2022 MLB Draft Review: Atlanta Braves

Full list of draftees

Some teams prefer to play the draft straightforward, but the Braves went all out mixing and matching bonus sizes, saving nearly $850,000 on first round pick Owen Murphy and going nearly a million dollars above slot value on seventh rounder Adam Maier in the most extreme examples. It didn't stop there, with seven additional picks aside from Murphy and Maier who signed for at least $100,000 more or less than slot value. That included the last three picks of day two, who got a measly $2,500 each so that Atlanta could afford those massive over slot bonuses to Murphy and sixth rounder Seth Keller (more than $400,000 above slot). Even the guys who signed "at slot" were part of the game, as Atlanta actually took $2,500 off every signing bonus on the draft's first two days regardless of its relation to the slot value, instead counting the $2,500 contingency bonus each player automatically receives (which does not count against the bonus pool) as part of the signing bonus. All these games helped them land a class that included three of the most talented high school pitchers in the draft with their first three picks, in addition to a college position player class that leaned heavily on power. Interestingly, many teams factor age relative to class into their draft models, but the Braves went the opposite direction and drafted numerous players that were either on the older side for their class, or in some cases, a full year older than the rest of their academic class.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-20: RHP Owen Murphy, Riverside Brookfield HS [IL]. My rank: #32.
Slot value: $3.41 million. Signing bonus: $2.56 million ($849,200 below slot value).
Anyone who saw Owen Murphy pitch this spring probably had a feeling he was going to be drafted much higher than the industry consensus, and he was. Considered a second to third round prospect entering the spring, he just dominated the Chicago area on both sides of the ball and pushed himself into the first round conversation. An accomplished hitter in addition to a pitcher, he shows advanced discipline in the box and elevates the ball with authority, but his future is certainly on the mound. There, Murphy sits in the low 90's with his fastball, getting up to around 95 with a ton of riding action from a low release height with good extension. It's one of the flatter fastballs out there and just ate up Chicago area bats this spring. He plays off that fastball with a tight slider that flashes plus and also shows well with a more traditional, top to bottom curveball and a changeup. The 6'1" righty is very athletic on the mound with a clean, efficient delivery that should continue to add velocity, and he fills up the strike zone consistently. It's a pretty complete profile for a teenager, one that could move relatively quickly through the minors and be MLB ready at a young age. Committed to Notre Dame, he was drafted high enough that he was willing to take a significant under slot deal that the Braves partially redeployed on...

CBA-35: RHP JR Ritchie, Bainbridge Island HS [WA]. My rank: #56.
Slot value: $2.4 million. Signing bonus: $2.2 million ($196,800 above slot value).
One of the more well-known names in this year's prep class, JR Ritchie left his mark on some of the best hitters in the 2021 draft class as a rising junior in the summer of 2020, then established himself as a potential first round pick the following summer. Ritchie's spring was a bit more up and down, but that didn't deter the Braves who gave him nearly as large a bonus as first round pick Owen Murphy. He sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, getting up to 97 with some late hop, while his plus slider is one of the better breakers in the draft at its best. He also mixes in a solid curveball and changeup, and when he's going right, locates all four pitches well for a teenage pitcher. The 6'2" righty is a great athlete that moves extremely well on the mound, getting great extension towards the plate and repeating his delivery well. He's old for the class and turned 19 back in June, but he has a great head on his shoulders, really seems to understand the development process, and is advanced enough that the age isn't a huge issue. There's definitive upside as an impact starting pitcher, and he could reach that ceiling sooner rather than later. He was committed to UCLA but instead joins the Braves here.

2-57: RHP Cole Phillips, Boerne HS [TX]. My rank: #67.
Slot value: $1.31 million. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($190,200 above slot value).
Cole Phillips was an interesting prospect last summer, but took off in the spring when he added about five miles per hour to his fastball. Unfortunately, that helium was short lived, as he blew out his elbow in April and required Tommy John surgery. Given that he's already extremely old for a high school senior, having turned 19 in May, he now may not be back on a mound until he's 20 years old. For that reason, it makes sense that he signed here for a big bonus rather than heading to Arkansas with just one season to prove himself before becoming draft eligible again in 2024. The Braves are buying into a huge fastball, one that sat in the mid to upper 90's this spring and touched 101 with riding action, something you just don't see from high schoolers. His main secondary is a slider that flashes plus, but it's inconsistent and flattens out regularly. Phillips also flips in a curveball and changeup, giving him a full arsenal to work with once he gets healthy and the Braves get to work on refining everything. The 6'3" righty gets down the mound very well and maintained solid control even after his velocity took off, with plenty of athleticism and strength that he capably harnesses. There is a huge ceiling here for the San Antonio-area product, with the potential for a triple digit fastball accompanied by legitimate offspeed stuff and solid command, but he's going to get a very late start on working towards that ceiling due to his injury and age.

2C-76: RHP Blake Burkhalter, Auburn. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $860,100. Signing bonus: $647,500 ($212,600 below slot value).
Blake Burkhalter was the first player drafted this year that was not on my list, but I was aware of him and he was on the short list of guys I would have looked more into if I had more time before the draft. There always has to be a cut off, right? The first collegian drafted by the Braves this year, Burkhalter is a semi-local kid who grew up in the Lower Alabama town of Dothan before heading north to Auburn for college. He's gotten better and better throughout his time there, and this year he was right in the middle of Auburn's College World Series run with a 3.69 ERA and a 71/7 strikeout to walk ratio over 46.1 innings out of the bullpen. He sits in the mid 90's with his fastball and can reach back for 97-98 at will, coming in with riding life that makes it very tough to square up on its own. You can't just sit on the heat, though, as he frequently pitches off a hard, nasty cutter around 90 with sweep and downer action. It's one of the better two pitch mixes in college baseball, and he does add a decent changeup to keep left handed hitters off his fastball. The 6' righty is a pure reliever at this point because he throws with some effort, loading deep into his plant leg before exploding towards the mound. He initially struggled with command earlier in his Auburn career but has gotten better in that regard, now looking fringe average – plenty good enough in one inning sets where he can get ugly swings off his fastball/cutter mix. If he can keep that control together at least for the most part, he could race to the big leagues and be up by next year.

3-96: C Drake Baldwin, Missouri State. My rank: #113.
Slot value: $635,800. Signing bonus: $633,300 ($2,500 below slot value).
Like Owen Murphy, Drake Baldwin is a guy that felt like he would be drafted a bit higher than the industry consensus, and that was the case again. Baldwin had a massive breakout year at Missouri State this spring, slashing .341/.448/.647 with 19 home runs and an even 37/37 strikeout to walk ratio over 60 games despite coming into the year with just five career home runs. He effectively taps his power from the left side with an uphill swing path that still stays in the zone for a long time, helping him effectively lift the ball with authority and allowing his power to play to all fields. He doesn't swing and miss much, especially for a guy with an ISO (isolated slugging) above .300, with a patient approach at the plate that translates into its fair share of walks as well. His defense is average, in need of a little refinement if he wants to stick behind the plate but it should be fully doable. The balanced all-around profile gives the upside of an every day catcher that could hit 20+ home runs a year with solid on-base percentages, with a more median projection of a very solid backup that can be a value add on both sides of the ball. So far in the minors, he has picked up three hits (including two doubles) in five at bats in the rookie-level FCL.

4-125: 3B David McCabe, Charlotte. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $478,900. Signing bonus: $476,400 ($2,500 below slot value).
In the fourth round, the Braves picked up a bat that put up some of the best numbers in college baseball, with David McCabe slashing .386/.513/.784 with 16 home runs and a 28/40 strikeout to walk ratio over 42 games at Charlotte. He stands out for easy plus raw power that he taps consistently in games, having crushed 30 home runs in just 79 games over the past two seasons and slugging .760 along the way. He finds the barrel extremely consistently no matter where in the zone he's pitched, and he handles offspeed stuff well as well. Previously an aggressive hitter that liked to jump on pitches early in the count, he was much more patient in 2022 and watched his walk rate climb from 9.6% to 20.5%, pushing his on-base percentage above .500. McCabe is a big guy at a listed 6'4", 230 pounds, and although he manned third base for the 49ers, he'll likely move over to first base pretty quickly in pro ball with well below average speed. It's a pretty similar overall package to Tyler Locklear, who signed with the Mariners in the second round for more than double McCabe's bonus, though McCabe is nearly a year older, doesn't have the Cape Cod League track record, and isn't *quite* as elite with his exit velocities. Still, the Toronto-area native has a chance to slug his way towards an every day role in Atlanta if he can make enough contact against high end velocity. He went hitless in his first game in the FCL.

5-155: 3B Ignacio Alvarez, Riverside JC. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $357,400. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($140,100 above slot value).
Ignacio Alvarez was very much an under the radar pick, as he wasn't ranked by any major publications after a strong season at Riverside City College in which he slashed .370/.494/.582 with five home runs and a 16/36 strikeout to walk ratio across 48 games. A true freshman, Alvarez only turned 19 in April and is barely older than high school picks JR Ritchie and Cole Phillips, but took extremely well to JuCo pitching with just a 6.9% strikeout rate and a 15.6% walk rate. He's a very disciplined hitter for his age, controlling the strike zone with ease against mostly older pitching this spring while also showing some power potential from a strong 6' frame. Most of his power went to the gaps in 2022, but if he can get a little better at lifting the ball and a little more accurate with his barrel, he has the pitch selection ability and the pure strength to do real damage. A third baseman, he should be able to stick there with a strong arm and an average glove. Alvarez has picked up two hits in six at bats so far in the FCL.

6-185: RHP Seth Keller, Hanover HS [VA]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $275,100. Signing bonus: $697,500 ($422,400 above slot value).
Levi Huesman was the more famous pitcher at Hanover High School in the Richmond area, but Seth Keller wound up being the first one drafted out of that rotation. Undersized like Huesman, Keller has seen his velocity tick up this spring and now sits in the low 90's, touching 95-96 at best, with running life from a low three quarters arm slot. He flips in a solid slider with some sweep, though it can be inconsistent, and he has solid feel for a changeup with nice fading action to the arm side. Keller throws with some effort and is listed at just 5'10", with fringy command that will need to take a step forward to stick in the rotation. The Braves are buying into the youth (he only turned 18 in May), athleticism, and unique fastball traits that could make him a late inning weapon or a solid starting pitcher with some refinement, and it cost them more than $400,000 above slot value to sign him away from an Old Dominion commitment.

7-215: RHP Adam Maier, Oregon. My rank: #119.
Slot value: $215,400. Signing bonus: $1.2 million ($982,100 above slot value).
This was a surprise pick, because most in the industry believed Adam Maier was destined to end up back on campus at Oregon in 2023. A transfer from the University of British Columbia, Maier raised his profile with a 4.55 ERA and a 27/9 strikeout to walk ratio in the Cape Cod League, then was off to a hot start for Oregon with a 4.02 ERA and a 19/6 strikeout to walk ratio over 15.2 innings through three starts this year. Unfortunately, he went down with an elbow injury in March and though he so far has been able to avoid Tommy John surgery, he hasn't pitched since. Given that he's the age of a college sophomore, it looked like he was going to head back to school, put in a full, healthy season in the rotation, and still be age-appropriate for the 2023 draft. Now, he'll take his impressive raw stuff to Atlanta after signing for late second round money. Maier sits in the low 90's with his fastball and gets up to 95-96, and the pitch stands out for its hard arm side run and sink from a lower arm slot. It should be a ground ball machine in pro ball. His best pitch, however, is a plus-plus slider with elite spin rates and hard, late snap that leaves hitters shaking their heads. He adds a solid changeup that plays well off his fastball, giving him one of the better three pitch mixes on the west coast. If he puts it all together, there is definitive impact starter upside, but there is a lot of work to do. Beyond getting healthy, which he seems on track to do in plenty of time for the 2023 season, the skinny 6' righty needs to prove his durability as a starting pitcher given that he has very rarely been on the mound for long stretches of time. He'll also need to improve his command of his offspeeds, which is a bit behind his fastball command, and prove that he can hold that over extended innings. Given the massive signing bonus, it's clear the Braves believe that will happen, and if not, his three pitch mix would be nasty out of the bullpen.

9-275: 2B Cory Acton, Georgia. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $159,800. Signing bonus: $2,500 ($157,300 below slot value).
Though he's not a native Georgian, Cory Acton gives the Braves a Georgia Bulldog to throw into the system for some hometown flair and more importantly, massive cost savings with a minuscule signing bonus. Acton was a well known draft name out of American Heritage High School back in 2018, but made it to campus at Florida and spent three years in Gainesville, where he started as an underclassman but lost playing time as a junior in 2021. He transferred to Georgia in 2022 and put up a solid season in Athens, slashing .266/.394/.401 with five home runs and a 46/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 52 games. Acton is a patient, professional hitter that has been around the block more than a few times in the SEC, consistently working good at bats against high quality pitching. He has a clean swing from the left side, making a lot of contact by selecting good pitches to hit and producing some pull side power when he turns on one. Already 23 years old, the South Florida native should take quickly to professional pitching and could work his way to the upper minors rather quickly, though his overall ceiling is very limited. Having played all over the infield in college, primarily second and third base, he projects mostly as roster a roster filler that can slot in at a few different positions and hold his own against upper minors pitching, with a chance to become a bench bat in Atlanta if he taps a little more power. That pro career has already gotten started, with one hit in five at bats as well as two walks in the FCL.

19-575: OF Christian Jackson, Dutchtown HS [GA]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Back in 2019, the Braves drafted a kid named Michael Harris in the third round out of Stockbridge High School, and they went back to Henry County in the 19th round here to take Christian Jackson. Also a Stockbridge native, Jackson attended Dutchtown High School a few exits farther south on I-75 and will now hope to make the trip thirty miles north to Truist Park one day. Jackson is extremely physical at 6'2", 185 pounds, showing off plus speed and improving raw power from the right side. His swing can get a little rigid and will need some smoothing out in pro ball, but he's young and has plenty of time to get things ironed out in pro ball. Jackson played a lot of infield in high school and showed off impressive arm strength from shortstop, but the Braves drafted him as an outfielder where he more effectively deploys his speed and arm. Originally committed to Georgia State, he was always going to stay in the ATL and now he'll hope to join Harris in Atlanta soon and has already taken his first step, picking up one single in four at bats in the FCL. 

2022 MLB Draft Review: Seattle Mariners

Full list of draftees

Continuing last year's trend that saw them select Harry Ford, Edwin Arroyo, and Michael Morales with their first three picks, the Mariners went heavy on high schoolers again this year with three more in their first four picks. They targeted premium athleticism with those prep picks, especially with the two pitchers in Walter Ford and Ashton Izzi that have strikingly similar profiles, then had to spend virtually the rest of the draft saving money. After selecting Izzi in the fourth round, four of their next six picks signed for $50,000 or less despite six figure slot values.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-21: SS Cole Young, North Allegheny HS [PA]. My rank: #20.
Slot value: $3.29 million. Signing bonus: $3.3 million ($7,100 above slot value).
Part of the reason Jerry Dipoto felt comfortable dealing star shortstop prospects Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo to the Reds in the Luis Castillo trade was because of this pick right here. Cole Young was one of the more intriguing prep bats available throughout the draft cycle, showing extremely well over the summer and again this spring to earn chatter throughout the first round. The Mariners were thrilled to see him fall out of the top twenty picks, and didn't let him get any further. Young is a very polished young hitter that makes extremely consistent, hard, line drive contact from the left side. He rarely swings and misses, showing some of the better barrel adjustability in the class to spoil tough pitches and get on base just as pitchers thought they had him beat. Give him one in his wheelhouse, though, and he can really turn on the ball with impressive exit velocities and sneaky power. For now though, power isn't a big part of his game and he's much better when he's focused on all-fields line drive contact, which he knows and executes. Defensively, he glides around the dirt at shortstop with above average instincts and a strong arm, giving him every opportunity to stick there in the long run. Interestingly enough, if you met the Pittsburgh-area native on the street, you might never know he's a professional athlete. He's strong and lean at six feet tall, but carries himself with great humility and strikes you more as a typical high school kid in interviews. He's a smart kid that was strongly committed to Duke, and he'll put his head down and get to work in the Seattle system. Look forward to a potential 15 homer bat with high on-base percentages and good defense at shortstop if you're a Mariners fan.

2-58: 3B Tyler Locklear, Virginia Commonwealth. My rank: #50.
Slot value: $1.28 million. Signing bonus: $1.28 million.
Tyler Locklear is one of the more polarizing prospects in this year's class, but the Mariners are all in. He has been nothing short of a one man wrecking crew at VCU, and in 2022 put up some of the best numbers in the entire country by slashing .402/.542/.799 with 20 home runs and a 25/47 strikeout to walk ratio over 62 games. He got hotter and hotter throughout the season, including an eleven game run leading up to regionals in which he slashed .700/.786/1.475 with nine home runs and zero strikeouts to lead VCU to an A-10 championship. Locklear brings tremendous raw power from the right side, a product of just good old fashioned brute strength and a calm, quiet setup that gives way to an explosive swing. He hits the ball as hard as anybody in college baseball, to the point where he can still do damage even when he doesn't quite square it up. The Baltimore-area native is also extremely disciplined at the plate and looked laughably overqualified to face A-10 pitching this spring, but he also hit .256/.333/.504 with nine home runs and a 32/6 strikeout to walk ratio in the Cape Cod League last summer and has shown he's perfectly comfortable against high end pitching as well. Now there are reasons some teams didn't like him nearly this early, and the trio of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and Prospects Live had him ranked #98, #99, and #82, respectively. He's a well below average athlete that will most likely end up at first base or in left field, putting all of the pressure on his bat to make that transition from the A-10 to pro pitching. While he did slug nine home runs on the Cape, he did expand the zone much more often than he did at VCU and some still think pro pitchers may adjust to him fairly quickly. The Mariners are clearly not of that line of thought and neither am I, and we'll get to sit back and watch to see what route he goes. The upside here is that of a 30+ home run bat that gets on base at a high clip, anchoring Seattle lineups with Julio Rodriguez, Cole Young, Harry Ford, Kyle Lewis, and Jarred Kelenic for the long run.

CBB-74: RHP Walter Ford, Pace HS [FL]. My rank: #53.
Slot value: $887,400. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($362,600 above slot value).
Signing for nearly as much money as Tyler Locklear sixteen picks later is Walter Ford, one of the most interesting players in the class who had been committed to Alabama. Ford originally attended McAdory High School on the outskirts of Birmingham before transferring south to Pace High School in the Pensacola area and reclassifying, making him one of the youngest players in the entire draft. He was a bit uneven this spring, which quieted some first round chatter, but the reality is that the Mariners are getting an incredible ball of clay with as much upside as anybody in the class. Ford sits in the low 90's with his fastball, touching 97 when he reaches back, with high spin rates and steep downhill plane. He shows good feel for spin with a slider that flashes above average at its best, while his firm changeup is a distant third pitch. The command has been less consistent, especially with his offspeed stuff, as he's still growing into his body and learning himself as a pitcher. The 6'3" righty is a premium athlete with a ton of projection, a quick arm, and impressive ability to get down the mound and channel his strength, all well before his 18th birthday that won't roll around until the offseason. The Mariners have a lot of work to do, including ironing out his delivery and getting him more consistent with his mechanics, as well as refining his offspeed stuff, but there aren't many young kids that can move on the mound like Ford can. If they get this right, they could have a true ace on the mound and a fun Walter Ford-Harry Ford battery that will be tough on Chevy drivers.

4-126: RHP Ashton Izzi, Oswego East HS [IL]. My rank: #211.
Slot value: $474,900. Signing bonus: $1.10 million ($625,100 above slot value).
The Mariners continued their spending spree with a fourth consecutive seven figure bonus to Wichita State commit Ashton Izzi, who teamed with White Sox first round pick Noah Schultz in the Oswego East High School rotation. Izzi turned a lot of heads this spring and made his way up draft boards with his combination of stuff and athleticism. His fastball typically sits in the low 90's, but reaches 97 at its best and there should be more velocity coming. He has feel to spin a breaking ball, with a slider that flashes above average but still needs to find its identity with inconsistent shape, while he does have some feel for a changeup. The 6'3" righty stands out most for his projection, with an extremely athletic frame that has plenty of room to add weight. He moves well on the mound, utilizing a shorter arm stroke with a relatively steep approach angle on his pitches, though his command has been inconsistent to this point. It's honestly a very similar profile to Walter Ford one pick ahead, albeit with a bit less athleticism and more than a year older. The Mariners will work with the Chicago-area product to put on weight, get stronger, and get more consistent with his offspeed stuff and command. There is a lot of work to do, but the ceiling of a mid-rotation starter is within reach.

6-186: SS Josh Hood, North Carolina State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $272,800. Signing bonus: $250,000 ($22,800 below slot value).
Josh Hood has been on scouts' radars for some time now, but finally gave them what they needed to see to pull the trigger in 2022. Originally a member of the Penn baseball team, he hit .331/.411/.580 as a freshman in 2019 but only played in eight games before the 2020 shutdown and then missed the entire 2021 season when the Ivy League inexplicably barred all its young healthy athletes from competing outside. He transferred to North Carolina State in 2022 and got regular playing time for the first time in nearly three years, slashing .268/.350/.498 with 13 home runs and a 57/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 57 games. The South Jersey native has a clean right handed swing and the ball jumps off his bat, giving him potentially 15+ home run power from a lean 6'2" frame. Despite interruptions, he's hit everywhere he's gone and has kept his strikeout rates to a reasonable level, and there should be no reason that should change in pro ball. While it's not an offensive profile that jumps off the page, it's very well rounded and it profiles well at shortstop, where he projects to stick long term. It's probably a utility infield profile with some upside if uninterrupted playing time allows his offensive game to take another step forward.

8-246: C Tatem Levins, Pittsburgh. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $175,600. Signing bonus: $50,000 ($125,600 below slot value).
Tatem Levins was an accomplished hitter at La Salle, where he slashed .318/.402/.524 with 17 home runs and more walks than strikeouts over a three year career. La Salle ended up disbanding their baseball program in 2022, so he transferred to Pitt and continued to hit with a .321/.435/.613 slash line, 16 home runs, and a 31/33 strikeout to walk ratio over 56 games. Levins stands out most for his extremely advanced plate discipline, which has enabled him to get on base a ton throughout his college career and will help him make a quick transition to pro ball. He crushes mistakes and elevates the ball with authority, which is why he knocked 33 home runs over his four year college career, but doesn't necessarily have have the raw exit velocities to project for significant power in pro ball. An average defender, he projects as a backup catcher at best and if not, a decent bench bat. If his defense does take, he could move quickly through the minors due to a bat that's probably already ready for High A. 

9-276: RHP Tyler Gough, JSerra Catholic HS [CA]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $159,400. Signing bonus: $275,000 ($115,600 above slot value).
The Mariners went back to the high school pitching ranks one more time here in the ninth round, grabbing Tyler Gough out of the powerhouse JSerra program in Southern California. Gough crept up boards late in the process, and wound up command sixth round money in the ninth round to sign away from an Oregon State commitment. His fastball sits in the low 90's but can touch the mid 90's in short stints, playing up with great riding life and a flatter approach angle. His go-to offspeed pitch is a curveball that gets deep break at times but needs to add significant power, while he's also flashed a harder cutter/slider and a changeup, the latter of which he slows his arm down to throw. The 6'2" righty throws strikes and generally stays around the zone, though he does have a little bit of trouble repeating his delivery and his command will need refinement in pro ball. There are numerous tweaks to be made to this profile, but the arm strength is there and he showed well at the MLB Draft Combine, giving the Mariners a lot to work with.

17-516: RHP Stefan Raeth, Washington. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $50,000.
The Mariners did make one hometown pick in University of Washington grad Stefan Raeth. Raeth is not originally from the Pacific Northwest, having grown up in Northern California and bouncing around the Bay Area from Acalanes High School to Napa Valley College to Los Medanos College before landing in Seattle. He spent two years with the Huskies and was at his best in 2022, when he posted a 3.39 ERA and an 89/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 66.1 innings as a long reliever. He sits around 90 with his fastball, but it plays up because he hides it well from a shorter arm action. His slider has some sweep and should miss bats in pro ball, while he also adds an average curve and changeup. The 6'1" righty throws a lot of strikes and has an efficient delivery, so the main focus will just be adding power to his stuff to help it play up a little better against pro bats. He already controls the zone well and missed a lot of bats in college despite a lack of velocity, so any gains should immediately impact his numbers in a positive way.

2022 MLB Draft Review: St. Louis Cardinals

Full list of draftees

The Cardinals stayed on brand in this class, leaning heavily on college pitching and in fact beginning their draft with three consecutive college lefties. It's a mix of pitchability types with guys who show unique traits on the mound, giving them a nice mix of guys who could race to the majors and others with upside that can be unlocked with patience and creativity. There is also a distinctly California feel here, with nine of their twenty picks hailing from the Golden State including each of those three college lefties at the top of the draft.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-22: LHP Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State. My rank: #19.
Slot value: $3.18 million. Signing bonus: $3.18 million.
Despite not picking until #22, I think the Cardinals picked up the best college pitcher in the draft here. Cooper Hjerpe steadily improved throughout his time in Corvallis and was at his best in 2022, when he put up a 2.53 ERA and a 161/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 103.1 innings. Those 161 strikeouts led the country by a full dozen ahead of Yankees second rounder Drew Thorpe (149), he'll continue that in pro ball. Hjerpe sits in the low 90's with his fastball and gets up to 95-96, but the pitch plays way above its velocity because it comes from such a unique angle. It's a very low three quarters look, nearly sidearm, coming in with a tremendously flat approach angle that is very difficult to mimic with plenty of bat missing ride. It plays extremely well off his slider, which comes in with huge sweep from that low slot, again not something you see every day to that degree. The small town Californian finishes off his arsenal with an above average changeup, giving him the necessary weapons to combat both left handed and right handed batters with success. To top it off, Hjerpe shows above average command of his three pitches that really enables him to play them off each other and execute the game plan, something that will make him very fun to develop for St. Louis. The 6'3" lefty still has some projection remaining, so if the Cardinals can help him add a tick or two of velocity, he could be a true ace. I really like this pick in this organization, and even if Hjerpe sticks around his current velocity band, he looks to be a high probability mid-rotation starter. It's a great combination of ceiling and floor.

2-59: LHP Brycen Mautz, San Diego. My rank: #99.
Slot value: $1.25 million. Signing bonus: $1.10 million ($146,200 below slot value).
The Cardinals saved some money on Brycen Mautz, who feels like a very Cardinals-esque pick. He's coming off a breakout year at San Diego where he put up a 3.87 ERA and a 122/29 strikeout to walk ratio over 90.2 innings, punctuated by a strong start against Vanderbilt at the Corvallis Regional with a lot of eyes on him. You can attempt to handicap those numbers by saying he didn't pitch in a power conference (and you'd be missing the fact that the WCC has strong competition), but in addition to his great start against Vanderbilt he also showed very well in non-conference matchups against Oregon and Grand Canyon and also struck out fifteen against Dallas Baptist. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball, getting up to 96 much like Hjerpe, albeit without the same unique traits. He drops in an above average slider with some sweep as his primary offspeed pitch, while also showing a fringier curveball and changeup on occasion. The 6'3" lefty comes from a wide three quarters slot that puts some angle on the ball, and overall he's cleaned up his delivery significantly during his time with the Toreros leading to much improved command that now looks solid average. It's a very solid #4 starter's package, and perhaps more if he can add a tick of velocity or refine his changeup a bit more while holding his command where it is. Additionally, he's young for a college junior and only turned 21 shortly after the draft, adding some upside.

3-97: LHP Pete Hansen, Texas. My rank: #195.
Slot value: $629,800. Signing bonus: $629,800. 
If anything, this is a very interesting pick. I'm not totally bought in, but I recognize the upside here and if the Cardinals play their cards just right, they could come out looking very smart. Pete Hansen generated a lot of draft buzz during the shortened 2020 season, his freshman year, and entered the 2021 draft cycle a potential top fifty pick as a draft-eligible sophomore. Despite a dominant season alongside Ty Madden in that excellent Texas rotation (1.88 ERA, 80/23 K/BB in 91 innings), he returned to school as his stuff took a massive step backwards somehow without impacting his performance. The stuff wasn't all the way back in 2022, but he was still very good with a 3.76 ERA and a 120/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 107.2 innings for the Longhorns. Hansen is very much an enigma – his fastball has touched as high as 94 in the past, especially frequently back in 2020 when he sat in the low 90's, but he also had days in 2021 where he literally sat in the mid 80's. Typically, he's perfectly happy sitting in the upper 80's, and as an observer it just seems like he doesn't care much for velocity at all. Even with that mediocre velocity, I saw him touch 90 on pitch #114 of a game in 2022, so he's not 87-89 for a lack of arm strength. There are also some nice spin rates that create sneaky life on his fastball, so if he does get back more into that 91-93 range, the pitch could play well up. Hansen also throws an above average slider that for now is his best pro pitch, while adding a solid average changeup and a fringier curveball that he uses to steal strikes. The 6'2" lefty has plus command of his arsenal from a very easy, simple delivery, which is partially why he was able to put up the numbers he did in Austin. This will be a very interesting case study once he hits the Cardinals' player development system. His game is very much not centered around velocity, but without a plus offspeed pitch to keep hitters off his fastball, he is not going to find much success sitting in the upper 80's against minor league and major league hitters. The Cardinals will want to bring him out of his comfort zone a little bit and get that velocity up, which he has shown he's capable of. Now whether he's able to maintain his plus command while pitching like that remains to be seen, but I'm much more confident in the Sacramento-area product developing to the best of his abilities in the St. Louis organization than I would be in a less effective player development system such as Washington or Oakland.

4-127: C Jimmy Crooks, Oklahoma. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $470,300. Signing bonus: $470,300.
The Cardinals finally broke from their string of college lefties to pick up Jimmy Crooks, ironically a left handed hitting catcher. He spent his freshman season at McLennan JC in Waco before transferring to Oklahoma, where he has quietly been one of the better catchers in the Big 12. Despite not leaving the yard until his 22nd game of the season in late March, he got hot late in the year like the rest of the Oklahoma team and finished with a very solid .305/.430/.506 slash line, nine home runs, and a 57/43 strikeout to walk ratio over 69 games. It's a pretty traditional backup catcher profile, with average power coming from a quick, simple left handed cut that's more designed for line drives. The DFW native works a lot of deep counts and can be prone to chasing breaking balls, but overall keeps the strikeouts reasonably down and draws plenty of walks. It's a solid offensive profile that will play in pro ball, albeit perhaps not quite enough to become Yadier Molina's full time successor. Behind the plate, it's very solid defense with a strong arm, though I did see him lose focus occasionally and let balls get to the backstop that should have been kept in front. Overall, it's a solid package that could produce 10-15 home runs per season with middling on-base percentages at his ceiling, which would be very valuable from a catcher. Through four games at Low A Palm Beach, Crooks is slashing .182/.357/.273 with a 5/2 strikeout to walk ratio.

5-157: OF Victor Scott, West Virginia. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $350,400. Signing bonus: $350,400.
If Cardinals fans are feeling the sting of losing Harrison Bader, they can look to this year's draft for a replacement, even if he's a few years away. Victor Scott never put up spectacular numbers at West Virginia, where he finished 2022 with a rather pedestrian .278/.397/.454 slash line, six home runs, and a 53/35 strikeout to walk ratio over 55 games, but there is real upside here. He's a plus-plus runner that stole 38 bases this spring and eleven more in the Cape Cod Leauge this summer, really deploying that speed well both on the basepaths and in center field, where he'll fit right in as Bader-esque. Scott has a very good eye at the plate and tracks pitches very well, leading to a very healthy 14% walk rate this spring and an even more impressive 9/14 strikeout to walk ratio over twenty games on the Cape. Though he finished his WVU career with just eleven home runs in 121 games, there's some sneaky power in the profile with a knack for hitting the ball hard, all coming from a quick, balanced left handed stroke. He didn't impact the ball as much as he would have liked on the Cape (.173/.368/.308), but if the Cardinals play their cards right, they could unlock a 15+ home run bat with high on-base percentages and great center field defense. That sounds like a gamble worth taking in the fifth round. Through five games with Low A Palm Beach, he's slashing .182/.389/.182 with an even 5/5 strikeout to walk ratio.

6-187: RHP Max Rajcic, UCLA. My rank: #159.
Slot value: $270,700. Signing bonus: $600,000 ($329,300 above slot value).
The Cardinals' lone over slot bonus in the top ten rounds went to Max Rajcic, who signed for nearly double the slot value in the sixth round. Rajcic was a well-known name at Orange Lutheran High School in Southern California, but went undrafted in the shortened 2020 draft and reached campus at UCLA. After excelling as the team's closer as a freshman in 2021, he stepped into the rotation in 2022 with a 3.28 ERA and a 92/20 strikeout to walk ratio over 85 innings. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball, topping out around 95, but he's more known for his offspeed stuff. Rajcic's curveball is an easy plus pitch with huge spin rates and wicked bite, while his changeup flashes above average at its best and gives him another quality weapon. He pounds the strike zone with all three and projects for above average command, which goes great in tandem with his arsenal. The 6' righty is physically maxed out and is just an average athlete, with a fairly generic release that makes his fastball play down, but that's about the only knock on his profile. If he can hold up in a starter's role and potentially add some life to his fastball, he could be a solid #4 guy, or he could slide back to the bullpen eventually and pitch off his offspeed stuff. He certainly has the competitive makeup to thrive in the latter role, and it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals develop him.

8-247: RHP Cade Winquest, UT Arlington. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $174,600. Signing bonus: $174,600.
Cade Winquest will be an interesting project for the Cardinals. He's always flashed potential, but finished his four year career at UT Arlington with a 5.77 ERA and never quite found that breakout scouts were looking for. In 2022, he put up a 5.40 ERA and a 57/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 58.1 innings, an incremental step forward from what he had bene doing. Winquest is a great athlete, getting down the mound extremely well with great extension that helps his pitches play up and will give the Cardinals a lot to work with. His fastball can sit in the low to mid 90's and get up to 98 at its best, coming in with plenty of running life to keep it off barrels. He also adds a big curveball with deep bite in the mid 70's, but it can pop out of his hand at times and could use more consistency. The Fort Worth-area native closes out his arsenal with a hard changeup in the upper 80's with arm side fade, and he likes to use it low and away against left handed hitters. Holding Winquest back for now is command, as he rushes his delivery late and has struggled to find a balance between throwing strikes and keeping the ball off the middle of the plate. He's likely better suited in a bullpen role, especially in a deep Cardinals system that includes plenty of polished, innings-eating starter types.

12-367: SS Michael Curialle, UCLA. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $150,000 ($25,000 against bonus pool).
Michael Curialle, like his teammate and fellow Cardinals draftee Max Rajcic, was a well known prospect out of the Orange County private school ranks, but reached campus at UCLA. Unlike Rajcic, he's been more good than great in Westwood, though he shook off a slow start in 2022 and was red hot when the Bruins were knocked out of the Auburn Regional, finishing the season with a .319/.395/.479 slash line, five home runs, and a 58/21 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games. He takes healthy, uppercut hacks from the right side that help him put balls deep into the gap and occasionally over the fence, though he also swings and misses at a decent clip and when he's cold, such as early this season, he doesn't have enough power to make up for the strikeouts (21.2% rate in 2022). It's a bit of a tweener offensive profile in that the swing and miss isn't egregious and the power is solid, but he'll need to take a step forward in one or the other to make an impact. Defensively, he's played all over the diamond at UCLA and shows good actions on the infield, though he's not quite explosive enough to handle shortstop and probably fits better at second or third base. The Cardinals are buying into the track record of hitting (career .306/.380/.455 hitter at UCLA with strong showings in high school as well) and defensive versatility, and the fact that he was one of the toughest outs in the Pac-12 from mid-April onwards certainly makes everything look better. Through four games at Low A Palm Beach, Curialle is slashing .250/.333/.250 with one strikeout and one walk.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Toronto Blue Jays

Full list of draftees

I have to imagine the Blue Jays are very happy with their draft class. They were often tied to South Carolina prep infielder Tucker Toman in the first round, but instead picked up arguably the best left handed pitcher in the class and still got Toman two picks later with a huge over slot bonus. This class features numerous hitters with a strong combination of plate discipline and batted ball data that could break out with tweaks to their approaches. Meanwhile, many of the pitchers in this class bring unique skill sets to the table, making this a draft with sneaky upside overall.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here. 

1-23: LHP Brandon Barriera, American Heritage HS [FL]. My rank: #17.
Slot value: $3.08 million. Signing bonus: $3.60 million ($523,100 above slot value).
The Blue Jays started it off with one of the best pitchers in the entire class, and they got him here in the back third of the first round. Brandon Barriera is an electric lefty out of South Florida with huge upside, one you absolutely want on your side. He sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and can get up to 98 with cross body angle and average life, but his best pitch is a plus slider with late, bat missing bite. Barriera also has good feel for his changeup and will work that into his repertoire more frequently as a pro, giving him a very loud three pitch mix. He stands a skinny 6'2" and does not throw with much effort, showing impressive athleticism on the mound with a quick left arm. He pounds the strike zone and loves to go right after hitters, pitching with a chip on his shoulder and giving scouts reason to laud his competitive demeanor on the mound. Together, it's a really fun profile that could move relatively quickly for a high school pitcher, which does admittedly set the bar low, and he could get an especially quick start to his pro career because he intentionally shut down his senior season at American Heritage High School early to prepare for the draft. Originally committed to Vanderbilt, it took a large over slot bonus to keep him away from campus.

2-60: SS Josh Kasevich, Oregon. My rank: #72.
Slot value: $1.22 million. Signing bonus: $1 million ($216,700 below slot value).
Toronto may have saved some money in the second round, but they still managed to pick up a very interesting player in Josh Kasevich. Kasevich has been an extremely steady contributor for Oregon over the past two seasons, slashing a combined .317/.389/.445 with eleven home runs and a 40/47 strikeout to walk ratio over 116 games. He's extremely disciplined in the box and makes a ton of contact, employing an all fields, line drive approach that led to a minuscule 5.8% strikeout rate in 2022. It's a plus pure hit tool that never produced a ton of extra impact beyond a barrage of singles in Eugene, with 34 extra base hits over the past two seasons in those 116 games. However, the San Francisco Bay Area native has some interesting traits under the surface, with quick hands and a lean, 6'2" frame that regularly produce high exit velocities and can help him run into some power when he turns on one. Scouts have wanted to see Kasevich try to turn on and lift more balls in 2022, which he did a bit at the outset of the season, but he reverted back to his typical contact-oriented ways as the season wore on. Given the plus bat to ball skills and feel for the barrel, the Blue Jays could try to get him back on that path of trying to do more damage at once without sacrificing much in the way of on-base percentage, even if it's not really his game for now. It will be interesting to see which direction he develops and what kind of player he becomes, but even now the offensive package is very good as a high average, high on-base guy. The bat looks even better considering his defense, as he brings very strong instincts and body control to the shortstop position despite lacking explosive speed. If he moves off shortstop eventually, he could be a plus defender at second or third base.

2C-77: SS Tucker Toman, Hammond HS [SC]. My rank: #42.
Slot value: $846,900. Signing bonus: $2 million ($1.15 million above slot value).
The Blue Jays were heavily linked to Tucker Toman at pick #23, but ultimately could not pass up a shot at one of the best arms in the class in Brandon Barriera. Toman was surprisingly still available when they picked again at #60, but they knew they had to go more than half a million dollars above slot value to wrangle Barriera so they saved some money with Josh Kasevich. Though they were still about $300,000 in the hole when their third pick rolled around at #77, the opportunity to snag one of their favorite prep bats here was too much to pass up and they wound up handing him top 40 money to keep him from an LSU commitment. Toman is coming off a big senior season in which he showed off his above average power very consistently in games, pushing himself up boards in the process. A switch hitter, he takes big, powerful hacks from both sides of the plate with strong barrel accuracy that enables him to lift the ball with authority, though his left handed swing is a bit smoother and more explosive than his right handed swing. The Columbia, South Carolina native has a good eye at the plate as well, though he can get a little pull happy at times, but overall takes good at bats. It's a strong all around offensive profile that could wind up with above average power and above average hit in time, translating to 20-25 home runs a year with strong on-base percentages at peak. Drafted as a shortstop, he's more strong than quick and will fit better in a corner, with third base the best case scenario but possibly first base or a corner outfield spot. That puts pressure on the bat, which shouldn't be a problem.

2C-78: 2B Cade Doughty, Louisiana State. My rank: #61.
Slot value: $833,600. Signing bonus: $833,600.
Cade Doughty is a really interesting pick here, one with some sneaky upside. He's been well known to area scouts for a long time, having earned serious draft interest as a Louisiana high schooler before matriculating to LSU. He continually raised his stock in Baton Rouge, and midway through the 2022 season he was looking like a first rounder. However, an extended slump from mid April to mid May dented his stock, and a crowded field of college bats in the back of the first round/second round range pushed him further down boards. The final result was a .298/.393/.567 slash line with 15 home runs and a 49/29 strikeout to walk ratio over 59 games, a line salvaged by a strong showing at the Hattiesburg Super Regional. Doughty is a very professional hitter that likes to swing the bat, but still makes a ton of hard contact with an all-fields approach. He's not a slugger, but there's at least average raw power in the tank and it plays to all fields, so when he's going right, he's an extremely valuable all-around hitter. The Baton Rouge-area product got away from his approach a bit in 2022 and may have swung for the fences a bit too much, so his contact rates dropped and his already aggressive approach began to play down. Pessimists see a guy with average power and average hit, but the Blue Jays likely believe in that above average hit, above average power guy that Doughty was for much of his time with LSU. Defensively, he's seen time at both second and third base (more second in 2022), showing well at both with solid if unspectacular arm strength and range. If he can get back to using the whole field and trusting his power to come naturally, he'll be a very productive hitter in Toronto for a long time.

3-98: OF Alan Roden, Creighton. My rank: #140.
Slot value: $623,500. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($126,000 below slot value).
Toronto saved a little more money here with one of the more interesting senior signs in the class. Alan Roden will go from the Bluejays of Creighton to the Blue Jays of Toronto, coming off a massive senior season in Omaha in which he slashed .387/.492/.598 with four home runs and an 8/29 strikeout to walk ratio over 49 games. Yep, you read that right, that's an OBP near .500 with just eight strikeouts the entire season, good for the lowest strikeout rate (3.3%) of any player on my draft board. He's an old school hitter that sets up in a crouch, keeping his eyes on plane with the baseball and picking it up extremely well out of the pitcher's hand. If it's high, he'll get his hands up to hit and drive it, and if it's low, he'll drop down and go with it. He didn't hit for much power this year playing in pitcher-friendly Charles Schwab Field, home of the College World Series, instead employing a contact-oriented, line drive approach that regularly sent the ball deep into the gaps for 25 doubles and two triples this year. However, much like Josh Kasevich a round earlier, there is some sneaky power here because Roden regularly posts high exit velocities due to finding the barrel so frequently. As a senior sign that already turned 22 before the season started, I'm not sure how much loft you're going to add to the swing especially given his setup and approach, so Kasevich's power may be more attainable. The Madison, Wisconsin-area native also did not hit for much impact in the Cape Cod League this summer leading up to the draft (.212/.373/.288), though he did keep his strikeout rate down at a very strong 8.4% while walking 10.8% of the time against elite pitching. Drafted as an outfielder, he played a lot of first base at Creighton and won't provide much value on that side of the ball, likely landing in left field long term. Roden should move quickly through the minors with an extremely advanced bat and could be one of the first hitters to reach the majors from this class, with a likely platoon projection.

5-158: LHP Mason Fluharty, Liberty. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $347,000. Signing bonus: $222,500 ($124,500 below slot value).
You don't see many baseball players from Slower Lower Delaware, but when you do, they usually come out of Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes. Mason Fluharty teamed with future UVA stars Zack and Jake Gelof for the Vikings, and like the Gelof brothers, he came to the state of Virginia for college. In 2022 he was very strong out of the Liberty bullpen with a 2.84 ERA and an 83/10 strikeout to walk ratio over 50.2 innings. It's one of the more unorthodox profiles in the class, as his narrow arsenal really operates more on a spectrum rather than as individual pitches. Working with a closed off delivery from the extreme first base side of the rubber, he puts about as much angle on his pitches as you can possibly get while also hiding the ball really well especially from right handed hitters. From there, he cuts his "pitch" to give it even more glove side movement in addition to the angle already on it. That "pitch" fluctuates between cut fastball and slider traits depending on what he needs, getting into the low 90's when he wants to sacrifice movement for velocity and but showing a ton of sweep when it's thrown more as a traditional slider. There is an old cartoon about a pitcher from a hundred years ago that I believe was referencing Grover Cleveland Alexander, and it's killing me that I can't find it, in which a slider just keeps sweeping and sweeping until it literally chases the batter out of the batter's box back to the dugout. That's what Fluharty's slider is like with its combination of angle and sweep. The 6'2" lefty is a good strike thrower to boot, but given the two pitch (one malleable pitch?) profile, he's probably destined for the bullpen in pro ball. The Blue Jays may want to help him add a changeup or at least another variation of his fastball that can run to the arm side and keep hitters from sitting on his cutter and slider, and overall I'm curious to see how this works out against more advanced hitters.

7-218: 1B Peyton Williams, Iowa. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $210,500. Signing bonus: $197,500 ($13,000 below slot value).
Toronto picked up a big power bat in the seventh round. Peyton Williams has gotten better and better every year at Iowa, culminating in a huge junior season where he slashed .335/.464/.622 with 13 home runs and an even 35/35 strikeout to walk ratio over 54 games. He's a very big guy at a listed 6'5", 255 pounds, and he channels that strength into an extremely powerful left handed hack that can really blast the ball. Williams likes to use the whole field and doesn't loft the ball as often as perhaps he should, but that may be a relatively easy fix in pro ball as the Blue Jays tinker with his approach to get him to turn on it more. He also does not strike out much with a disciplined approach at the plate, giving him a very well rounded profile in the box that should move relatively quickly. The Des Moines-area native is very limited defensively as you can imagine by his size, with below average speed that will really only play at first base. If Williams can learn to turn on the ball more consistently without sacrificing contact, he could crack it as a power hitting first baseman in the mold of a left handed C.J. Cron at his ceiling.

9-278: RHP Devereaux Harrison, Long Beach State. My rank: #171.
Slot value: $158,600. Signing bonus: $122,500 ($36,100 below slot value).
I'm very interested in this pick. Devereaux Harrison was very good over his first two years at Long Beach State, where he put up a 1.50 ERA and a 60/18 strikeout to walk ratio over 48 combined innings, but he took a big step back in 2022 with a 6.15 ERA and a 32/17 strikeout to walk ratio in 33.2 innings mostly out of the Dirtbag bullpen. A 20.8% strikeout rate out of the bullpen isn't exactly what you look for in a pro prospect especially when it's combined with a 6.15 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP, and an 11% walk rate, but there are some interesting traits underneath. Harrison sits in the low 90's with his fastball and gets up into the mid 90's, but when he's going right, the pitch plays up with huge ride up in the zone. He flashes an above average slider at his best, but it's very inconsistent in its shape and velocity and can often look below average. There's a changeup in there, but it's not one of his main weapons. Always a bit iffy on the command, the Northern California native really struggled in that regard in 2022 and too often would fall behind in the count and groove pitches that got crushed. The Blue Jays will look to work off that explosive fastball and get him much more consistent with his slider, but perhaps the biggest asset available to them will be his athleticism. The 6' righty gets down the mound extremely well with a flexible, explosive lower half, and personally I think that combined with the life on his pitches is reason enough to take a shot on him and see what you can do. It's almost certainly a bullpen profile going forward given his smaller frame, long arm action, and general inconsistency, but it could be a very good one if the Blue Jays do this right.

18-548: LHP Jérémy Pilon, Ecole Secondaire de Montagne HS [QC]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
There isn't much information out there about Jérémy Pilon, but I want to give him his due as a Canadian drafted by the Blue Jays. Pilon grew up in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield on Grand Ile, about thirty miles southwest of Montreal, and played at Ecole Secondaire de Montagne which it looks like is in the northeastern Montreal suburb of Bucherville. A member of Team Canada, he was the youngest player in the entire draft at just 16 years old, not even turning 17 until September. The 6' lefty sits around 90 with his high spin fastball and drops in a curveball with impressive depth as well as a changeup, leaning back in his delivery a bit like Tim Lincecum. Pilon completed high school not one but two years early, which is why he's getting drafted at such a young age, and to this point I actually don't believe he's committed to play anywhere in college yet. It looks like he'll continue working with Team Canada and with the Académie de Baseball du Canada, where he'll look to fill out a bit and get stronger before hopefully pushing himself into the top five rounds, whether that be again next year or in a few years after college ball.

20-608: OF Gregory Pace, Edison HS [MI]. My rank: #173.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
As with Jérémy Pilon, Gregory Pace did not sign here, but I do know a lot more about him. In fact, I'm very intrigued by Pace's upside. A product of Detroit Edison Public School Academy in inner-city Detroit, he's an exceptional athlete with huge upside if developed right. For now, he stands out for plus-plus speed that makes him a weapon in center field and on the basepaths, but he's more than a speedster. He comes with an extremely projectable 6'3" frame with a ton of twitchy strength, and he was still just 17 years old on draft day to boot. As Pace fills out, he'll almost certainly start to tap more power from the right side, where he shows quick hands and a line drive approach. He hasn't performed well against high-octane stuff and his swing can get grooved, so the hit tool will need just as much refinement as the power will, and there is a lot of work to be done. In addition to his blazing speed, Pace has also touched 90 on the mound, so the defensive outlook already has a very high floor. I believe given his youth, frame, and cold weather background, he'll become the next great outfielder to come out of that University of Michigan program that has recently churned out Clark Elliott, Jordan Nwogu, Jordan Brewer, and Jesse Franklin. He may not make an impact right away as a freshman, but look out come 2024 and 2025.

Juan Soto and the end of an era in Washington

By Zack Silverman

On Tuesday, August 2nd, Mike Rizzo and Mark Lerner dealt Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres for CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Jarlin Susana, and Luke Voit, emphatically closing the book on the great 2010's Washington Nationals dynasty. It comes two and a half seasons before Soto is set to hit free agency, on the heels of a dramatic fall from grace for the franchise, and ahead of a likely sale of the team to new ownership. Barring a return via free agency in the 2024-2025 offseason, Juan Soto will now play the vast majority of what could be an inner-circle Hall of Fame career elsewhere, and in return, the Nationals brought in a massive haul of young players. This is a trade that will be remembered not for years, but for decades, and will forever be a defining moment in Washington Nationals history.

With Juan Soto out, the Nationals teams of the 2010's that resulted in a 2019 World Series championship are virtually all gone. Bryce Harper is in Philadelphia, Max Scherzer is in New York, Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner are in Los Angeles, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton, and Howie Kendrick have retired, and Stephen Strasburg may never be the same pitcher he once was. Aside from Strasburg, the longest tenured players on the Nationals are Joe Ross (2015), Erick Fedde (2017), Adrian Sanchez (2017), and Victor Robles (2017) – every other player on the team joined in 2019 or later for their current stint. Those are a lot of words to say this trade ends a seismic shift in who the Washington Nationals are as a franchise, to the point where the players on the field represent a fundamentally different ball club. Loyalty means rooting for the name on the front of the jersey rather than the back, but it is a lot to take in regardless. Fans from Prince George's County down to the Hampton Roads and out to the Shenandoah have no choice but to start all over again and learn to fall in love with a new brand of Washington Nationals baseball.

You will never, ever replace a once-in-a-generation player like Juan Soto, which is why you don't see them dealt. All we can do is speculate, but with the impending sale of the team to new ownership, you have to imagine the most prominent suitors had a heavy hand in everything leading up to the trade. One line of thought would be that new ownership wanted to get as close to a clean financial slate as possible, which would mean not only trading Soto but getting rid of Patrick Corbin as well. Another would be that regardless of their intentions with Soto, they would at least want a shot to extend him, whether a deal ended up getting done or not. That's why you buy a sports franchise, right? But apparently, the opposite may have been the case – that new ownership wanted to avoid the massive PR hit that would come with not getting a deal done, and therefore being forced to trade one of the greatest players on the planet as one of their very first moves. Unfortunately, there is not much in this world billionaires care about more than PR, and if they can pin the deal on the Lerner family and throw their hands up to say "I would have extended him!" to save a little face, then that's where we are. So if that new ownership group says anything about Juan Soto when they do take over, don't let them off the hook so easily.

So that is quite enough about players who are no longer Nationals. In return, the Nationals picked up two major league ready players under the age of 24, two young outfielders that can't buy their own drinks yet, a teenage lottery ticket, and a big league first baseman to ensure Washington can put together at least something resembling a major league lineup until the younger guys are ready. It's a massive jolt to a farm system that has lagged way behind much of the rest of the league, giving them a top ten that even loaded farm systems would envy. The rest of the farm system? Well that's a story we'll get to later, but this is a good start.

We'll start with James Wood, in my opinion easily the best player coming back to Washington. Wood is actually a DMV native, hailing from the far northern suburb of Olney in Montgomery County, Maryland. He played his high school ball at the IMG Academy in Florida, where he teamed up with 2022 Nationals first round pick Elijah Green in the most fearsome outfield in the country. He generated top ten buzz early in the 2021 draft cycle, but struggled during his senior year and fell to the Padres in the second round, where he signed for a massive bonus. However, concerns about his hit tool turned out to be premature, as he has done nothing but rip up low minors pitching since signing. Between the Padres' ACL team and Low A Elsinore, he's slashing .336/.447/.556 with 13 home runs, 26 stolen bases, and a very solid 81/53 strikeout to walk ratio over 81 games, including a .337/.453/.601 line at Low A. Wood shows off massive power from the left side, a product of his equally massive 6'7", 240 pound frame and a quick, simple swing. He has learned that he does not need to do too much to tap that power, and his disciplined approach has translated much better than expected to professional pitching. Combine that bat with surprising athleticism given his massive size, which could help him stick in center field, and you have a potential superstar in the making. Wood only turns 20 in September and has just fifty games of full season ball under his belt, so he has a very long way to go, but if anybody is going to lessen the sting of losing Juan Soto ten years down the line, it will probably be him.

Next up is the other outfielder in the deal, Robert Hassell. Hassell played his high school ball at Independence High School in the southern suburbs of Nashville, earning a first round selection in 2020 at the eighth overall pick. After hitting .302/.393/.470 in his first pro season, he has spent the entire 2022 season at High A Fort Wayne and was slashing .299/.379/.467 with ten home runs, 20 stolen bases, and a 66/38 strikeout to walk ratio over 75 games at the time of the trade. He is an extremely professional hitter that makes a ton of hard, line drive contact while taking his walks to post high on-base percentages. While he's definitely a hit-over-power bat, he does have some pop and hits a high enough volume of hard hit balls to run into his fair share of home runs. The exit velocities are a bit pedestrian for what you'd look for in a future superstar, but if he can post close to .400 on-base percentages at the MLB level like he's capable, it may not matter. I'd put the ultimate projection around 15-20 home runs a year. In addition to the bat, he's a very solid defender that will have a chance to try to stick in center field, just like Wood, and it will be interesting to see the two of them battle with Jeremy De La Rosa, Elijah Green, and Cristhian Vaquero to see who gets that position long term (though Green and Vaquero are significantly faster). The whole package is somewhat similar to a left handed version of where Victor Robles stood as a prospect five years ago, albeit with a bit less speed and defense. I will let you all decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.

CJ Abrams will be the first young player in this deal to play for the Nationals. The sixth overall pick of the 2019 draft out of Blessed Trinity High School in the Atlanta area, Abrams flew through the minors and has split 2022 between AAA El Paso and the Padres, hitting .314/.364/.507 in 30 games for the former and .232/.285/.320 in 46 games for the latter. Upon acquiring him, the Nationals immediately sent him down to AAA Rochester, but the expectation is that he'll be back up well before the end of the season. Abrams will be 21 for the remainder of the season, so there's no rush. He's an exceptional athlete that stands out most for his plus-plus speed, which helps him play a very strong shortstop that should only continue to get better with more seasoning. As you might expect given that he reached the majors well before his 22nd birthday, Abrams took to pro pitching very smoothly and has never struggled as he's moved up the latter, with very strong feel for the barrel that has helped him do damage at every stop. He continued to make a ton of contact in his 46 game stint with the Padres, though he's rarely walked throughout his career simply because he doesn't let counts get too deep. There is some wiry strength in his 6'2" frame, but ultimately I don't expect him to top out at more than 10-15 home runs a year. Down at AAA and especially this coming offseason, the Nationals will likely design his conditioning program to help him finish filling out that frame so that he can produce a little more impact beyond singles and line drives in the gap. At his ceiling, he could be a similar all-around player to a left handed Trea Turner, albeit with significantly less power. If not, he has a good shot to end up a solid, long term answer for the Nationals at shortstop that can get on base, steal a ton of bases, and hit plenty of doubles and triples.

MacKenzie Gore is probably the most famous name in this trade, as he has a long history on prospect lists. Gore was the third overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Whiteville High School in rural southeastern North Carolina, giving the Nationals a top ten pick from the 2017, 2019, and 2020 drafts in this trade. He shot to stardom in the Padres system and in 2019, where he posted a 1.69 ERA and a 135/28 strikeout to walk ratio over 101 innings between High A and AA. At that time he was considered one of the top prospects in baseball, but the road has been bumpier since then. The pandemic interrupted his ascent and blister issues that nagged him early in his career returned in 2021, while his mechanics began to lose consistency as well. He only threw 50.1 innings last year and fell considerably from his 2019 status, but 2022 has been better. He made his MLB debut in April and held a 1.50 ERA and a 57/17 strikeout to walk ratio through early June, but has struggled mightily since then and went down with elbow soreness shortly before the deadline. That elbow issue could explain why his numbers suddenly took a turn, but the Nationals front office doesn't seem too concerned that this will be a major issue going forward. At his best, Gore has a true ace-caliber four pitch mix. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and gets up to around 98, while his upper 80's slider is a power sweeper that misses a ton of bats, his upper 70's curveball gives a deeper, sweeping look, and his changeup keeps hitters off balance. Overall, it's a very traditional profile, which Mike Rizzo loves. Once he gets back on the mound, there's a lot of directions he could go. Washington will hope to get him consistent innings free of injury-related distractions, in which case he could become a legitimate #2 starter. Or he could go down the path of Luis Severino, showing flashes of dominance while also spending significant amounts of time on injured lists. Then of course, there's always the middle ground where his stuff flattens out a little bit with wear and tear and he winds up a solid #4 starter that gives you a reliable arm but doesn't necessarily come to dominate.

Then of course we have Jarlin Susana, the teenage mystery man that the Padres apparently only included after the Nationals added Josh Bell to the deal. Signed for $1.7 million out of the Dominican Republic in January, he has spent the season in rookie ball and has a 2.45 ERA and a 44/11 strikeout to walk ratio over 29.1 innings. Susana is a huge, 6'6" righty that is already physically developed, bringing in ridiculous arm strength. His fastball sits in the mid to upper 90's and has touched as high as 102, coming in with steep downhill plane that from a high slot. He rips off a vicious slider that can creep up over 90, while his curveball and changeup are a bit less consistent. Both breaking balls, especially the curve, could use to add a little more bite but he has time to figure that out. A big guy that throws with some effort, he does a good job of controlling the strike zone given his age and explosive stuff, and he has a chance to work his way up as a potential mid-rotation starter. However, he is a long, long way away from the majors and will need considerable development to stick in the rotation.

Lastly, the lone established major leaguer in the deal is Luke Voit. Eric Hosmer was originally slated to come to DC, but he used his no trade clause to stay out of the cellar of the National League East and will instead head to Boston. Voit rose to fame as the Yankees' power hitting first baseman from 2018-2020, though his production has fallen off a bit over the past couple of seasons and in 2022 he's slashing .225/.317/.416 with 13 home runs in 82 games. Those aren't numbers a playoff team can afford from a first baseman in a starting role, but he may just be the best hitter in a decimated Nationals lineup that will struggle to put up runs for the rest of the season. In that sense, he's really a replacement for Josh Bell just so the team is at least somewhat close to watchable. He's under team control through the 2024 season, which means the Nationals could shop him again at any point until then and look to bring back some prospect talent, or they could find a way to get him back to his 2018-2020 form and keep him around as a potential long term piece in a best case scenario. The difference between now and then is that he's seeing more offspeed stuff and has been more prone to chasing pitches out of the zone or getting out in front and getting under them, so working on handling that offspeed stuff should be an area of emphasis to reclaim his former glory.

So like I mentioned, I see this as a light return for Soto, but my bigger issue lies in player development. The Nationals are very, very traditional in their talent evaluation and player development, which puts them way behind the times and more than anything is why the system plummeted to the worst in baseball before the 2021 trade deadline. They've made incremental improvements lately, including increasing the size of their player development staff and finally adding Hawkeye tracking technology to their stadiums, but to this point it has not born fruit. The players in this deal, aside from James Wood, have extremely traditional profiles with easily identifiable strengths and weaknesses. That means if anything, they're likely overvalued in the market, not undervalued. Don't get me wrong, I think most of these kids even aside from Wood will turn into very good ballplayers, but I would have liked to have seen Mike Rizzo get more creative. For example, the Yankees just brought back Clayton Beeter for Joey Gallo despite poor surface numbers, but his wicked raw stuff and overall unique traits as a pitcher make him a very intriguing, potentially undervalued arm. Rizzo would never buy low on hidden gems like that, rather opting for the traditional profiles like I explained above.

I saw reports about the Nationals having a top eight or top five farm system right now, and unfortunately I wholly disagree. The top of the system is now packed, which is awesome. In addition to the names above, guys like Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, and Luis Garcia are ready to form a longtime core at the major league level, while Rizzo has stockpiled a very interesting group of young bats in the low minors headlined by Elijah Green, Jeremy De La Rosa, Brady House, Sammy Infante, TJ White, Cristhian Vaquero, Roismar Quintana, and Brenner Cox. But very little of that offensive talent has worked its way to the upper minors just yet, and the pitching depth is just non-existent in a system where Rizzo still looks for traditional, big conference performers with refined, if ordinary, arsenals. He's not uncovering hidden gems in the middle rounds, where the team often selects Jacob Young's with traditional profiles rather than Nick Nastrini's that just need you to get a little creative. So as great as this system may look on a top twenty prospects list, the fundamental issues that have led to much of that improvement coming inorganically are still very much there and will limit the next competitive window if nothing changes.

I guess I ended this way-too-long article with some doom and gloom, and the truth is that I'm not happy with the direction of this team under Mike Rizzo. But there is certainly room for optimism. The Nationals now have a real farm system for the first time in years. That group of young hitters I mentioned a paragraph above – I'm actually very interested in them and I think it's a legitimate group. Young hitters are often the best place to invest. I also mentioned that the team finally seems to be getting serious about player development. I wasn't happy with their draft class this year outside of the first pick, Elijah Green, but I did love that Green pick. A future lineup featuring three of Green, Wood, Hassell, De La Rosa, Vaquero, Quintana, and Daylen Lile in the outfield sounds great to me. They've got Ruiz behind the plate and Israel Pineda looks like a viable backup option long term. Around the infield, names like Abrams, Garcia, House, Infante, and Jake Alu look at least moderately interesting if not quite as exciting as the outfield group. And I haven't mentioned the pitchers by name, but between Gray, Gore, Susana, Cade Cavalli, Cole Henry, Rodney Theophile, Mitchell Parker, and Jackson Rutledge, we should find at least a couple long term starting pitchers and the bullpen group of Matt Cronin, Zach Brzykcy, Gerardo Carrillo, and Jose Ferrer should produce at least one long term piece in addition to whoever falls out of the rotation. It's going to take a long time, perhaps until around the middle of the decade, but at least the Soto band-aid is now off and things can start to move full steam ahead.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Boston Red Sox

Full list of draftees

The Red Sox put together a high school-heavy draft class, committing over $6.5 million to Mikey Romero, Cutter Coffey, and Roman Anthony in the first three rounds. Of the three, Anthony actually got the largest bonus despite being the third pick, and they also went well above slot value to grab North Carolina high school catcher Brooks Brannon in the ninth round. Aside from those four prep bats, it was a class heavy on college pitching with just one college bat (fourth rounder Chase Meidroth) and zero high school pitchers finding their way into the Red Sox' class. Most of the college arms here have serious relief questions but also come with interesting upside if their player development system gets it right.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-24: SS Mikey Romero, Orange Lutheran HS [CA]. My rank: #58.
Slot value: $2.98 million. Signing bonus: $2.30 million ($676,400 below slot value).
For the third year in a row, the Red Sox' first round pick is a California high school middle infielder following Nick Yorke in 2020 and Marcelo Mayer in 2021. The Romero pick has some similarities to the Yorke pick, as a hit-over-power shortstop that was projected to go more in the second to third round range than the first. That Yorke pick is looking pretty good so far, so hopes are high for this one. Though he bats left handed, Romero reminds me a little bit of Anthony Volpe out of high school as well as a hit-over-power, strong makeup middle infielder that stands out more for that work ethic than inherent physicality. Scouts universally praise Romero as a team guy that you want on your side, one who will take extremely well to the minor league grind and put in the effort to become the best he can be. He's a very polished hitter that takes great at bats and has a good track record of hitting against quality pitching, using a quick, simple left handed swing to spray line drives around the field with consistency. His stock did take a slight hit when he didn't perform up to expectations at a couple of big events this spring, but the Red Sox clearly see that as unlucky timing rather than any indication of his future on the diamond and he's otherwise been as consistent as anybody. The Southern California native does not project for a ton of power with a skinny 6'1" frame and a line drive approach, looking more like a 10-15 home run bat that relies on high on-base percentages to provide value. He was drafted as a shortstop and will get an opportunity to work there in pro ball with good range and a good arm, but he won't unseat Marcelo Mayer at the position as he's not the most explosive athlete and may be better suited for second base, where he could be a plus defender. Should Mayer and Yorke both reach the majors and take over the double play combination, you could also try him at third base where he'll have just enough arm and plenty of range. This turned out to be a money saving pick, as Boston plucked Romero away from an LSU commitment earlier than many thought he would be drafted.

2-41: SS Cutter Coffey, Liberty HS [CA]. My rank: #75.
Slot value: $1.91 million. Signing bonus: $1.85 million ($56,500 below slot value).
If you're a high school shortstop somewhere in California, the Red Sox probably have you on speed dial. Cutter Coffey makes it two in a row, having been drafted as a shortstop despite garnering significant interest on the mound. If Mikey Romero reminds me of Anthony Volpe, then Coffey reminds me of Masyn Winn and not just because he's a two-way guy. He's a very quick mover with a lightning quick, powerful right handed swing that could produce above average power as he gets stronger and adds weight to his skinny 6'2" frame. The hit tool can be a bit inconsistent as he can get into and out of the hitting zone quickly at times, with a tendency to pull off pitches when he doesn't stay within himself. Still, he shows good hand eye coordination in the box and as the Red Sox' player development system refines his approach a little bit, he could be an all-around threat in the box. His pitching background is evident at shortstop, where he shows off an easy plus arm that particularly comes in handy on plays to his right, and overall he shows good feel for the position and should be able to stick, though the Red Sox do have a ton of young middle infielders in their system. On the mound, the Bakersfield native shows a quick arm that produces a low 90's fastball, a slider that flashes above average, and a very solid changeup, providing a fallback option if hitting doesn't work out. I love the way Coffey moves on the diamond and I believe he's just scratching the surface of what he can be, especially considering he only turned 18 in May, but he may take a little longer to develop. He had previously been committed to Texas.

2C-79: OF Roman Anthony, Stoneman Douglas HS [FL]. My rank: #59.
Slot value: $820,400. Signing bonus: $2.5 million ($1.68 million above slot value).
Boston went below slot value on nine of their eleven picks in the top ten rounds, and but dished out their largest signing bonus of the class to their third pick, Florida high school outfielder Roman Anthony. He was one of the country's hotter spring risers, and now he'll carry on a tradition the Red Sox love almost as much as drafting infielders out of California: drafting power bats out of Florida. In that regard, he'll follow in the footsteps of Triston Casas, Wil Dalton, Jud Fabian, and Nathan Hickey. Anthony was very inconsistent over the summer, when he swung and missed a lot and couldn't always tap his power in games, but the spring was a different story. He came out of the gate red hot and proved to be arguably the best hitter in South Florida, showing off that plus raw power in games with an ideal left handed swing and a big, strong, 6'3" frame. Combine that plus power with what could become an average or better hit tool and you have a real middle of the order bat to plug into the system. In the field, Anthony runs well for a big guy and with a plus arm, profiles very favorably in right field. That giant bonus went to buying him out of a Mississippi commitment, where he could have replaced Tim Elko as the next big power hitter in Oxford.

3-99: LHP Dalton Rogers, Southern Mississippi. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $617,500. Signing bonus: $447,500 ($170,000 below slot value).
For their first pitcher of the draft, the Red Sox went down to the Deep South to grab Southern Miss lefty Dalton Rogers. He originally pitched for Southeastern Louisiana in 2020 before transferring to Jones County JC in Mississippi in 2021, then found his home at Southern Miss in 2022 to raise his profile. Pitching out of the bullpen on a loaded squad that included potential 2023 first rounders Hurston Waldrep (now with Florida) and Tanner Hall, he put up a 1.95 ERA and a 57/23 strikeout to walk ratio across 37 innings, often going two or three innings at a time. Rogers is all about the fastball, sitting in the low to mid 90's with the pitch and getting some "invisiball" action on it due to its low release and impressive carry. He also throws a slider and a changeup, the former of which shows some nice sweep and depth but needs to add power and the latter of which offers a nice change of pace. The Jackson-area native sometimes struggles to repeat his release point and therefore has below average command, which combined with the fringy secondaries will likely keep him in the bullpen in pro ball. The Red Sox will want to work on tightening up that breaking ball for him and getting him more consistent with that release point, so that he doesn't have to rely on the predictable formula of landing the fastball for strikes and eliciting chases with his offspeed stuff.

4-129: SS Chase Meidroth, San Diego. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $461,200. Signing bonus: $272,500 ($188,700 below slot value).
There aren't many secrets in Chase Meidroth's profile. He was a breakout star at San Diego this spring, where he slashed .329/.440/.544 with ten home runs and an excellent 25/40 strikeout to walk ratio over 56 games, despite having entered the season with just eight hits over his first two years with the Toreros. Meidroth is a smaller kid at 5'10" with a contact-oriented approach, just flinging the barrel at the ball with a simple swing that produces line drive contact all over the field. It works, as the Southern California native recognizes pitches extremely well and doesn't expand the zone, leading to just a 9.1% strikeout rate compared to a strong 14.5% walk rate. He shows some pull side power when he turns on the ball, but that's not really his game and he won't approach the .544 slugging percentage he produced this year at San Diego in pro ball. He doesn't lift the ball well when he's not actively trying too, and at the major league level he's probably more of a 5-10 home run guy with high on-base percentages. Defensively, he's likely not physical enough for shortstop but has just enough arm for third base and just enough range for second base, making it a utility infield profile that can handle shortstop in a pinch.

5-159: LHP Noah Dean, Old Dominion. My rank: #188.
Slot value: $344,000. Signing bonus: $325,000 ($19,000 below slot value).
In Noah Dean, the Red Sox are getting some of the loudest stuff in the class, but they're going to have to help him learn to control it. Dean had an odd season – overall, his 4.15 ERA and 46/16 strikeout to walk ratio over 26 innings look like about what you'd expect from a fifth round reliever, but there's more to it. From April 9th to the 30th, he went through an awful stretch where he allowed twelve earned runs in 5.2 innings, striking out twelve but allowing seven walks and ten hits along the way. Take that four outing stretch out and his season numbers look infinitely better: 20.1 innings, zero runs, just three hits, and nine walks to 34 strikeouts. When he's on, which was most of the season to be quite honest, he's untouchable. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and has been up to triple digits at times, with explosive life that makes it one of the best left handed heaters in the class. He has a big, deep slider with hard bite that gives him an above average secondary weapon, and the two work really well in tandem. However, command has been the big question for the southern Jersey Shore product, as even when he's going well, he's struggled to locate and at worst he can completely lose the zone. On top of that, there's a big durability question mark. MLB relievers are often expected to pitch two or three days in a row, but Dean only once this year pitched on fewer than two days rest (and walked two of the three batters he faced that day) and never put together three appearances in a span of anything less than eight days. The 6'2" lefty will need to get a lot stronger just to work as a reliever, so starting is pretty much out of the question here. It's a high risk pick, but the stuff is absolutely electric and if the Red Sox do get it right, he could be a late inning relief weapon in Boston.

9-279: C Brooks Brannon, Randleman HS [NC]. My rank: #108.
Slot value: $158,200. Signing bonus: $712,500 ($554,300 above slot value).
I mentioned that Roman Anthony received one of just two big over slot bonuses from the Red Sox, and Brooks Brannon got the other. Like Anthony, he did not make much of a name for himself until this spring, when he turned in a fantastic season at Randleman High School and broke numerous North Carolina state records. Brannon brings huge power from the right side, working from a very strong, compact 6' frame and a powerful hack designed to lift the ball with authority. He didn't face the strongest competition in rural central North Carolina, but he did everything he could have against the pitching he did see and tapped his power extremely consistently this spring. Defensively, he's not quite nimble enough to catch long term, but the Red Sox could choose to be patient and see what happens once he gets on a pro conditioning regimen. He does have a very good arm behind the plate, which could help earn that patience. If he does eventually move off (I think he will), he's not a great runner and would be a below average defender in an outfield corner so first base may be the other option. The Red Sox are buying a big time bat that is unproven against higher level pitching but that has done everything he has needed to do so far. The expensive bonus signed him away from a UNC commitment.

12-369: LHP Hayden Mullins, Auburn. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: likely around $125K.
Hayden Mullins was a big name recruit when he landed on campus at Auburn, and while he's never quite reached the ceiling some were hoping for, he's been pretty effective for that pitching staff. After relieving over his first two seasons, he got a chance to start in 2022 and pitched to a 3.63 ERA and a 43/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 34.2 innings. Unfortunately, that season was cut short by an elbow injury in April and I believe that led to Tommy John surgery. He has a live arm with a low 90's fastball, a big slider that flashes above average, and a solid changeup, an arsenal that worked well for him in a starting role. At this point, though, it's hard to envision him as a starter in pro ball due to his size (skinny 6'), high effort delivery that features a big leg kick and high hand raise reminiscent of MacKenzie Gore, below average command, and serious durability questions. Once he gets healthy, though, the Nashville-area native could be a very solid reliever with a three pitch mix from the left side, and hopefully it would all tick up in those short stints.

13-399: SS Gavin Kilen, Milton HS [WI]. My rank: #85.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: unlikely to sign.
The Red Sox can only offer Gavin Kilen about $150,000 to sign, which he certainly won't take so he's likely heading to Louisville. A second to fourth round talent, he could be an immediate contributor for the Cardinals upon reaching campus and emerge a top fifty pick in 2025. Kilen is a hit-over-power bat that rarely swings and misses, taking very good at bats from the left side and effectively handling high level pitching. He covers the plate well and has the ability to drive the ball to all fields, though power projection is a question for now. He's a skinny kid at 5'11" and presently employs a line drive approach, and this spring he hit more ground balls and low liners than scouts would have liked. At Louisville, he'll hopefully learn to lift the ball with more authority and provide a little more impact, especially as he gets stronger and fills out. He's such a professional hitter in the box that I would be willing to buy in now. Defensively, the southern Wisconsin native has all the range and instincts necessary to stick at shortstop, but his arm may be a little light and he could slide to second base, where he could be a plus defender.

2022 MLB Draft Review: New York Yankees

Full list of draftees

While some teams like to play with the bonus pool to go well above or below slot, the Yankees played this draft extremely straightforward by paying exact slot value for each of their first five picks, never going more than more than $233,500 above slot at any point, and never going more than $92,300 below slot. They're getting better and better at developing pitching, so in this draft they picked up fifteen college pitchers out of their twenty picks. In fact, all twenty of their selections this year came from the college ranks as they looked to pick up quick moving talent that can be up in the majors and contributing by 2024-2025. The Yankees like their guys big and physical, and that was certainly the case here with each of their first seven selections standing at least 6'2" and an average overall size of 6'3", 210 led by their first round selection Spencer Jones at 6'7". Lastly, the Yankees already have west coast flair on the team between Californians Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Aaron Hicks, and Kyle Higashioka, and this draft heavily featured the west coast as well from top to bottom including in each of the first five picks.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-25: OF Spencer Jones, Vanderbilt. My rank: #29.
Slot value: $2.88 million. Signing bonus: $2.88 million.
The Yankees started off their draft class with one of the more interesting profiles available. Spencer Jones was a highly touted two-way prospect who earned some first round interest out of high school in the San Diego area back in 2019, but he got hurt his senior year and opted to head east to Vanderbilt. Despite showing a low 90's fastball and an above average curveball from a projectable frame, he never got on the mound in Nashville after Tommy John surgery cost him a third consecutive season. Meanwhile, his bat has developed slowly but steadily and he's gotten better and better throughout his time in the program. He began to turn the corner with a strong (.309/.409/.457) run through the Cape Cod League last summer, then fully broke out by slashing .370/.460/.643 with 12 home runs and a 64/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 61 games this spring. Standing a towering 6'7", he'll fit right into that Yankee lineup with fellow hard hitting skyscrapers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and he draws a lot of parallels to the former. Jones hits the ball extremely hard with some of the best high end exit velocities in the class, helping him tap power consistently in games despite more of a line drive, all fields approach. Speaking of his approach, he takes very good at bats despite not following the most straightforward development path. While he does strike out at a high clip, that's more due to his long limbs creating a longer bat path than due to chasing bad pitches. He's also a great athlete for his size, one that runs well enough with plenty enough arm strength to be an above average right fielder in time or even take a shot at center field. It's a package of tools you don't see often, so despite the swing and miss questions, the Yankees are getting huge upside in a guy who could hit in the middle of their lineup within a few years. At his ceiling, that could mean 30+ home runs per season with high on-base percentages if he manages his strikeouts.

2-61: RHP Drew Thorpe, Cal Poly. My rank: #93.
Slot value: $1.19 million. Signing bonus: $1.19 million.
I remember watching Drew Thorpe hold Vanderbilt to just two runs over seven innings in his very first college game back in 2020 (and ironically struck out Spencer Jones to close out his first inning), and since then he has quietly been one of the best pitchers on the west coast. He was at his best this spring, posting a 2.32 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP, and a 149/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 104.2 innings highlighted by a fifteen strikeout performance against UC San Diego in March. Thorpe sits in the low 90's with his fastball and gets up to about 96 at his best, with some sneaky life on the pitch to boot. His best pitch by far is his changeup, a nasty offering with massive fading life. It's so good that he'll often pitch off of it rather than his fastball, something you rarely see at the amateur level. Previously, the southwestern Utah native struggled to spin a quality breaking ball, but his slider took a step forward this spring and now looks like an average pitch. Despite a delivery that can be a bit rushed at the end, Thorpe pounds the strike zone and rarely lets walks derail his outings. The Yankees will want to help continue improving his slider to give him a second out pitch, and his combination of stuff, command, and a sturdy 6'4" frame could help him move relatively quickly through the minors. While his stuff isn't quite explosive enough to warrant a potential top of the rotation projection, he's a good bet to become a mid-rotation guy in the near future.

3-100: RHP Trystan Vrieling, Gonzaga. My rank: #102.
Slot value: $611,400. Signing bonus: $611,400.
Gonzaga had a loaded pitching staff that featured Gabriel Hughes (now with the Rockies) and William Kepmner (Giants) as their two most famous names entering the season, but Vrieling made it a true three headed monster with a big junior season. He finished the year with a 4.91 ERA and a 107/46 strikeout to walk ratio over 80.2 innings, but he was much stronger early in the season (3.16 ERA, 79/25 K/BB through nine starts) before tiring later in the season (9.13 ERA, 28/21 K/BB over his final six starts). At his best, Vrieling features above average command of a very solid four pitch arsenal, looking like a potential #3 starter. His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and tops out at 97 with steep plane and some riding life, while his curveball, slider, and changeup all flash above average. When he's going right, he can locate even the offspeed pitches well to both sides of the plate, making for a complete profile. However, his command deteriorated as he tired later in the season and he was hit hard, leaving him as a bit of an enigma. The 6'4" righty will need to build up his durability in the Yankees system and get more consistent with everything, and he's certainly in the right system to do so.

4-130: OF Anthony Hall, Oregon. My rank: #120.
Slot value: $456,500. Signing bonus: $456,500.
Anthony Hall is not a terribly dissimilar player to Spencer Jones, albeit with a half grade off the tools across the board. Also a San Diego-area product like Jones, he showed well in the Cape Cod League (.283/.382/.481, 4 HR) before breaking out this year at Oregon, where he slashed .333/.402/.640 with 14 home runs and a 43/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 60 games. Big and strong at 6'2", Hall can really put a charge into the ball with a leveraged, smooth left handed swing. He previously had trouble tapping that power in games as he didn't always swing at the best pitches, but he's progressively gotten more disciplined in the box and controls the strike zone much better now. That led to him increasing his isolated power (SLG minus AVG) from .184 last year to .307 this year while simultaneously dropping his strikeout rate from 21.7% to 16.6%. It's still a power over hit profile, but certainly a much more balanced one. Hall is a decent runner that can hold his own in a corner outfield spot, but he won't be a value add out there and it will be the bat that carries him up. At best, he profiles for 20-25 home runs a year with average on-base percentages, providing some nice upside for a guy whose floor is that of a platoon/bench bat with pop.

5-160: RHP Eric Reyzelman, Louisiana State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $340,700. Signing bonus: $340,700.
Eric Reyzelman has some of the loudest stuff in the Yankees draft class at his best. A San Francisco transfer, he pitched well on the Cape (2.93 ERA, 38/8 K/BB in 27.2 IP) before landing at LSU this spring, where he put up a 4.04 ERA and a 66/18 strikeout to walk ratio over 42.1 innings out of the bullpen. He loves to attack hitters with his fastball, which is easily his best pitch for now sitting in the mid 90's and touching 99 in short stints. It has a ton of riding and running life on it as well, making it very tough to square up. He has a cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup all in his pocket, but he usually leaves them there and sticks with the old #1 as he's much more confident in that fastball. The slider stands out as perhaps his best secondary with good shape, though he does need to sharpen it up. The 6'2" righty is a very good athlete that moves well on the mound with an athletic delivery, and the arm strength is clearly already there. The Yankees' player development system will need to help him choose a couple secondaries to focus on and also get more consistent with his command, and if they can, he has a sneaky chance to start. If not, he can just lean on the slider and watch his fastball approach triple digits, which I'm sure the Yankees would not mind. The San Francisco Bay Area native is a really fun ball of clay and it will be interesting to see what he looks like in a few years.

6-190: RHP Chase Hampton, Texas Tech. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $264,000. Signing bonus: $497,500 ($233,500 above slot value).
The Yankees lone over slot bonus of the first ten rounds is Chase Hampton, a big righty out of Texas Tech. He was well known as a high school senior but went undrafted in the five round 2020 draft, so he headed across the state to Lubbock and has shown flashes of big potential. As a draft eligible sophomore this year, Hampton put up a 4.29 ERA and a 72/28 strikeout to walk ratio over 56.2 innings as the Red Raiders Sunday starter, finishing off the season with a twelve strikeout performance against Notre Dame at the Statesboro Regional. This seems like the kind of profile that could have gone back to school for his junior season and put it all together, which is why the Yankees bought in early with a large over slot bonus for a guy who went unranked on the MLB Pipeline top 250 and came in at #291 on the Baseball America 500 and #548 on Prospects Live. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's but can touch the upper 90's early in his starts, showing nice riding action on the pitch. He mixes in a curveball, slider, and changeup, all of which flash potential and give the Yankees a lot to work with. Big and strong at 6'2", 225 pounds, the East Texas product has calmed down his delivery a bit since his high school days in Kilgore and has a chance to start if the Yankees are patient and get it right. He still needs to get more consistent with his secondaries and command but he's very young and brings a lot to the table. The profile is actually fairly similar to Eric Reyzelman above him, except that Hampton is much more physical (35 pounds heavier at the same height) and trusts his secondaries more while Reyzelman is thinner and more athletic with a little extra hop to his fastball at the same velocities.

7-220: RHP Cam Schlittler, Northeastern. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $207,500. Signing bonus: $205,000 ($2,500 below slot value).
This is a big, strong pitcher that will be fun for the Yankees player development system to work with. Cam Schlittler had a nice season in the Northeastern rotation, where he out-pitched the more well known Sebastian Keane (also a Yankee draft pick) to the tune of a 3.53 ERA and an 85/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 91.2 innings. He's a huge guy listed at 6'6", and honestly he looks even taller standing up on that mound. The fastball sits in the low 90's but he can touch the mid to upper 90's when he reaches back, coming in with steep downhill plane albeit without much life. He shows great feel to spin the ball, with a sweepy slider flashing above average with great shape and a softer curveball looking average with more top to bottom movement. As with the two arms drafted before him, he does need to get more consistent with those secondaries and his command, but I think he'll get there. Schlittler is not a great athlete, relying more on his height than his lower body to get downhill towards the plate, though he does not throw with much effort and could start in pro ball. Perhaps toughest for some Yankees fans to get over will be the fact that he grew up in Walpole in the shadows of Gillette Stadium and less than twenty miles from Boston, so he's a New Englander through and through.

12-370: RHP Jackson Fristoe, Mississippi State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $272,500 ($147,500 against bonus pool).
Jackson Fristoe seemed like a good candidate to go back to school after a tough sophomore season, but the Yankees picked him up for a large day three bonus to see what they could make of him. After a solid freshman season at Mississippi State, Fristoe regressed in 2022 and posted a 7.71 ERA and a 48/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 37.1 innings for a Bulldogs team that fell far short of expectations. He has a premium body at 6'4" and moves very well on the mound, with a low to mid 90's fastball that can touch higher with life. He throws a sharp cutter/slider in the upper 80's that could be a true weapon if he gets more consistent with it, and also flashes a less used changeup that's effective when it's on. His command is presently below average and the Yankees will need to help streamline his long arms and legs into a more consistent delivery, but the pieces are certainly there to build on. It's a relief profile for now, but you never know. Though the western Kentucky native is eligible as a true sophomore, he's a full year older than his graduating class and already turned 21 in March.

14-430: RHP Kris Bow, Southern Nevada JC. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Kris Bow has been one of the more interesting JUCO arms on the west coast for a few years now, and he finally put it all together with a great 2022 season in which he posted a 2.16 ERA and a 64/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 41.2 innings for the College of Southern Nevada. He has a low to mid 90's fastball with some riding life from a low release point, as well as a full arsenal of secondaries led by an above average slider. He has a very sturdy 6'4" frame and should be durable, but hasn't started on a consistent basis at CSN and he'll have to prove his stuff can hold up over longer periods of time. Still, he has a combination of size, arm strength, secondaries, and command that is difficult to find on day three of the draft, so he could be lightning in a bottle for New York. He just finished his third year at Southern Nevada after previously committing to transfer to Arizona, so he'll turn 22 early in the offseason.

18-550: RHP Sebastian Keane, Northeastern. My rank: #220.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Sebastian Keane was one of the more famous recruits to ever reach campus at Northeastern, coming into Boston having spurned top five round interest out of his northern Massachusetts high school. He's been up and down for the Huskies, but unfortunately 2022 was more of a "down" and he finished with a 5.99 ERA and a 50/26 strikeout to walk ratio over 70.2 innings. Now he'll join rotation mate Cam Schlittler in the Yankees system, and they'll work to get him on track. Keane is a great athlete with a low 90's fastball that gets up to 96, while adding a slider that flashes plus at its best in addition to a less used curveball and changeup. The stuff can be extremely inconsistent, with his slider losing snap and his fastball sitting closer to 90 at times, and in 2022 he really struggled to miss bats. His 15.0% strikeout rate this year was by far the lowest on my list, a product of leaving too many pitches over the plate and that regression in his stuff. Still, he doesn't walk too many hitters and has shown flashes of dominance, such as in the Cape Cod League last summer, and has the athleticism and premium stuff at peak to become an impact arm. He's just really far away from that right now and trending in the wrong direction, which is why he's being drafted here in the eighteenth round and not thirteen to fourteen rounds higher like he was projected at his best. And one last piece of good news for Yankee fans – though he grew up in Massachusetts and went to college in Boston, Keane did grow up a Yankees fan, so he's not crossing rivalry lines here.