Early Thoughts on the 2023 Draft Class - Hitters

[sportsfan8703]

Rd    Pick   Name                               Pos    School                                Stats
1       17     Enrique Bradfield Jr.        CF      Vanderbilt University          Stats
2       53     Mac Horvath                   OF      North Carolina U               Stats 
3B   100    Tavian Josenberger         OF      Arkansas University             Stats 
5     154    Jake Cunningham           OF      UNC Charlotte (NC)            Stats
10   301   Matthew Etzel                 OF      Southern Mississippi           Stats
16   481   Cole Urman                    C         Cal State Fullerton              Stats 
20   601  Jalen Vasquez                SS         North Greenville U (SC)     Stats 

 

Bonuses
Rd	Pk			Slot                 Bonus                Savings
1.	17   Enrique Bradfield Jr.			$4,170,000      4,170,000               0
2	53   Mac Horvath			$1,580,000      1,400,000          $180,000
3B.	100 Tavian Josenberger			$671,800          630,000             $41,800
5.	154 Jake Cunningham			$396,700          375,000             $21,700
10.	301 Matthew Etzel			$167,000          167,000                    0

Edited Friday at 12:57 by sportsfan8703

[sportsfan8703]

Etzel is carrying the class in terms of early production. He’s already in AA Bowie. He’s not a little guy either for a CF, which you would think with him being a 10th rd pick. He’s 6’2” 200. 

EBJ I feel like is going to frustrate us because he might be the Jorge Mateo of CF.  Casual fans don’t like that, but our lineup is poised to carry a GG level CF with elite base stealing/base running. 

I’ll lump Josenberger and Vasquez together at the moment. Both are guys with 30+ SB, but in that .670 OPS range in A+ Aberdeen. Again, just like EBJ, can they get that OPS up enough to be playable offensively. I do not know about their defense. Can Josenberger play CF  in pro ball?  How does Vasquez look at SS?

Urman and Cunningham are struggling.

Horvath hit just .199 in April and May.  He got off to a slow start and hit the IL for a bit. He’s really come on recently.  
 

Thoughts?

 

[RZNJ]

Bradfield -  C- .  Needs a big second half.

Horvath - C.  Needs a good second half.

Baumeister - C.  Walks are a big problem.

Josenberger - C+.  For the 3rd round at least he’s interesting.
 

Levi Wells - D.  Showed glimpses but getting knocked around way too much.

Matthew Etzel - A.  Couldn’t ask for much better from a 10th round pick.

Good news -  He looks like the best player from this draft

Bad news - He looks like the best player from this draft.

The O’s went for speed and athletes so there’s still a chance some of these guys figure it out.  So far, not so good.

 

Interesting arms.

Nestor German

Teddy Sharkey (TJ surgery)

Kiefer Lord (TJ surgery)

Edited Friday at 13:31 by RZNJ

[CaptainRedbeard]

I was very excited by Cunningham given the tools but he’s looking like a non-prospect, he is the biggest disappointment for me.

EBJ may not shoot through the minors like our recent high college hitter picks but it hasn’t been all bad. Exactly 100 wRC+ as a 22 year old speed/defense CF in A+ ball. It’s more of the same from his short debut last year with good K/BB rates, and the power hasn’t been terrible relative to expectations, hovering around .100 ISO all year. He just has a much lower BABIP than you would expect for a super fast guy in the low minors, and that’s not a great sign for his line drive contact quality but not a big red flag quite yet.

Especially with Cowser showing so well defensively there is no reason to rush EBJ. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a trade since he likely still has good trade value and is definitely one of the highest profile position players in the second tier of the system where they’re most likely to deal from. 

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Bradfield -  C- .  Needs a big second half.

Horvath - C.  Needs a good second half.

Baumeister - C.  Walks are a big problem.

Josenberger - C+.  For the 3rd round at least he’s interesting.
 

Levi Wells - D.  Showed glimpses but getting knocked around way too much.

Matthew Etzel - A.  Couldn’t ask for much better from a 10th round pick.

Good news -  He looks like the best player from this draft

Bad news - He looks like the best player from this draft.

The O’s went for speed and athletes so there’s still a chance some of these guys figure it out.  So far, not so good.

 

Interesting arms.

Nestor German

Teddy Sharkey (TJ surgery)

Kiefer Lord (TJ surgery)

Thanks for the info on Sharkey and Lord. Also, you brought this up in the draft discussion, but our 16th rd OF Qrey Lott from 2023 could still be signed. I would think in a “weaker” draft as this year is viewed, and a draft that we traded a pick for Burnes, that we would want to sign him. 

Edited Friday at 15:08 by sportsfan8703

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Thanks for the info on Sharkey and Lord. Also, you brought this up in the draft discussion, but our 16th rd OF Qrey Lott from 2023 could still be signed. I would think in a “weaker” draft as this year is viewed, and a draft that we traded a pick for Burnes, that we would want to sign him. 

We would want to sign him if we still think he’s good.   They had a season to watch him at junior college.  

[Frobby]

I’ve been happy with Horvath’s recent surge.  1.009 OPS in June.  He needs to back that up with another good month, but at least we know he’s capable of having one.  I keep waiting for Bradfield to really go on a tear, but it feels like every time he has 3-4 cf consecutive good days, he cools right back down.