?