3B Yohandy Morales, Braddock HS [FL]
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DoB: 10/9/2001. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: Miami.
Miami landed four huge recruits from right in their backyard between Victor Mederos, Alejandro Rosario, Yohandy Morales, and Carlos Perez, all of whom attend high school within fifteen miles of campus. Morales is the top hitter in this loaded class, one whose name was trending up when the season shut down thanks to his big raw power and improving ability to get to it. With a lot of power over hit high school bats in this class, Morales even stands out a bit with some defensive value to boot.
Morales' best tool is his raw power. At 6'4", he creates plenty of natural leverage from his long arms and legs, and with a loose swing, some natural loft, there's plenty more power to project as he gets stronger. For most of his prep career, he's had significant swing and miss concerns stemming from a noisy setup and mediocre pitch recognition. There was a lot going on in his swing, and it was hard for him to get everything in order in time to catch up to velocity or react to good breaking balls. However, this spring, he reportedly came out with a much quieter, more efficient setup and swing, and early reports said he was using it to make much more consistent contact.
If Morales' adjustments were for real, then he's taken a very tangible step forward towards his lofty ceiling as a hitter. One interesting separator on his part is his defense – he's not a plus defender by any means, but he should be a solid-average third baseman, which is in contrast to many of this year's prep power hitters that figure to be limited to first base or left field. We're looking at a ceiling of a 30 home run hitter with decent on-base percentages if he can continue to improve his pitch recognition, though with the clear risk that comes with any inability to do so from a high schooler. If he's signable away from Miami, he likely ends up somewhere in rounds three through five.
Summer game footage
Friday, June 5, 2020
Thursday, June 4, 2020
2020 Draft Profile: Ricky Tiedemann
LHP Ricky Tiedemann, Lakewood HS [CA]
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DoB: 8/18/2002. Commitment: San Diego State.
Ricky Tiedemann's older brother, Tai, was drafted in the eighth round out of Long Beach City College in 2016, putting up a nice season at Class A Hickory in the Rangers' system in 2019. Now his younger brother, Ricky, has a chance to beat his draft selection by a significant margin. Depending on your views on Long Beach State's Adam Seminaris, Tiedemann is probably the best left handed pitching prospect in Southern California, coming out of the same Lakewood High School that produced Mariners infielder J.P. Crawford, Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud, Rangers infielder Matt Duffy, and longtime big league infielder Damion Easley, among numerous others. While Tiedemann is far from a finished product, there's a consensus among scouts that he has an immense ceiling.
The very first thing you will notice about Tiedemann, aside from his long brown hair, is the looseness of his operation. He's an excellent athlete at 6'4" with great body control, an exceptionally loose arm that whips in fastballs around 90, and he figures to add significant velocity with added weight and improved mechanics. He has a slider, but it's fairly rudimentary right now and would need to be fully developed by a major league team. Lastly, he throws a changeup which is probably his best pitch right now. He gets great armside fade out of it, which plays really well off of his wide arm slot and the angle he gets on his other pitches.
Tiedemann throws his share of strikes, which is a plus and shows that he's not a complete project. Once he learns to channel his strength into his pitches and really drive towards the plate, and that seems very likely given his body control and athleticism, he could go from a lower velocity guy to a power arm. The fastball and changeup especially have the chance to tunnel off each other and become true weapons, and if he can sharpen that slider a bit, you're looking at an impact starting pitcher. For yet another positive, Tiedemann is very young for the class and won't turn 18 until August, giving him all the more time to develop.
As with any high school arm, there is significant risk here, but Tiedemann's left handedness and his natural athleticism alleviate at least some of that. You definitely have to squint a little bit, but it's really pretty easy to imagine him as an impact starting pitcher once you do. He'll need to develop that breaking ball and and refine his mechanics, though I'm definitely confident in at least the latter. He probably figures to go somewhere in rounds two through four if he's signable away from San Diego State.
2020 game action
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 8/18/2002. Commitment: San Diego State.
Ricky Tiedemann's older brother, Tai, was drafted in the eighth round out of Long Beach City College in 2016, putting up a nice season at Class A Hickory in the Rangers' system in 2019. Now his younger brother, Ricky, has a chance to beat his draft selection by a significant margin. Depending on your views on Long Beach State's Adam Seminaris, Tiedemann is probably the best left handed pitching prospect in Southern California, coming out of the same Lakewood High School that produced Mariners infielder J.P. Crawford, Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud, Rangers infielder Matt Duffy, and longtime big league infielder Damion Easley, among numerous others. While Tiedemann is far from a finished product, there's a consensus among scouts that he has an immense ceiling.
The very first thing you will notice about Tiedemann, aside from his long brown hair, is the looseness of his operation. He's an excellent athlete at 6'4" with great body control, an exceptionally loose arm that whips in fastballs around 90, and he figures to add significant velocity with added weight and improved mechanics. He has a slider, but it's fairly rudimentary right now and would need to be fully developed by a major league team. Lastly, he throws a changeup which is probably his best pitch right now. He gets great armside fade out of it, which plays really well off of his wide arm slot and the angle he gets on his other pitches.
Tiedemann throws his share of strikes, which is a plus and shows that he's not a complete project. Once he learns to channel his strength into his pitches and really drive towards the plate, and that seems very likely given his body control and athleticism, he could go from a lower velocity guy to a power arm. The fastball and changeup especially have the chance to tunnel off each other and become true weapons, and if he can sharpen that slider a bit, you're looking at an impact starting pitcher. For yet another positive, Tiedemann is very young for the class and won't turn 18 until August, giving him all the more time to develop.
As with any high school arm, there is significant risk here, but Tiedemann's left handedness and his natural athleticism alleviate at least some of that. You definitely have to squint a little bit, but it's really pretty easy to imagine him as an impact starting pitcher once you do. He'll need to develop that breaking ball and and refine his mechanics, though I'm definitely confident in at least the latter. He probably figures to go somewhere in rounds two through four if he's signable away from San Diego State.
2020 game action
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
2020 Draft Profile: Kala'i Rosario
OF Kala'i Rosario, Waiakea HS [HI]
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 7/2/2002. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: California Baptist.
Hawaii has given us players like Kolten Wong, Kurt Suzuki, and Kirby Yates, but only after they want off to college. Every year, there tends to be a couple of prospects here and there, but otherwise the islands are not a major exporter of baseball talent. In 2020, yet another "K" first name is set to try to break through in outfielder Kala'i Rosario, the top Hawaiian in the class. Armed with some of the best power in the high school class, he could be drafted high enough this year to forego a commitment to California Baptist.
Rosario can hit the ball a mile with relative ease. He packs a ton of strength into his 6'1" frame and can unload on baseballs to send them incredible distances. While there is some swing and miss in his game, it's not enough to where scouts are worried if he'll hit. It'll take some adjustment, as Hawaiian players often don't face the toughest competition back home, but he should tap his power regularly enough to be productive. His swing could be cleaned up a bit, as he tends to lean into pitches and get out on his front foot, so he'll need to learn to keep his weight back a bit. Good news is that he's fairly young for the class and won't turn 18 until after the draft, so he has that much more time to make adjustments.
Rosario is a bit of a sleeper with very high upside as a 30 or 40 home run guy, albeit one that's likely limited to left field. There is considerable bust risk because he needs so much refinement, but he could provide great value starting around the third round. If he gets to Cal Baptist, he'd be one of the best recruits they've ever landed, and he could significantly elevate his stock by hitting for three years there. He could be a cheaper alternative to a similar hitter, Blaze Jordan.
Highlight reel from fall event
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 7/2/2002. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: California Baptist.
Hawaii has given us players like Kolten Wong, Kurt Suzuki, and Kirby Yates, but only after they want off to college. Every year, there tends to be a couple of prospects here and there, but otherwise the islands are not a major exporter of baseball talent. In 2020, yet another "K" first name is set to try to break through in outfielder Kala'i Rosario, the top Hawaiian in the class. Armed with some of the best power in the high school class, he could be drafted high enough this year to forego a commitment to California Baptist.
Rosario can hit the ball a mile with relative ease. He packs a ton of strength into his 6'1" frame and can unload on baseballs to send them incredible distances. While there is some swing and miss in his game, it's not enough to where scouts are worried if he'll hit. It'll take some adjustment, as Hawaiian players often don't face the toughest competition back home, but he should tap his power regularly enough to be productive. His swing could be cleaned up a bit, as he tends to lean into pitches and get out on his front foot, so he'll need to learn to keep his weight back a bit. Good news is that he's fairly young for the class and won't turn 18 until after the draft, so he has that much more time to make adjustments.
Rosario is a bit of a sleeper with very high upside as a 30 or 40 home run guy, albeit one that's likely limited to left field. There is considerable bust risk because he needs so much refinement, but he could provide great value starting around the third round. If he gets to Cal Baptist, he'd be one of the best recruits they've ever landed, and he could significantly elevate his stock by hitting for three years there. He could be a cheaper alternative to a similar hitter, Blaze Jordan.
Highlight reel from fall event
2020 Draft profile: Blaze Jordan
1B Blaze Jordan, DeSoto Central HS [MS]
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 12/19/2002. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: Mississippi State.
If you've ever gone down a YouTube rabbit hole watching baseball videos, you've probably come across a tabloid-looking video claiming some 15 year old Is The Next BRYCE HARPER. While Jordan isn't quite that good, the video wasn't entirely an exaggeration, as he's a legitimate draft prospect with some of the best raw power in the class. Originally a member of the class of 2021, he reclassified up to the class of 2020 to be eligible this year, making him the youngest player with top 100 hopes in this draft (he won't turn 18 until December). An up and down summer makes him a relatively divisive prospect, but he remains a strong one.
As you can probably tell from all of his YouTube videos, Jordan's carrying tool is his plus to potentially plus-plus raw power. He can knock the ball just about as far as anyone in the class, having done so at showcases around the country and having won numerous national home run derbies. He hits it hard, too, posting exit velocities north of 100 on a regular basis. Not just a free swinger, though, having long shown the ability to handle older pitching to an extent. However, he slumped at times over the summer facing pitchers who could be upwards of a year and a half older than him. He's currently a third baseman working hard to stay there, but unless he significantly improves his range and adds some arm strength, he's more than likely ticketed for first base. That puts a lot of pressure on his bat to perform and it could push him to college.
Jordan also has a relatively choppy swing without a ton of loft, and smoothing him out could help him tap even more power. In a sense, he's a litmus test on how teams view age. He didn't hit particularly well over the summer, but he was a rising junior going up against mostly rising seniors, and we could all reasonably expect that he would perform a lot better a year later.
The ceiling/floor split is pretty big here. He could hit 40 home runs a year, or he could flame out in the minor leagues. That discrepancy, which is made wider because he's just so young, probably gives him a better chance of making it to Mississippi State. If he hits well there, he could be an extremely attractive prospect in 2023 who not only has an SEC track record, but who is the age of a college sophomore. As for 2020, he could go as high as the second round to a team who buys into the power and youth, though his risk/reward profile probably fits better in the third or fourth round, at which point he might just head to Starkville.
Batting practice and game action over the summer
2018 video that made him famous
Jaw dropping home runs from 2016 (he was 13 years old)
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 12/19/2002. B/T: R/R.
Commitment: Mississippi State.
If you've ever gone down a YouTube rabbit hole watching baseball videos, you've probably come across a tabloid-looking video claiming some 15 year old Is The Next BRYCE HARPER. While Jordan isn't quite that good, the video wasn't entirely an exaggeration, as he's a legitimate draft prospect with some of the best raw power in the class. Originally a member of the class of 2021, he reclassified up to the class of 2020 to be eligible this year, making him the youngest player with top 100 hopes in this draft (he won't turn 18 until December). An up and down summer makes him a relatively divisive prospect, but he remains a strong one.
As you can probably tell from all of his YouTube videos, Jordan's carrying tool is his plus to potentially plus-plus raw power. He can knock the ball just about as far as anyone in the class, having done so at showcases around the country and having won numerous national home run derbies. He hits it hard, too, posting exit velocities north of 100 on a regular basis. Not just a free swinger, though, having long shown the ability to handle older pitching to an extent. However, he slumped at times over the summer facing pitchers who could be upwards of a year and a half older than him. He's currently a third baseman working hard to stay there, but unless he significantly improves his range and adds some arm strength, he's more than likely ticketed for first base. That puts a lot of pressure on his bat to perform and it could push him to college.
Jordan also has a relatively choppy swing without a ton of loft, and smoothing him out could help him tap even more power. In a sense, he's a litmus test on how teams view age. He didn't hit particularly well over the summer, but he was a rising junior going up against mostly rising seniors, and we could all reasonably expect that he would perform a lot better a year later.
The ceiling/floor split is pretty big here. He could hit 40 home runs a year, or he could flame out in the minor leagues. That discrepancy, which is made wider because he's just so young, probably gives him a better chance of making it to Mississippi State. If he hits well there, he could be an extremely attractive prospect in 2023 who not only has an SEC track record, but who is the age of a college sophomore. As for 2020, he could go as high as the second round to a team who buys into the power and youth, though his risk/reward profile probably fits better in the third or fourth round, at which point he might just head to Starkville.
Batting practice and game action over the summer
2018 video that made him famous
Jaw dropping home runs from 2016 (he was 13 years old)
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
2020 Draft Profile: Zach McCambley
RHP Zach McCambley, Coastal Carolina
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 5/4/1999.
2020 Stats: 3-1, 1.80 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 32/7 K/BB in 25 IP.
Zach McCambley is an interesting prospect from a smaller program, albeit one that won a National Championship in 2016. He flashed good stuff for the Chanticleers, but he was inconsistent and held a 4.34 ERA over his first two seasons against just decent competition. However, he started to rise up boards when he posted a 1.74 ERA and a 24/7 strikeout to walk ratio across 20.2 innings in the elite Cape Cod League over the summer, then kept on rolling with a 1.80 ERA and a 32/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 25 innings in the shortened 2020 season. Though reliever questions abound, he could be the first Chanticleer drafted in the top 100 picks since Jacob May went 91st overall to the White Sox in 2013.
McCambley is known for his fastball/curveball combination. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and gets good riding action up in the zone, while the curveball is his true strikeout pitch. It has sharp, deep, two-plane break, and he's done a better job locating it and using it to finish off strikeouts. It's a true plus pitch that will play up in pro ball and the majors, and it enabled him to get off to that strong start in 2020. However, McCambley doesn't have much of a changeup, and his command is just decent. The command could use some refining, but the changeup is likely the make or break as to whether he can cut it as a starting pitcher in pro ball.
Scouts will have to weight the fastball/changeup combination, 6'1" frame, and strong start to the 2020 season against the command and mediocre changeup. There is plenty of upside for McCambley as a potential impact starter, while there is a very good chance he ends up as a reliever. The good news is that even as a reliever, with that curve, he should be pretty effective at minimum. He probably fits somewhere in the third to fifth rounds.
Pitching in high school (I swear I saw a great, recent video on Twitter, but I haven't been able to find it)
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 5/4/1999.
2020 Stats: 3-1, 1.80 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 32/7 K/BB in 25 IP.
Zach McCambley is an interesting prospect from a smaller program, albeit one that won a National Championship in 2016. He flashed good stuff for the Chanticleers, but he was inconsistent and held a 4.34 ERA over his first two seasons against just decent competition. However, he started to rise up boards when he posted a 1.74 ERA and a 24/7 strikeout to walk ratio across 20.2 innings in the elite Cape Cod League over the summer, then kept on rolling with a 1.80 ERA and a 32/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 25 innings in the shortened 2020 season. Though reliever questions abound, he could be the first Chanticleer drafted in the top 100 picks since Jacob May went 91st overall to the White Sox in 2013.
McCambley is known for his fastball/curveball combination. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and gets good riding action up in the zone, while the curveball is his true strikeout pitch. It has sharp, deep, two-plane break, and he's done a better job locating it and using it to finish off strikeouts. It's a true plus pitch that will play up in pro ball and the majors, and it enabled him to get off to that strong start in 2020. However, McCambley doesn't have much of a changeup, and his command is just decent. The command could use some refining, but the changeup is likely the make or break as to whether he can cut it as a starting pitcher in pro ball.
Scouts will have to weight the fastball/changeup combination, 6'1" frame, and strong start to the 2020 season against the command and mediocre changeup. There is plenty of upside for McCambley as a potential impact starter, while there is a very good chance he ends up as a reliever. The good news is that even as a reliever, with that curve, he should be pretty effective at minimum. He probably fits somewhere in the third to fifth rounds.
Pitching in high school (I swear I saw a great, recent video on Twitter, but I haven't been able to find it)
Sunday, May 31, 2020
2020 Draft Profile: OF Zach DeLoach
OF Zach DeLoach, Texas A&M
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 8/18/1998. B/T: L/R.
2020 Stats: 6 HR, .421/.547/.789, 6 SB, 3/14 K/BB in 18 games.
Over the past calendar year, very few prospects have improved their stock as much as Zach DeLoach. Over his first two seasons in College Station, he hit just .236/.338/.338 with five home runs over 117 games, showing very good plate discipline (62/58 K/BB) but not much else. He earned a trip to the elite Cape Cod League over the summer and looked like a completely different hitter; in 43 games, which is no small sample size, he slashed .368/.434/.529 with five home runs, ten stolen bases, and a 30/15 strikeout to walk ratio, putting himself very much on the scouting map for 2020. Under the newly-brightened spotlight, DeLoach continued to perform, demolishing Texas A&M's weaker non-conference schedule to the tune of a .421/.547/.789 line, six home runs, six stolen bases, and a ridiculous 3/14 strikeout to walk ratio across 18 games. He was at his best over his first six games, where he hit .706/.739/1.529 with four home runs.
DeLoach has always had good pitch selection, but his relatively long, deliberate swing made it difficult for him to make much of those pitches. Over the past year or so, he has tightened up his left handed swing and has been much, much, much better at doing damage on the pitches he very capably selects. Not only did he cut his strikeout rate to a minuscule 3.9% in 2020 (and a still-solid 17.1% on the Cape), but he hit for real impact while doing so, showing real, above average power with both metal and wood bats. Defensively, DeLoach is solid if unspectacular in the outfield, showing good speed that he may or may not be able to maintain and an overall corner outfield profile.
If DeLoach had continued over the rest of the season to hit anywhere close to how he hit over the first four weeks, we could be talking about his name as high as the first round. So unfortunately, with much less of a track record than other bat-first college outfielders like Heston Kjerstad and Daniel Cabrera, he won't get that high. The Cape performance is real – you can't hit .369 with power over 43 games by accident there. The 2020 performance looked real – hitting .421 with power while striking out just three times in 18 games is extremely impressive – but he was facing a weaker schedule full of weekend series against Miami of Ohio, Army, and New Mexico State. He got just seven at bats against power five teams (Illinois, UCLA, Okla. State) and went hitless. You can't blame him for that part, but he has long been described as a streaky hitter and that would have been put to the test against an SEC slate of pitching.
Because we didn't get to see him in the SEC, whether you think DeLoach is a legitimate impact bat or more of a role player depends on whether you buy into the mechanical adjustments he's made. There's no doubt that the swing is quicker and cleaner. If you think that will be enough to continue to hit at a high level in pro ball and up to the majors, you could see him hitting 20-30 home runs per season with solid on-base percentages and take a crack at him in the second round. If you remain worried about the streakiness or see other things, like average bat speed and a little bit of rigidness in the swing, you might see him more as a fourth outfielder or fringe-regular, feeling more comfortable in the third or fourth round. I think he'll continue to hit in pro ball and settle in as a productive regular, one who will pop for some very good years while looking more average in others.
2020 highlights
Compared to his 2018 swing
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 8/18/1998. B/T: L/R.
2020 Stats: 6 HR, .421/.547/.789, 6 SB, 3/14 K/BB in 18 games.
Over the past calendar year, very few prospects have improved their stock as much as Zach DeLoach. Over his first two seasons in College Station, he hit just .236/.338/.338 with five home runs over 117 games, showing very good plate discipline (62/58 K/BB) but not much else. He earned a trip to the elite Cape Cod League over the summer and looked like a completely different hitter; in 43 games, which is no small sample size, he slashed .368/.434/.529 with five home runs, ten stolen bases, and a 30/15 strikeout to walk ratio, putting himself very much on the scouting map for 2020. Under the newly-brightened spotlight, DeLoach continued to perform, demolishing Texas A&M's weaker non-conference schedule to the tune of a .421/.547/.789 line, six home runs, six stolen bases, and a ridiculous 3/14 strikeout to walk ratio across 18 games. He was at his best over his first six games, where he hit .706/.739/1.529 with four home runs.
DeLoach has always had good pitch selection, but his relatively long, deliberate swing made it difficult for him to make much of those pitches. Over the past year or so, he has tightened up his left handed swing and has been much, much, much better at doing damage on the pitches he very capably selects. Not only did he cut his strikeout rate to a minuscule 3.9% in 2020 (and a still-solid 17.1% on the Cape), but he hit for real impact while doing so, showing real, above average power with both metal and wood bats. Defensively, DeLoach is solid if unspectacular in the outfield, showing good speed that he may or may not be able to maintain and an overall corner outfield profile.
If DeLoach had continued over the rest of the season to hit anywhere close to how he hit over the first four weeks, we could be talking about his name as high as the first round. So unfortunately, with much less of a track record than other bat-first college outfielders like Heston Kjerstad and Daniel Cabrera, he won't get that high. The Cape performance is real – you can't hit .369 with power over 43 games by accident there. The 2020 performance looked real – hitting .421 with power while striking out just three times in 18 games is extremely impressive – but he was facing a weaker schedule full of weekend series against Miami of Ohio, Army, and New Mexico State. He got just seven at bats against power five teams (Illinois, UCLA, Okla. State) and went hitless. You can't blame him for that part, but he has long been described as a streaky hitter and that would have been put to the test against an SEC slate of pitching.
Because we didn't get to see him in the SEC, whether you think DeLoach is a legitimate impact bat or more of a role player depends on whether you buy into the mechanical adjustments he's made. There's no doubt that the swing is quicker and cleaner. If you think that will be enough to continue to hit at a high level in pro ball and up to the majors, you could see him hitting 20-30 home runs per season with solid on-base percentages and take a crack at him in the second round. If you remain worried about the streakiness or see other things, like average bat speed and a little bit of rigidness in the swing, you might see him more as a fourth outfielder or fringe-regular, feeling more comfortable in the third or fourth round. I think he'll continue to hit in pro ball and settle in as a productive regular, one who will pop for some very good years while looking more average in others.
2020 highlights
Compared to his 2018 swing
2020 Draft Profile: Jake Eder
LHP Jake Eder, Vanderbilt
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 10/9/1998.
2020 Stats: 1-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 27/9 K/BB in 20 IP.
Jake Eder has been a well-known name for a while now, one that scouts have been waiting to see put it together for a while now. He was considered a second round talent out of high school in South Florida back in 2017 and ranked 59th in my draft rankings that year, and not much has changed about his profile since. After an up and down freshman season, he put together a 2.97 ERA and a 41/16 strikeout to walk ratio as a sophomore reliever in 2019, then found similar success in the elite Cape Cod League over the summer (2.29 ERA, 24/6 K/BB). He was a full time starter in 2020, but the results were just decent; he allowed exactly two earned runs in each of his four starts and finished with a 3.60 ERA and a 27/9 strikeout to walk ratio in 20 innings.
Eder is a 6'4" lefty with velocity and a good breaking ball – already, that's enough to get scouts interested. However, literally everything is inconsistent. At his best, his fastball can scrape the upper 90's while sitting in the mid 90's, though there are days where he dips below 90 and tops out around 92. The curveball looks like a legitimate plus pitch at times, combining power, depth, and angle into a devastating strikeout pitch at its best. However, it tends to flatten out at times and can be especially vulnerable to hard contact when he hangs it. His changeup is also behind that of most draftable college starters, but that's more due to a lack of usage than a lack of feel.
His command is similarly inconsistent to his fastball and curveball. At his best, he can look average in that regard and that helped him have success on the Cape, but there are days where he loses the zone and hangs pitches up to get crushed. He sometimes struggles to keep his long arms in check and repeat his delivery. The tools for success are absolutely there, because at his best, he looks like a first round arm with mid 90's velocity, a plus curve, and decent command from the left side. But I am a bit concerned by the fact that Vanderbilt, which is among the best in the country at developing pitchers, hasn't been able to clean him up.
College lefties tend to do well on draft day, especially when they can hit 97 and drop in a wicked curve. Though Vanderbilt hasn't quite been able to help him pull everything together on a consistent basis, pro coaching could unlock that and get first round value outside of the first round. If he does find a way to perform at his peak more often than not, as well as develop a changeup, he could be a mid-rotation starter. If not, the fastball/curveball combination will fit well in the bullpen. He probably comes off the board somewhere in the second to third round range.
2020 start vs Southern California (home plate view)
2020 start vs Illinois-Chicago (CF view)
Full index of profiles here
DoB: 10/9/1998.
2020 Stats: 1-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 27/9 K/BB in 20 IP.
Jake Eder has been a well-known name for a while now, one that scouts have been waiting to see put it together for a while now. He was considered a second round talent out of high school in South Florida back in 2017 and ranked 59th in my draft rankings that year, and not much has changed about his profile since. After an up and down freshman season, he put together a 2.97 ERA and a 41/16 strikeout to walk ratio as a sophomore reliever in 2019, then found similar success in the elite Cape Cod League over the summer (2.29 ERA, 24/6 K/BB). He was a full time starter in 2020, but the results were just decent; he allowed exactly two earned runs in each of his four starts and finished with a 3.60 ERA and a 27/9 strikeout to walk ratio in 20 innings.
Eder is a 6'4" lefty with velocity and a good breaking ball – already, that's enough to get scouts interested. However, literally everything is inconsistent. At his best, his fastball can scrape the upper 90's while sitting in the mid 90's, though there are days where he dips below 90 and tops out around 92. The curveball looks like a legitimate plus pitch at times, combining power, depth, and angle into a devastating strikeout pitch at its best. However, it tends to flatten out at times and can be especially vulnerable to hard contact when he hangs it. His changeup is also behind that of most draftable college starters, but that's more due to a lack of usage than a lack of feel.
His command is similarly inconsistent to his fastball and curveball. At his best, he can look average in that regard and that helped him have success on the Cape, but there are days where he loses the zone and hangs pitches up to get crushed. He sometimes struggles to keep his long arms in check and repeat his delivery. The tools for success are absolutely there, because at his best, he looks like a first round arm with mid 90's velocity, a plus curve, and decent command from the left side. But I am a bit concerned by the fact that Vanderbilt, which is among the best in the country at developing pitchers, hasn't been able to clean him up.
College lefties tend to do well on draft day, especially when they can hit 97 and drop in a wicked curve. Though Vanderbilt hasn't quite been able to help him pull everything together on a consistent basis, pro coaching could unlock that and get first round value outside of the first round. If he does find a way to perform at his peak more often than not, as well as develop a changeup, he could be a mid-rotation starter. If not, the fastball/curveball combination will fit well in the bullpen. He probably comes off the board somewhere in the second to third round range.
2020 start vs Southern California (home plate view)
2020 start vs Illinois-Chicago (CF view)
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