2022 2nd Round Pick (#42): Max Wagner - 3B - (Jr) Clemson University

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

Wagner began the year on Clemson's bench and ended it with 27 home runs, third in NCAA. He is a draft-eligible sophomore with very little track record of performance, aside from his amazing 2022 sprint, during which he hit .369/.496/.852. Look under the hood and there is a little more swing and miss than average, both in terms of his strikeout rate (for a prospect, not compared to the average college hitter) and underlying swinging strikes. Things aren't in a red flag area so much as it's clear Wagner isn't actually a .380 hitter. This is mostly how Wagner's entire skill set reads. Aside from his plus arm, his tools are all about average. His swing is gorgeous and well-timed but he does tend to swing inside of sliders, and he does almost all of his damage to his pull-side. Wagner still has some "tip of the iceberg" characteristics, as he's young for the class, he hasn't played all that much, and he hails from a cold-weather state and entered college ball with less high-level experience than most of his peers. If you want to project on his hit tool based on his background, then he has a puncher's chance to be a well-rounded regular.

[Sports Guy]

 

[Just Regular]

To Longenhagen's comment about Early Adoption of recent improvements, that did remind me how Kjerstad surged based on what, 4-5 weekends before COVID closed things down.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Paul in Virginia said:

Law thinks maybe he ends up at 2nd:

Wagner is a draft-eligible sophomore who was undrafted out of high school in 2020 and hit just .214/.305/.345 as a sparsely-used freshman for Clemson, but he broke out in the Northwoods League last year and carried that into this spring, tying for third in Division I with 27 homers. He shortened up his path to the ball and stays inside it much better now, allowing the Green Bay native to make more contact and drive the ball consistently, with 60-70 power to his pull side and enough to hit a few out the other way. He doesn’t like the ball down, however, and the way his hands start makes him vulnerable to pretty much anything in the lower third of the zone and down.

 

He’s rough defensively at third and probably ends up in an outfield corner, although he might be better at second base than he is at the hot corner. It’s big power with bat speed for someone looking for an upside play among the college hitters.

 

 

McDaniel sees him as a second baseman too.

[PHRESH]

2 minutes ago, Paul in Virginia said:

Law thinks maybe he ends up at 2nd:

Wagner is a draft-eligible sophomore who was undrafted out of high school in 2020 and hit just .214/.305/.345 as a sparsely-used freshman for Clemson, but he broke out in the Northwoods League last year and carried that into this spring, tying for third in Division I with 27 homers. He shortened up his path to the ball and stays inside it much better now, allowing the Green Bay native to make more contact and drive the ball consistently, with 60-70 power to his pull side and enough to hit a few out the other way. He doesn’t like the ball down, however, and the way his hands start makes him vulnerable to pretty much anything in the lower third of the zone and down.

 

He’s rough defensively at third and probably ends up in an outfield corner, although he might be better at second base than he is at the hot corner. It’s big power with bat speed for someone looking for an upside play among the college hitters.

 

 

Dan Uggla?

[vab]

It's definitely a grow the bats trade for the arms philosophy. It's almost time for some of that trading. 

[Remember The Alomar]

Just now, PHRESH said:

Dan Uggla?

[PHRESH]

2 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

His bat actually looks pretty quick

[tntoriole]

I too am a bit mystified at the complete avoidance of pitching 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

Elias is so far ahead of everyone in mlb with his genius. He realizes that where the future of baseball is, pitching doesn’t exist. Genius!

[justD]

I like hearing that he no longer has issues with sliders, as was mentioned in one of the other scouting reports. 

[Remember The Alomar]

3 minutes ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Elias is so far ahead of everyone in mlb with his genius. He realizes that where the future of baseball is, pitching doesn’t exist. Genius!

When the GM job opens up, I'll write you a letter of recommendation. Also, I hope the white party was a grand ol' time. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, justD said:

I like hearing that he no longer has issues with sliders, as was mentioned in one of the other scouting reports. 

That outs him ahead of Machado at least.

[waynebug]

Fair minded people will give this a "C" or "C+" grade as things look now.

I gave up on Elias during last year's draft when his 1st.pitcher was a 5th rounder ranked #45 in Texas.

And then they gave that unknown catcher Willems a $1 million.dollar signing bonus. He needs to be with Florida.Orioles, not Delmarva.

[StatusDC]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think it's that easy to trade for quality pitching.

Never said it'd be easy, but having a healthy farm will help acquire pitching without hindering progress.