2022 MLB Draft Review: Los Angeles Angels

Full list of draftees

The Angels nailed their first pick this year, grabbing a premium talent while still saving nearly a million dollars below slot value, which set them up really well for the rest of the draft. I wasn't always a fan of how they spent the rest of their bonus pool, but they got to go over slot and get the guys they wanted because of those first round savings without sacrificing talent. They leaned heavily into power hitters, especially when it comes to senior signs like Matt Coutney (65 career home runs including JuCo), Sonny DiChiara (63), Luke Franzoni (52), Dylan Phillips (44), Brendan Tinsman (40), and Casey Dana (36). Coutney, DiChiara, and Franzoni especially (in addition to non-senior sign Zach Neto) put up flat-out video game numbers in 2022, so it does appear the Angels collected some of the loudest stat lines in college baseball with this class. Interestingly, California is regularly the state that produces the most draft talent, but the Angels steered completely clear of their home state and instead drafted not one, not two, but three pitchers out of Oklahoma State. Lastly, I'd like to note that the Angels tend to push their college draftees rather aggressively, so numerous guys are already up at AA.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-13: SS Zach Neto, Campbell. My rank: #10.
Slot value: $4.41 million. Signing bonus: $3.5 million ($912,500 below slot value).
I love this pick for the Angels, and given that they got nearly a million dollar discount, it's one of my favorite picks of the entire first round. Zach Neto raked his way to an unbelievable .405/.488/.746 slash line as a sophomore at Campbell last year, then after showing very well in the Cape Cod League, he somehow bested all three slash numbers in 2022 to finish .407/.514/.769 with 15 home runs and a 19/39 strikeout to walk ratio over 53 games. Neto does a ton of things well, so it's hard to know where to start. He employs a big, slow leg kick that resembles a pitching motion, but keeps his hands and head quiet so as to not negatively impact his swing. With plus bat to ball skills, strong pitch recognition, and the ability to grind out at bats, there is very little concern that his setup will hurt his ability to hit MLB pitching. To boot, he struck out just 7.4% of the time this spring and just 10.7% of the time against better competition on the Cape. The Miami native is undersized at a skinny six feet tall, but that doesn't stop him from registering high exit velocities and showing potential for above average power from his lean, athletic frame. He finds the barrel extremely consistently and has feel to lift the ball, and all told it could be a 20+ home run bat that regularly posts on-base percentages nearing .400. A shortstop at Campbell, Neto is plenty athletic enough to stick there with solid range, and as a guy who received some innings on the bump for the Camels, he has enough arm to stick as well. I really like this profile and I think the Angels got exceptional value with a below-slot signing in the middle of the first round. He's off to a hot start to his pro career, slashing .313/.400/.500 with two home runs and an 8/4 strikeout to walk ratio over twelve games between High A Tri-City and AA Rocket City.

3-89: RHP Ben Joyce, Tennessee. My rank: #84.
Slot value: $702,100. Signing bonus: $997,500 ($295,400 above slot value).
I think most of us have heard of Ben Joyce by now, but if not, let's talk about one of the most unique profiles in college baseball. First off, Joyce has battled arm injuries throughout his time in college, including Tommy John surgery in late 2020 in addition to a myriad of other issues, and began his career at Walters State JC in Tennessee before transferring to Tennessee in 2021. Finally healthy for a full season in 2022, he registered a 2.23 ERA and a 53/14 strikeout to walk ratio over 32.1 innings for the Volunteers, almost entirely out of the bullpen. What makes him special, of course, is the stuff. His fastball consistently sits in the 101-103 range, and he registered the fastest pitch ever recorded by a right handed pitcher in baseball history when he hit 105.5 on the gun. Throw in the flat approach angle he puts on the pitch and it's straight up unhittable. The Knoxville native adds a hard, short slider that gets into the upper 80's, though the pitch stands out more for its velocity than its movement and mainly plays up because hitters have to be geared up for his fastball. There's a changeup in there, but it's a distant third pitch. Joyce is generally around the zone with his fastball, even if he doesn't have pinpoint command, but does struggle to land that slider for strikes. The 6'5" righty also throws with high effort and has missed a ton of time with various injuries, so it's a pure relief profile. Those injuries do call into question his durability as a whole, and the Angels don't have a great track record of keeping pitchers healthy, as it is. That said, Joyce can dominate with just his fastball alone, and if he stays healthy, he could be in the big leagues very, very quickly. There is closer upside here if he can learn to command his slider as well. He's gotten into two games for AA Rocket City so far, allowing two runs over two innings while striking out one and walking one.

4-118: RHP Jake Madden, Northwest Florida State JC. My rank: #107.
Slot value: $512,900. Signing bonus: $997,500 ($484,600 above slot value).
The Angels gave Ben Joyce a million dollars if you count the $2,500 contingency bonus players receive in addition to their regular bonus, and Jake Madden got the same a round later. Madden is another Tommy John survivor who looked untouchable at his best this year at Northwest Florida State JC, but did battle inconsistency as blister issues bothered him throughout the spring. The end result was a 4.53 ERA and a 76/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 47.2 innings, and you can note that those 76 strikeouts were good for a very strong 35.7% strikeout rate. His fastball sits in the mid 90's and has been up to 98, coming in with plenty of running and sinking life from a three quarters arm slot. He adds a solid, short slider and changeup, but for now he stands out more for his power than his refinement. The 6'6" righty is a premium athlete with a ton of projection remaining and he moves extremely well on the mound, though his mechanics do need refinement. He has a long arm action and he kicks his leg out towards third base on his way to the plate, and he has trouble repeating that delivery and can lose his arm slot. As a redshirt freshman that only turns 21 in December, he has time to figure things out and the Angels are buying into the body and athleticism. They likely believe his inconsistency stemmed from those blister issues as well as from having missed the 2021 season with TJ, so they're hoping to get those offspeed pitches and his command up to par quickly. There is a very high ceiling here if they can do that.

5-148: 1B Sonny DiChiara, Auburn. My rank: #164.
Slot value: $383,200. Signing bonus: $172,500 ($210,700 below slot value).
As with Ben Joyce, Sonny DiChiara (pronounced d'share-uh, also known as Sonny D) was one of the most prominent names in the SEC this spring. He spent three years at Samford and blasted 41 home runs over 126 games in the process, then transferred to Auburn this spring and took it to another level by slashing .383/.549/.777 with 22 home runs and a 55/68 strikeout to walk ratio over 61 games against some of the best pitching in college baseball, giving him 63 career home runs if you're keeping track. DiChiara is all bat, and it's a good one. Listed at 6'1", 263 pounds, he looks every bit of it in the box and possesses the plus raw power you'd expect from a big guy like that. It's more strength than bat speed, but he taps that power very consistently in games so it doesn't matter. He is extremely patient in the box, walking 23.8% of the time in 2022, but he will punish you if you come into his zone. He naturally saw a ton of offspeed stuff in 2022, as you might expect looking at his numbers and sheer imposing presence in the box, and does possess some swing and miss. The Birmingham-area native also turned 23 in July, so he's older than most of his peers in college baseball and will want to move quickly. A first baseman only who may have to move to DH, nobody is mistaking him for a speedster out in the field and his value will be entirely tied to his bat. Still, he should move quickly through the minors and could be an every day first baseman sooner rather than later, one that could hit 20+ home runs a year with middling, walk-driven on-base percentages. He's already well on his way to that, slashing .289/.491/.395 with one home run and a 17/11 strikeout to walk ratio over twelve games at AA Rocket City in his home state.

6-178: RHP Victor Mederos, Oklahoma State. My rank: #208.
Slot value: $291,400. Signing bonus: $227,750 ($63,650 below slot value).
Victor Mederos is a guy that has been around. He has pitched for five different schools in the past five years – Coral Reef High School, Monsignor Pace High School, Westminster Christian High School, the University of Miami, and most recently, Oklahoma State – and will now join the Angels organization for yet another new uniform. A highly regarded talent out of Westminster Christian that could have gone in the top three rounds of the 2020 draft had he been signable, Mederos instead wound up on campus at Miami and pitched to middling results, bringing him to Stillwater. He again wound up with middling results, posting a 5.59 ERA and a 62/21 strikeout to walk ratio over 66 innings, but the Angels love the arm strength and will look to see what they can do here. He sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and has touched as high as 99, but the pitch is straight and plays below its velocity. He shows both a curveball and a slider, which have flashed plus as far back as high school, but they're inconsistent and can blend into each other. His hard changeup can get firm at times but also flashes above average, giving him a powerful four pitch arsenal that shows plenty of promise at his best. The 6'2" righty has tremendous arm strength and is generally around the zone when he trusts his strength and doesn't try to overthrow, but he can lapse into doing so and that's when his command gets scattered. The Angels will want to do something with his fastball to get more life on it, or if not, turning his offspeed pitches into more consistent threats could help keep hitters off the fastball and allow it to play more to its plus velocity. There is a lot of relief risk at this point given all the inconsistency, but I wouldn't count him out just yet as a starter if the Angels can figure something out. In his first game at High A Tri-City, he tossed two no-hit innings with one strikeout and one walk.

10-298: 1B Matt Coutney, Old Dominion. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $152,800. Signing bonus: $7,500 ($145,300 below slot value).
This is a similar pick to Sonny DiChiara, though Matt Coutney played in the C-USA rather than the SEC and signed for a fraction of what DiChiara got. Coutney played two years at Colby JC in Nebraska, then transferred to Old Dominion and broke out in 2022 to slash .376/.473/.808 with 27 home runs and a 54/38 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games. At one point, he had a five hit, two home run game against Middle Tennessee State, and at another point he blasted ten home runs in an eight game span in April. He taps his power with a very leveraged left handed swing, channeling his strength extremely well and causing the ball to just jump off his bat. He finds the barrel extremely consistently and his power plays to all fields, as he's fully willing to go the other way and do damage if that's what the situation calls for. There is some swing and miss in his game and he struck out in nearly 20% of his plate appearances in 2022, so it remains to be seen how the Edmonton, Alberta native performs against quality offspeed stuff in pro ball, but there is a nice baseline here to work off. Coutney is limited to first base and will have to out-hit DiChiara, Luke Franzoni, and other first basemen in the system to earn playing time. DiChiara is already in AA and Franzoni is in Low A, though Coutney did single, homer, and walk in his first three plate appearances down in the Arizona Complex League.

11-328: RHP Caden Dana, Don Bosco HS [NJ]. My rank: #112.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($1.125 million against bonus pool).
Last year, the Angels made a huge splash in the twelfth round when they brought in high school lefty Mason Albright for roughly $1.25 million, a record for day three of the draft. They did something similar this year by signing high school righty Caden Dana for $1.5 million in the eleventh round, breaking Albright's day three record. Dana's massive signing bonus is roughly equivalent to slot value for the 51st overall pick for some context, and it might have helped that the Angels not-so-coincidentally drafted and signed his older brother Casey out of UConn five rounds later. The younger Dana sits in the low 90's right now, getting up to 95-96 at his best with some steep plane. His curveball flashes plus with hard bite, and this spring he has added a shorter slider and can flip in a firm changeup. It's all about power from a very strong, 6'4" frame, and he could continue to add power to his stuff as he develops. He generally locates his fastball well, though his command of his offspeeds is less consistent, so that will be a point of development. There is also some effort to his delivery, which could point him to the bullpen if his command doesn't improve, but the New York native is plenty physical enough to start should that develop properly. The Angels are betting big on the arm strength and that nasty curveball, with hopes to get a #2 starter that could have developed into a first rounder at Kentucky. He tossed two shutout innings on one hit in his first start in the Arizona Complex League.

15-448: RHP Bryce Osmond, Oklahoma State. My rank: #219.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $129,500 ($4,500 against bonus pool).
Along with sixth rounder Victor Mederos and seventh rounder Roman Phansalkar, Bryce Osmond marks the third pitcher the Angels drafted out of Oklahoma State in this class. Like Mederos, Osmond was a highly touted prep arm in the 2019 cycle and had a chance to go in the top three rounds, but signability pushed him to Stillwater where he has been uneven. He struggled to a 7.42 ERA in 2021, then after seeming to turn a corner in the Cape Cod League over the summer, finished 2022 with a 4.75 ERA and a 77/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 60.2 innings. He had actually pushed himself into top five round consideration in April, but allowed ten runs (nine earned) over his final two starts then sat out of the postseason with arm soreness. At his best, Osmond sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and has been up to 96, but hitters pick it up easily and it lacks life. His best pitch is a plus slider that misses a ton of bats when it's on, but it can flatten out frequently. The Tulsa-area product adds in an average curveball and changeup, giving him a strong four pitch mix when things are going right. He's very athletic at a still-projectable 6'3", but he struggles to repeat his fairly simple delivery and can lose the strike zone or leave pitches over the heart of the plate. Throw in the arm soreness creating durability concerns, and he may be best served by moving forward as a fastball/slider reliever, where the former could add a tick of velocity and outplay its generic movement. The Angels could still stretch Osmond out as a starter, but he would need considerable work getting more consistent with his offspeed stuff and command to cut it in that role.

19-568: OF Luke Franzoni, Xavier. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $75,000.
The Angels weren't done rounding up the most fearsome college hitters they could find, grabbing one more in Xavier masher Luke Franzoni. After three solid years in Cincinnati, Franzoni busted out for a massive 2022, slashing .354/.485/.821 with 29 home runs and a 64/53 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games, and those 29 home runs finished second in college baseball to Texas' (now the Diamondbacks') Ivan Melendez. He's a big, strong power hitter that loves to get his arms extended, showing plus power to all fields that obviously plays up in games. The New Jersey native is a three true outcome type right now, with comfortably more than half of his plate appearances ending in a home run (10.7%), a walk (19.6%), or a strikeout (23.7%). That strikeout rate is particularly concerning given that he played against average competition in the Big East, and it jumped to 31.7% in a fifteen game stint in the Cape Cod League this summer. As a likely first baseman that will have to compete with Sonny DiChiara and Matt Coutney to climb the ladder, he'll really need to cut down on that swing and miss moving forward in pro ball. Unlike DiChiara and Coutney, however, Franzoni does have an outside shot to play a corner outfield position serviceably. He is slashing .200/.394/.320 with a 13/8 strikeout to walk ratio though seven games at Low A Inland Empire, giving him one of the three true outcomes now in nearly two thirds of his plate appearnaces.

2022 MLB Draft Review: San Diego Padres

Full list of draftees

The Padres went all in on pitching early, grabbing who they likely see as the two best high school arms in the entire class with their first two picks in Dylan Lesko and Robby Snelling. After grabbing a college arm in Adam Mazur in the second round, they bet big again with a fourth consecutive arm in Henry Williams, who like Lesko is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. The bats in this class were a little more diverse in terms of skill sets, between the excellent hit tools of Nathan Martorella, Jakob Marsee, Nick Vogt, and Graham Pauley and the big time power of Lamar King Jr. and Griffin Doersching. It's a uniquely Padres class with all the high upside high school talent, hoping to give a jolt to a system that lost a boatload of talent just a few weeks later in the Juan Soto trade.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-15: RHP Dylan Lesko, Buford HS [GA]. My rank: #11.
Slot value: $4.09 million. Signing bonus: $3.9 million ($185,000 below slot value).
The Padres started off this draft with a bang, grabbing the guy who for much of the spring was considered the best pitcher in the class, period. Dylan Lesko has been one of the most famous names in the 2022 high school class for a few years now, and he pitched like it this spring to seemingly cement himself in the top ten picks (well, as cemented as a high school right hander can be). Unfortunately, he went down with Tommy John surgery in April, and there were some points where it looked like he might make it to campus at Vanderbilt. The Padres ensured that would not happen by taking him fifteenth overall, so he was still the first high school pitcher drafted, and surprisingly got him to sign slightly below slot value. Lesko is an extremely well rounded pitcher with few weaknesses. He sits in the mid 90's with his fastball, getting into the upper 90's more and more regularly. He adds two breaking balls in a curveball and a slider, though he throws the curveball more and while it isn't quite a plus pitch yet, its big spin rates and strong shape help it project to be a plus pitch in time. The Atlanta-area native finishes off his arsenal with a plus-plus changeup that is his best pitch right now, diving down out of the zone when he throws it low and still showing good fading action when he misses up. All together, the 6'2" righty has projection remaining and should continue add power to his already nasty stuff, and he's a very good mover on the mound that gets good extension and repeats his delivery well. He hits his spots consistently and has every chance to become an ace, with a high likelihood that he's at least a mid-rotation starter.

CBA-39: LHP Robby Snelling, McQueen HS [NV]. My rank: #43.
Slot value: $2 million. Signing bonus: $3 million ($995,500 above slot value).
Robby Snelling had plenty of interest throughout the back half of the first round, but as prep pitchers tend to do, he slid down the board to the Padres in the competitive balance round and signed for a million dollars above slot value, roughly the value of the 24th pick. Considered more of a third or fourth round guy entering the season, Snelling had an extremely loud spring and rocketed up boards, with some considering him possibly the best lefty in the class. He didn't rank quite that high on my list, but it's a very loud profile. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball and has gotten up to 96 this spring, getting some ride on the pitch as well. His bread and butter is his curveball, a plus pitch that dives across the zone late and has missed a ton of bats. There's some aptitude for a changeup, but it's all about the fastball and really the curveball for now. The 6'3" lefty comes across his body to create tough angle on his pitches, going right after hitters and filling up the strike zone well. He commands his curveball extremely well for a high school pitcher, something that really stands out to me when I watch him pitch and should help him rack up strikeouts in pro ball. The Reno native is also a very good athlete, packing a ton of strength into that 6'3" frame and getting down the mound well, though he doesn't have a ton of projection left. He had been committed to LSU but will now have a chance to push through the system.

2-53: RHP Adam Mazur, Iowa. My rank: #55.
Slot value: $1.44 million. Signing bonus: $1.25 million ($190,600 below slot value).
Adam Mazur has a fun profile and has been a steady riser for some time now. He originally enrolled at South Dakota State, but pitched very well in the Cape Cod League last summer (1.55 ERA, 34/6 K/BB in 29 IP) and transferred to a data-driven Iowa program this spring. The results were strong, as after holding a 5.50 ERA over two years in Brookings, he dropped it to 3.07 in Iowa City along with a 98/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 93.2 innings. He sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and has been up to 97, getting nice hop on the pitch. His nasty, plus slider has deep bite and functions as his main out pitch, while he also adds a curveball and changeup that look like big league pitches as well. The 6'4" righty still has projection remaining and is steadily learning to repeat his delivery better, leading to improved command throughout his time in college, and he even got better in that regard throughout the 2022 season to the point where it's now average. He has an uptempo delivery, but because of his projection, deep arsenal, and improving mechanics/command, he projects well as a #2 or #3 starter. Really my only qualm with the profile is a bit of a lower 26.1% strikeout rate this spring despite pitching for a progressive program, but otherwise it's an increasingly complete profile here.

3-91: RHP Henry Williams, Duke. My rank: #115.
Slot value: $680,400. Signing bonus: $800,000 ($119,600 above slot value).
Henry Williams is another injured pitcher the Padres are taking a chance on, but he has much less track record and requires much more projection than Dylan Lesko despite being two years older. Williams made just one appearance for Duke in the shortened 2020 season then showed well in 2021, posting a 3.65 ERA and a 45/10 strikeout to walk ratio over 37 innings while missing some time with injuries. He showed extremely well in fall practice, but again went down with arm soreness and in December, that turned into Tommy John surgery. That said, this is how you get a potential ace for just $800,000. The Connecticut native sits in the low 90's with his fastball, but he was up to 95 in the fall as the velocity slowly crept up. He's flashed some plus sliders at times, though it needs more consistency, and there is some feel for a changeup. You're buying the projection here, as Williams is a 6'5" beanpole with a ton of room to fill out and he's very young for a college junior to boot, not turning 21 until September. He's extremely athletic on the mound, with a very loose delivery that lends itself well to throwing strikes, and he puts high spin rates on all his stuff that give it extra hop and projection. This is the kind of profile that takes off if things break right. Now Tommy John aside, there are still massive durability questions here, as Williams will have gone through his three years of college throwing 0.2, 37, and zero innings, respectively, all before missing time yet again before his Tommy John. He needs to get a lot stronger to stick in the rotation, which could also mean his stuff takes a massive step forward as he fills out. The Padres are fully bought into that happening, and I'll be very interested to follow along.

4-120: C Lamar King Jr., Calvert Hall HS [MD]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $502,800. Signing bonus: $502,800.
The Padres finally picked a position player here with their fifth pick, going for an upside play in Lamar King Jr. King is the son of former NFL defensive end Lamar King, and he looks like an NFL player's son with a big, strong, 6'3" frame. That strength helps generate above average raw power that could become plus in time as he irons out his swing, as he has a fairly stiff operation for now that might cost him some pop. You help him get his arms extended more consistently, and he could end up sending the ball impressive distances. His power is ahead of his hit tool for now, but he does take pretty good at bats and recognizes pitches fairly well. I think with more refinement in the Padres system, the Baltimore-area native has a chance to get to a fringe average or even an average hit tool. He's a solid defender behind the plate and moves very well for his size, helping him use that big frame block balls in the dirt. High school catchers are notoriously difficult to develop and King has a lot of work to do, but the upside here is a starting catcher that can blast 20+ home runs a year and that's worth a $500,000 gamble. King was in a great position, as he could have attended the catching factory that is Georgia Tech.

5-150: 1B Nathan Martorella, California. My rank: #192.
Slot value: $375,500. Signing bonus: $325,000 ($50,500 below slot value).
Nathan Martorella brings a little bit of an unusual profile as a hit-over-power first baseman, but it's an interesting one. He didn't hit much over his first two seasons at Cal, but broke out in 2022 to slash .333/.424/.553 with eleven home runs and a 29/34 strikeout to walk ratio over 55 games. He takes short, simple hacks in the batters box with the goal of spraying hard line drives around the field, rarely looking to do too much. With a stocky build at 6'1", 225 pounds, he translates his compact strength into a high frequency of hard hit balls, finding the barrel extremely consistently with a keen eye at the plate and a very patient approach. Martorella a first baseman only, so the pressure will be on his bat. The power isn't quite where you want it for a first baseman, but given his knack for barreling the ball and hitting it hard, he could tap average power if he begins to lift the ball more. The Salinas (Monterey County) native could move relatively quickly through a thinned out Padres system, with a ceiling of 15-20 home runs a year and high on-base percentages. So far through five games in the Arizona Complex League, Martorella has two singles and two walks.

7-210: OF Nick Vogt, UC Santa Barbara. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $224,300. Signing bonus: $200,000 ($24,300 below slot value).
Nick Vogt gives the Padres another Californian as a guy who can contribute in a lot of ways even if he doesn't have a true carrying tool. After performing poorly over his first two seasons at UC Santa Barbara, like Nathan Martorella he broke out in 2022 to slash .317/.405/.541 with seven home runs and a 39/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 52 games. He has long arms and uses them to spray hard line drives around the field with regularity, with enough raw power in the tank to leave the yard when he gets those arms extended. He's a disciplined hitter that makes a lot of contact, helping him get on base at better than a .400 clip this spring. The Central Valley native out of Davis is also a solid runner that has a chance to stick in center field, which would dramatically increase his value as a potential fourth outfielder. Whether he reaches that ceiling hinges on his ability to handle breaking balls, as multiple sources noted that he was a much better hitter against high velocity fastballs than quality breaking balls. If he can, this is a very productive fourth outfield profile. He is hitless through his first six at bats in the Arizona Complex League.

8-240: 1B Griffin Doersching, Oklahoma State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $180,900. Signing bonus: $25,000 ($155,900 below slot value).
At just $25,000, this pick has a chance to be one of the best bargains of the draft. That tends to happen when you're nearly 24 on draft day, older than guys like Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Doersching played four years at Northern Kentucky, where he bashed 47 home runs in 161 career games and slashed .316/.488/.772 as a senior, then transferred to Oklahoma State this spring and continued to rake to the tune of a .296/.407/.673 slash line, 15 home runs, and a 51/29 strikeout to walk ratio over 42 games. He has absolutely massive raw power, as evidenced by this allegedly 513 foot home run against Texas Tech that left the stadium over the scoreboard. It's effortless power, too, as the 6'4", 250 pound hulk of a human being just flings the barrel at the ball with a simple, direct swing, and the ball just jumps off his bat like he loaded it with TNT. He does come with swing and miss concerns, running a 26.3% strikeout rate in 2022 that was well up from the 16.1% mark he put together in his senior year at NKU against weaker competition. Even though he rarely swings out of his shoes, he still has below average bat to ball skills and regularly chases, so the transition to pro ball will be a steep one. Given that I'm writing this on his 24th birthday (HBD Griffin), he doesn't have much time to figure it out. He's limited to first base defensively, so he'll have to tap that power in pro ball to move up. With his power, tattoos, and long blonde hair, the Milwaukee-area product can quickly become one of the Padres' more recognizable prospects and could become a power hitting platoon bat in the near future. He's already off to a hot start in the Arizona Complex League (albeit where he is much older than his competition), slashing .400/.538/.800 with just two strikeouts through five games.

11-330: RHP Isaiah Lowe, Combine Academy [NC]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $400,000 ($275,000 against bonus pool).
The Padres made one more big splurge to open up day three, signing Isaiah Lowe away from a Wake Forest commitment for fifth round money. Lowe showed scattered command and inconsistent stuff over the summer, but was a much more complete pitcher this spring. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball and tops out around 94, adding a sweeping slider that looks above average at its best as well as an improving changeup that could also be an above average pitch. The 6'1" righty has a strong lower half and gets deep into his glutes during his delivery, putting flat plane on his fastball while also aiding in the shape of his slider, which relies more on horizontal movement than vertical movement. After regularly coming off line and losing his arm slot over the summer, he repeated his delivery better this spring and showed better command because of it, giving him the chance to stick as a starter. The North Carolina native is extremely old for a high schooler, having turned 19 back in May, but the Padres were more than happy with his progress this spring and think he can catch up quickly. There is not a ton of projection in his frame, though he could stand to add a few ticks to his fastball which is currently average velocity-wise. If he can get more consistently 92-94 than the 90-91 he sits now, that flat plane could really make it play up.

12-360: LHP Austin Krob, Texas Christian. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Austin Krob spent a year at Kirkwood JC in Iowa before transferring to TCU in 2020, then showed well over his first two years in Fort Worth and looked like a mid day two pick. Instead, he opted to bet on himself and returned to campus for his senior season, which unfortunately did not go quite as planned as he finished with a 5.12 ERA and a 45/15 strikeout to walk ratio over 31.2 innings, missing a month and a half with injury. Krob ran a solid 31% strikeout rate in 2022, but figures to be more of a crafty lefty that should fit somewhere between a back-end starter and a long reliever in pro ball. His fastball sits in the low 90's, touching 95, while his sweeping slider is his best pitch and helps him miss bats. He also adds in an average curveball and an above average changeup, though his stuff wasn't always at its crispest this spring as he battled those injuries. The 6'3" lefty comes from a low three quarters slot that helps his stuff play east-west, giving hitters and especially left handed hitters a unique look that can make for a very difficult at bat when he's locating. The command has looked above average at times, and if he can hold that, he has a chance to reach his ceiling as a back-end starter. If not, or if he doesn't prove durable enough to handle 150+ innings a year, his stuff could tick up in relief and he could ditch the curveball to focus on his best pitches.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Cleveland Guardians

Full list of draftees

The Guardians stayed very on brand here, and the result is a draft class full of guys I like. They went below slot on seven of their first eight picks but still grabbed a ton of talent in the process, then went all in on two over slot talents in the eighth and tenth rounds. As usual, the focus was on crafty college pitching, high-upside, extra young prep arms, and hit-over-power college bats almost exclusively. Between Joe Lampe, Nate Furman, Guy Lipscomb, Tyresse Turner, Pres Cavenaugh, and Angel Zarate, opposing defenses will have to stay on their toes at all times with a ton of balls in play, while first rounder Chase DeLauter brings virtually all of the power in this class. Parker Messick is one of my favorite picks of the draft, while Javier Santos has a chance to be a massive bargain as an under slot eighth rounder and Jacob Zibin could be a steal in the tenth round, though he did sign for second round money. A lot of fun names here.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-16: OF Chase DeLauter, James Madison. My rank: #14.
Slot value: $3.94 million. Signing bonus: $3.75 million ($187,600 below slot value).
We all know the Guardians love pitching and develop it well, but they're not just going to ignore a great hitter that falls into their laps. Chase DeLauter raked over his first two seasons at James Madison University in Virginia, then pushed himself into top five consideration by slashing .298/.397/.589 with nine home runs and more walks (21) than strikeouts (18) in the Cape Cod League over the summer. He lost some of that luster when he looked overmatched in a season-opening matchup against Florida State lefties Parker Messick (also drafted by the Guardians), Bryce Hubbart (Reds), and Ross Dunn, and even though he recovered to slash .437/.576/.828 with eight home runs and a 21/28 strikeout to walk ratio over 24 games, he never quite built his stock back up. DeLauter's season came to a premature end when he broke his foot in April, giving him unbelievable career numbers at JMU: 15 home runs, .402/.520/.715, 45/62 strikeout to walk ratio in 66 games. He shows plus raw power from the left side, tapping it consistently with wood bats and against elite pitching. It's a product of a big, strong, 6'4" frame and a loose, easy uppercut. The eastern West Virginia native is also extremely disciplined in the box, rarely ever getting himself out and punishing pitchers when they do come into his zone. Doubters will point to a relatively light schedule in the Colonial Athletic Association (he got hurt just before a series against Northeastern that would have pitted him against two of the conference's top draft arms, Yankees draftees Cam Schlittler and Sebastian Keane), an unorthodox slide with his back foot, and the fact that he got carved up in his ACC matchup, but I would point to the fact that Messick and Hubbart are an extraordinarily difficult way to begin your season, cold, after a long winter. I'd also point emphatically to his track record on the Cape, where he adeptly controlled the zone against college baseball's best. Together, it's a potential 30 home run bat that can post high on-base percentages and hit right in the middle of the order for a long time. DeLauter is also a good runner with a strong arm that can play a solid right field, and he's extremely young for a college junior with an October birthday. 

CBA-37: RHP Justin Campbell, Oklahoma State. My rank: #48.
Slot value: $2.1 million. Signing bonus: $1.7 million ($401,800 below slot value).
Justin Campbell had serious interest in the first round, but the Guardians managed to snag him here about ten picks lower than he was potentially projected and still save over $400,000 in the process. Originally a two-way player when he reached campus at Oklahoma State, he steadily improved on the mound and after dropping hitting completely in 2022, he broke out for a 3.82 ERA and a 141/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 101.1 innings including fourteen strikeout performance against TCU. Campbell is a massive, 6'7" righty that comes from an extremely high slot, bringing the ball seemingly straight down on you. He sits in the low 90's with his fastball but has been registering more 96's and 97's at peak, and its high spin rates give it plenty of life to nicely counteract the approach angle. That means hitters see the fastball coming down on them and prepare to match the angle, but it deceptively stays just a bit higher than you'd think. He works in a big, deep curveball, a newer slider, and a changeup that flashes above average. With a big, durable frame and an easy delivery, he commands his stuff well and projects as a high probability big league starting pitcher. The Southern California native could climb the ladder rather quickly and contribute as a #4 starter in the near term before perhaps growing into a larger role.

2-54: LHP Parker Messick, Florida State. My rank: #46.
Slot value: $1.41 million. Signing bonus: $1.3 million ($107,100 below slot value).
This is one of my favorite picks of the entire draft, especially considering the Guardians managed to save over $100,000 here in the second round on a guy I thought looked like a first rounder frequently this spring. Parker Messick has been one of the better pitchers in the ACC for a few years now, and that was certainly the case in 2022 when he put up a 3.38 ERA (ironically a career-worst) and a 144/18 strikeout to walk ratio over 98.2 innings. He's kind of the opposite of Justin Campbell, standing just six feet tall to Campbell's 6'7". His fastball also sits in the low 90's, topping out at a modest 95 when he really reaches back, while supplementing it with a full arsenal. His curveball and slider are average pitches, flashing above average on his best days, but they don't really project to be true out pitches at the pro level. His changeup does, as a consistently above average pitch that flashed plus in his better starts this spring. He uses his stocky frame to his advantage, crouching down in his delivery and delivering the ball with a relatively flat approach angle. He hides the ball extremely well, which combines with the tough angle he creates, makes for a very deceptive look for hitters that really have trouble picking him up. On top of all that, he pitches with fire and mercilessly goes right after hitters, taking command and controlling at bats from start to finish to make his above average command play up further. The Tampa-area native did see his stuff flatten out a little bit late in the season, but that's not uncommon for these workhorse college starters that carry the load for their teams and frequently throw 110+ pitches. Messick doesn't necessarily project to be an ace, but I see him as a very high probability big league starter with a good shot to become a #3, especially in this system.

3-92: OF Joe Lampe, Arizona State. My rank: #121.
Slot value: $670,200. Signing bonus: $800,000 ($129,800 above slot value).
Joe Lampe is an interesting prospect that has built his stock little by little since transferring from Santa Rosa JC in California to Arizona State, breaking out in 2022 to slash .340/.394/.590 with 12 home runs and a 30/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 57 games. It's a fun profile that brings a lot to the table. Lampe is a contact hitter with a smooth, rhythmic load that gives way to a line drive swing. He has an all-fields approach and rarely swings and misses, and in 2022 he began to turn on the ball for some power to the pull side. His exit velocities are just average and Tempe is a hitter-friendly environment, so I don't think his power will play up too much in pro ball, but his plus speed means that he'll stretch plenty of gap shots into doubles and triples. Lampe hits everything in sight and likes to put the ball in play early in the count, leading to low walk rates, and he probably projects as a 5-10 home run hitter with high batting averages that can eke out an every day role if things break out right. He was drafted as an outfielder, where his speed should keep him in center field, but he also has experience at second base and can handle the infield if needed. These kinds of Swiss army knife types aren't terribly common any more, so it's a good profile to have in the system.

4-121: 2B Nate Furman, Charlotte. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $497,900. Signing bonus: $300,000 ($197,900 below slot value).
There are no secrets with Nate Furman's profile. He's coming off an exceptional season at Charlotte, where he slashed .371/.502/.474 with two home runs and a 26/49 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games – that's an 8.7% strikeout rate to a 16.3% walk rate if you're keeping track. Standing just 5'8", Furman is not a power threat at all, instead slashing balls to all fields with elite consistency. He tracks pitches extremely well, lets them get deep, spits on the bad ones, and drives the good ones to all fields with a quick, simple left handed swing. The Philadelphia-area native rarely gets fooled, gets on base, and finds the barrel virtually every time. There is virtually zero power in this profile, with his best chance at running up his slugging percentage coming when he splits the gap and lets his plus speed get to work. That impact will drop even further with wood bats, so his value will be entirely reliant on that on-base percentage. Having just turned 21 in July as a draft eligible sophomore, he should move through the minors very quickly and could be one of the Guardians' first draftees to crack the big league roster, likely ultimately slotting into a utility role. His best position is second base.

6-181: RHP Dylan DeLucia, Mississippi. My rank: #143.
Slot value: $284,200. Signing bonus: $275,000 ($9,200 below slot value).
Dylan DeLucia was one of the latest risers in the class, but when he did break out, it was loud. A transfer from Northwest Florida State, DeLucia was a steady hand in the Ole Miss rotation throughout the year, but really turned it on in super regionals, when he blanked Southern Miss for 5.2 innings with nine strikeouts. He followed that up with a gem against Auburn in the College World Series, then finished it off with his best performance yet in the Bracket 2 final against Arkansas. In that start, he tossed a complete game, four hit shutout with no walks and seven strikeouts to send the Rebels to the College World Series final, catapulting himself into Ole Miss lore and pushing himself up several rounds in the process. He finished the season with a 3.68 ERA, a run lower than it had been entering super regionals, and a 105/26 strikeout to walk ratio over 95.1 innings. The Daytona Beach native sits in the low 90's with his fastball and tops out around 94-95, adding in an above average slider with hard, tight sweep and a nice fading changeup. He has a stocky build with a strong lower half and puts it to good use with a drop and drive delivery. By getting down into his glutes, he creates a low release point and a flat approach angle with its fastball, making it appear more explosive than its average velocity and helping it play off his offspeeds. He can get scattered with his command, more so with his offspeed stuff than his fastball, but pounds the strike zone anyways and limits his walks as a result. The 6'1" righty is a bulldog on the mound and may thrive in a bullpen role where his command won't matter as much, but he's plenty strong enough to start with the ability to hold his velocity deep. It's an interesting profile for sure.

7-211: RHP Javier Santos, Georgia Premier Academy [GA]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $222,400. Signing bonus: $125,000 ($97,600 below slot value).
This pick has a *chance* to be the bargain of the draft. You usually have to pay a premium to divert a high school pitcher away from college, especially when they have stuff like Javier Santos, but the Guardians managed to get it done with just $125,000 and instead of Northwest Florida State, he'll jump right into their system. Santos is a premium arm talent, sitting in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and getting up to 98 with great ride. He adds a projectable curveball with good spin rates, flashing above average at time but it's very inconsistent and can soften up. His changeup is a distant third pitch. The Dominican has an explosive right arm that promises even more velocity, though he has a ways to go. In addition to refining his secondary stuff, he needs to get stronger to hold his velocity deeper into starts while also getting more consistent with his delivery in order to hit spots more consistently. The ceiling is tremendous, especially in a system like Cleveland that develops pitching extremely well, though he's a bit undersized at six feet tall and could end up in the bullpen. He turned 19 more than a month before the draft, making him very old for the class, and is coming from the same Georgia Premier Academy that produced fellow electric Guardians arm Daniel Espino.

8-241: LHP Jackson Humphries, Fuquay-Varina HS [NC]. My rank: #141.
Slot value: $180,000. Signing bonus: $600,000 ($420,000 above slot value).
Jackson Humphries represents one of the biggest over slot signings in the Guardians class to skip out on a Campbell commitment, and for good reason. He came out of the gate hot this spring and had scouts flocking to Raleigh-area high school, pushing his way into second round consideration, but he couldn't maintain it and saw his stock fall back down as a result. At his best, Humphries sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and has hit 96, coming in with some riding action despite a steeper release. He can really spin the ball, with a deep slider that flashes plus at its best and dives under bats at the last second in addition to a curveball that has flashed above average, while his changeup is a fourth pitch. The 6'1" lefty is a good athlete that held the zone fairly well early in the season, but he struggled with command later in the season and hasn't shown enough for scouts to call that a fluke. While his command faltered, his stuff also backed up and his breaking balls didn't look as sharp, so the Guardians have some work to do. If they can get him back to the guy he looked like early this spring, Humphries could be a legitimate impact starting pitcher. If not, his feel for spin should serve him well in a bullpen role.

10-301: RHP Jacob Zibin, TNXL Academy [FL]. My rank: #76.
Slot value: $152,000. Signing bonus: $1.2 million ($1.05 million above slot value).
Jackson Humphries was a nice get, but all those under slot deals throughout the first nine rounds, they were mostly saving up for this one right here. Jacob Zibin earned roughly the slot value for the 61st overall pick here in the tenth round, turning down a strong commitment to Kentucky in the process to go pro. Originally from Canada, Zibin moved from Vancouver to Orlando to attend TNXL Academy and reclassified to be eligible for the 2022 class, making him one of the youngest players drafted this year with a 2005 birthday. His profile has taken a big step forward, with his fastball now sitting in the low to mid 90's and scraping the upper 90's, adding a sweepy slider and an above average changeup to go with it. There is some rocking back and forth in his delivery which moves his center of gravity, but he's a great athlete with otherwise sound mechanics that fills up the strike zone very well for someone so young. The 6'4" righty is very projectable and could sit in the mid 90's soon, and if he can continue to sharpen up that offspeed stuff while allowing his command to progress, there is #2 starter upside here. It's one of the most well-rounded profiles I've ever seen from the 17 year old and my #76 ranking, albeit 55 spots ahead of MLB Pipeline and 51 ahead of Baseball America, may prove too conservative.

14-421: OF Pres Cavenaugh, UNC Greensboro. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Pres Cavenaugh made a name for himself in the Cape Cod League last summer, when he slashed .319/.400/.407 with a solid 16.2% strikeout rate, then continued that success by hitting .340/.403/.507 with eight home runs and a 27/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 63 games at UNC Greensboro this spring. He's yet another hit-over-power bat that makes a ton of contact to all fields, employing an aggressive approach that limits his walks somewhat at the same time. Still, he gets the barrel to the ball all over the zone and it hasn't hurt him to this point, even against elite pitching on the Cape. The power here is fringy, as he's not a big guy at six feet tall, but he can turn on one and punish you if you leave it over the plate. The Charlotte native is not quite as fast as some of the other hit-over-power types in this Guardians draft class, so he's a likely left fielder and will have to hit to move up. If he can show enough speed to hold down center field in a pinch or tap a little more power, he could be a very solid fourth outfielder that racks up hits and gets on base.

17-511: OF Angel Zarate, North Carolina. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $100,000.
Angel Zarate represents a very similar profile to Pres Cavenaugh, albeit over a year older. He's a fifth year senior that picked up just one hit in seventeen at bats over his first two seasons at UNC, but he's been an on-base machine for the Tar Heels over the past three seasons with a .350/.432/.498 slash line, 13 home runs, and a 65/72 strikeout to walk ratio over 131 games in that span. Not overly physical, he makes a lot of contact and has great innate feel for the barrel, spraying line drives to all fields from a simple left handed swing. He has tapped some power at UNC by recognizing good pitches and catching them out front, and he could continue to be an ambush threat in pro ball. But most of his value will come from posting high on-base percentages and driving line drives to the gaps. The northern North Carolina native probably a tick worse of a defender than Cavenaugh, profiling as a corner outfielder, so ideally the power will have to play in pro ball for him to cut it as a fourth outfielder.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Philadelphia Phillies

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The Phillies played their bonus pool pretty straightforward here, rarely going to far above or below slot value until the back of day two, where they saved a little money in rounds eight through ten to make a day three splash on Mississippi high schooler Emaarion Boyd. Boyd along with first rounder Justin Crawford gives the Phillies two of the fastest players in the class, with Crawford especially showing superstar upside. Between third rounder Gabriel Rincones and fourth rounder Alex McFarlane, they picked up a couple of guys with unique backgrounds while seventh rounder Caleb Ricketts looks like an interesting sleeper. On day three, they made the hometown crowd happy by picking three Pennsylvanians in a span of four picks, one each from the eastern, central, and western portions of the state.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-17: OF Justin Crawford, Bishop Gorman HS [NV]. My rank: #22.
Slot value: $3.79 million. Signing bonus: $3.89 million ($100,000 above slot value).
The son of four time All Star Carl Crawford, Justin Crawford has a chance to be one of the best players in this draft. He's had helium throughout the cycle, punctuated by a big spring that earned him interest as high as the top ten picks. The Phillies feel lucky to land him here, as the Mets were rumored to be very in on Crawford at picks #11 and #14. He is an exceptional athlete that is every bit as fast as his dad, who stole 480 bases in the majors, making the field look small with his long strides that get him from A to B in a flash. He's extremely projectable at 6'3", with plenty of present, lean strength already that helps him lash hard line drives around the field and then wreak havoc with his legs. As he fills out, he could grow into plus power if he learns to elevate the ball more, but for now he's happy with that line drive approach and it obviously works for him. Over the summer, he did have some trouble with breaking balls, but his hit tool looked more consistent this spring and there isn't too much swing and miss to speak of. Throw in the potential to win Gold Gloves for his defense in center field, and you have all the makings of a future superstar. The Las Vegas native does have a ways to go to reach that ceiling, including refining his approach a little bit and learning to elevate the ball with more authority, but he's just 18 years old and has plenty of time to figure it out. He had been committed to LSU but as he continued to rise this spring, that became a moot point.

3-93: OF Gabriel Rincones, Florida Atlantic. My rank: #154.
Slot value: $660,100. Signing bonus: $627,500 ($32,600 below slot value).
There are roundabout paths to baseball stardom, and then there is Gabriel Rincones. Originally from Venezuela, he moved with his family to Scotland as a child and lived there until he was twelve, then spent his high school years in Tampa, Florida. From there, after he fell so far behind as a baseball player due to not playing in Scotland, he wound up at St. Petersburg JC for two years before transferring to Florida Atlantic. Rincones took off at FAU, slashing .346/.451/.658 with 19 home runs and a 51/42 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games, and now finds himself in the top one hundred picks. He's a power-over-hit bat that produces high exit velocities from a very strong 6'4" frame, with no issues tapping that power in games. The ball really jumps off his bat, and he's only trending upwards. Rincones is a patient hitter with an improving hit tool, though he does still swing and miss some, especially against offspeed stuff, and that will be a point of emphasis going forward. A well below average runner, he was drafted as an outfielder but may be confined to first base in the long run. He'll have to hit in order to play every day in Philadelphia.

4-122: RHP Alex McFarlane, Miami. My rank: #151.
Slot value: $493,000. Signing bonus: $575,000 ($88,000 above slot value).
Keeping with the theme, the Phillies selected a second consecutive Florida college player with a unique geographic background. Alex McFarlane, whose mother was an olympic taekwondo participant and whose father was a sprinter, grew up in the US Virgin Islands for most of his life. While Gabriel Rincones moved from Scotland to the baseball hotbed of Tampa to play at the powerhouse Plant High School program, McFarlane went a little more off the map and wound up at Habersham Central High School in rural northeastern Georgia. He earned significant draft interest out of high school but wound up on campus at Miami, where he still hasn't quite put it all together but has thrown well enough to keep scouts coming back. He began 2022 in the rotation but quickly moved back to the bullpen, finishing with a 4.00 ERA and a 68/20 strikeout to walk ratio over 45 innings. McFarlane sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, but can reach back and touch the upper 90's in short stints. His slider flashes plus at its best and can miss a ton of bats, though it is inconsistent, and he also adds a decent changeup. Ultra athletic and still projectable at 6'4", he gets down the mound extremely well but his mechanics regularly get out of sync, leading to command questions. With his size, athleticism, and arsenal, he continues to look like a big league starter, but he's just never been able to hold down that role to this point in his career. He's still young, having only turned 21 in June, and getting into a pro development program could be all he needs to pull it together. If he can get more consistent with his offspeed stuff and mechanics, he can still start. If not, that fastball slider combination played well out of the bullpen at Miami and could step forward in the Phillies system.

5-152: RHP Orion Kerkering, South Florida. My rank: #182.
Slot value: $368,300. Signing bonus: $322,500 ($45,800 below slot value).
Going back to the Florida college ranks for a third consecutive pick, and Orion Kerkering may have one of the best names in the draft. A lights out reliever for South Florida in 2021, he moved into the rotation this spring and was inconsistent, posting a 5.72 ERA and a 91/19 strikeout to walk ratio over 67.2 innings, spending more time back in the bullpen as the season went on. Kerkering has a power arm, sitting in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and touching 97 in relief, though it has only average life and plays true. His best pitch by far is a nasty, plus slider with late bite, earning regular recognition from Pitching Ninja. He also adds a fringy changeup, but the slider is the bread and butter here. The Florida native goes right after hitters, pounding the strike zone and rarely hurting himself with walks. An average athlete, the 6'2" righty probably fits back in the bullpen in pro ball, where he can pitch more effectively off his slider and add some velocity to his fastball to make up for the lack of life. The command isn't pinpoint, but because he likes to challenge hitters, I don't imagine the walks will creep up in a bullpen role like they may in a starting role.

7-212: C Caleb Ricketts, San Diego. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $220,600. Signing bonus: $218,800 ($1,800 below slot value).
The Phillies picked up an interesting sleeper in the seventh round. Caleb Ricketts was a breakout star at San Diego, slashing .373/.423/.658 with 16 home runs and a 29/14 strikeout to walk ratio over 56 games. He's an aggressive hitter and walked at just a 5.5% clip in 2022, a rate lower than any player on my draft rankings by a good margin (Daniel Susac was next closest at 7.4%), but he makes a ton of contact regardless and only struck out 11.5% of the time. So if you're watching Ricketts hit, expect a short at bat where he puts the first pitch he likes in play. He utilizes a nice, easy left handed swing to make all that contact, perfectly content knocking a ground ball through the hole or poking a line drive over an infielder's head, but there is pop in the bat. When he does turn on the ball, he produces impressive exit velocities that could make him a dangerous hitter moving up the ladder. It will be up to him and the Phillies where they want to land on his contact/power balance, but as the saying goes, "get you a guy who can do both." Behind the plate, he's unremarkable with the glove and doesn't have the strongest throwing arm, but his quick transfer helps make up for the lack of plus arm strength and he held runners very well in 2022. It's an interesting ball of clay for the Phillies to work with, especially for a senior sign that turned 22 in May, and he's already off to a red hot start for Low A Clearwater with a .500/.526/.667 slash line, including a home run, through four games.

11-332: OF Emaarion Boyd, South Panola HS [MS]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $647,500 ($522,500 against bonus pool)
The Phillies' biggest over slot play of the draft came in the eleventh round, where they paid Emaarion Boyd nearly $650,000 to forego a commitment to Northwest Florida JC. Boyd stands out for his plus-plus speed, which he puts to good use beating out ground balls on the infield, stretching extra base hits in the gaps, and taking away hits in the outfield. He's ultra skinny right not at a listed 6'1", 175 pounds, with plenty of room to grow into that frame and put on strength. For now, he lashes line drives around the field, but he has the leverage in his right handed spring to turn that into usable game power as he gets stronger. The swing can get a bit rigid for now and he needs to refine his overall approach at the plate, but that's not unexpected for a kid from rural northwestern Mississippi. Boyd is more refined in the outfield, where he has a chance to be an above average center fielder, albeit with ordinary arm strength.

12-362: C Jordan Dissin, Saddleback JC. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
The Phillies went with a hometown pick in the twelfth round, grabbing catcher Jordan Dissin out of Saddleback Junior College. Although Saddleback is in California, Dissin is a Philadelphia-area product, having grown up in the far northwestern exurb of Pottstown and attending Malvern Prep for high school and growing up a Phillies fan. He began his college career at Richmond in Virginia, but transferred out after barely seeing the field as a freshman. Once at Saddleback in Southern California, he broke out and slashed .393/.505/.577 with four home runs and a 35/33 strikeout to walk ratio over 45 games, raising his profile significantly. Having just turned 20 in May, he's a very disciplined hitter for his age with a patient approach, though to this point he has much more doubles power than home run power. At 6'3", he has an ideal frame to grow into more. Behind the plate, he shows the strong arm needed to stick back there. He picked up one hit in four at bats in his first game in the Florida Complex League, striking out the other three times.

14-422: SS Bryan Rincon, Shaler Area HS [PA]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
In the fourteenth round, the Phillies crossed the state to grab Bryan Rincon out of Pittsburgh. He grew up in Venezuela, but moved to Pittsburgh as a teenager and attended Shaler Area High School just across the Allegheny River to the north. He's only 5'11", but he packs a ton of strength into his smaller frame and uses it well. A switch hitter, he's still refining his swings but shows a direct bat path and the ability to drive the ball to all fields. Rincon is also an above average defender at shortstop with quick feet and smooth actions, though I haven't seen enough recent video to be convinced of his arm strength just yet. He may not be the quickest mover through the system but could eventually work his way up as a solid all-around hitter whose glove adds value. He had been committed to San Jacinto JC in Texas but the Phillies managed to keep him in the Keystone State.

15-452: OF Troy Schreffler, Maryland. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Troy Schreffler gives the Phillies a third Pennsylvanian in a span of four picks. A Harrisburg native, he attended Central Dauphin High School on the northeastern edge of town in the Linglestown/Skyline View area. Heading south to Maryland for college, he played sparingly as an underclassman but broke out as a junior when he finally cracked the starting lineup, slashing .340/.421/.557 with ten home runs and a 64/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 62 games. He's a right handed hitter that uses the whole field effectively, with his power mostly playing to the pull side but showing the ability to extend his arms and drive it the other way as well. His strikeout rate is a bit elevated at 21.8%, but it has come down from his time as an underclassman and it was his first time playing full time. The Phillies will try to manage the swing and miss in pro ball so that he can continue to tap his solid gap and over the fence power. Schreffler stands out on defense with a knack for the dramatic play, showing great range in the outfield and looking very comfortable making plays up against the wall. The upside here is that of a fourth or fifth outfielder that can handle the bat and play all three outfield positions more than capably. So far with Low A Clearwater, he is slashing .167/.318/.278 with six strikeouts to two walks through five games.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Cincinnati Reds

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I really like what the Reds did here. They had a ton of draft capital with five of the first 94 picks, and they used it. They didn't expect top ten talent Cam Collier to fall into their lap at pick #18, so they changed their entire draft strategy to make it work. After signing Collier for well over a million dollars above slot value, they went below slot value for each of the next eleven picks to make up for it, and also counted each many picks' $2,500 signing contingency bonus (which comes in addition to the draft bonus and does not count against the pool) as part of the bonus, saving a few extra pennies here and there. They drafted some very interesting bats early on (though I thought Justin Boyd was the one questionable pick here), then went for stuff above all else with picks like Bryce Hubbart, Kenya Huggins, Zach Maxwell, and Ben Brutti. They actually spent much of the latter portion of the draft on arms, drafting twelve pitchers with their final thirteen picks, with the lone position player in that range, Mason Neville, not even signing.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-18: 3B Cam Collier, Chipola JC. My rank: #6.
Slot value: $3.66 million. Signing bonus: $5 million ($1.34 million above slot value).
If you told Reds general manager Nick Krall in April that he would be getting Cam Collier in the first round, he would likely have been happy to hear that. If you told him the day before the draft that he would be getting Collier, he would have probably laughed in your face, as multiple teams throughout the top ten picks were rumored to be very in on the young hitter. As it went, those clubs went different directions, and soon signability pushed him to the Reds with the 18th pick. They gave him roughly the slot value for the tenth overall pick, more than a million above their own slot value, to sign him away from a Louisville commitment. So who is this kid that Cincinnati was happy to upend its draft strategy over? Cam Collier was actually supposed to be a junior in high school, but he earned his GED and graduated not one, but two years early from Mount Paran Christian Academy in the Atlanta area to attend Chipola Junior College, much like Bryce Harper more than a decade earlier. Despite being just 17 years old and facing kids who were mostly 19-21 years old, Collier more than held his own by slashing .333/.419/.537 with eight home runs and a 33/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 52 games. He then went to the Cape Cod League and further impressed evaluators by looking right at home against the best 19-21 year olds in the country. This is all because, year of age for year of age, he is probably the most advanced amateur hitter in the country. He takes extremely professional at bats, controlling the strike zone with ease against much older pitching with excellent pitch recognition and feel for the barrel. Collier shows off above average raw power from the left side of the plate, a product of a sturdy, mature 6'2" frame and a sweet, loose, simple swing. He finds the barrel very consistently and sprays deep line drives to all fields, and in pro ball could profile for 20-25 home runs a year with on-base percentages approaching .400. While he probably won't win any Gold Gloves, he is a very capable defender at third base with solid actions around the bag and enough arm strength to stick there. The Reds of course are buying the bat, and if anybody in this class could reach the majors as a teenager, it will probably be Collier. Teenager in this case gives him until the end of the 2024 season, so he would have 2023-2024 to rise through the ranks and make it happen.

1C-32: 3B Sal Stewart, Westminster Christian HS [FL]. My rank: #65.
Slot value: $2.37 million. Signing bonus: $2.1 million ($275,500 below slot value).
Sal Stewart was rumored to be one of the toughest signs in the draft with an extremely firm commitment to Vanderbilt in his pocket, and it took the Reds drafting him about a full round ahead of where he was projected to stop that from happening. If you want a comp, then you'll really like this one if you follow college baseball: Tommy White. Last year, it seems like evaluators (myself included) slept on White a little bit out at IMG Academy because he was a right handed hitting likely first baseman with body concerns, and he made us all regret it by blasting 27 home runs as a true freshman this year. The Reds front office likely saw what White was doing in Raleigh, looked at Stewart, and said "nah, we're not letting that happen again." Also a bigger bodied right handed hitting high school first baseman, Stewart has a similarly impressive track record of hitting and could give the Reds a true middle of the order bat. He's a very disciplined hitter that has been seen a lot on the showcase circuit and has performed well throughout, but he stands out for his plus raw power from a compact uppercut. He's big and strong at a listed 6'3", 215 pounds, and he should only get stronger as he matures. At this point, he's such a natural hitter that he can get away with letting his mechanics get out of whack, and he's strong enough to still do damage even when he's lunging forward or losing the connection between his upper and lower body. That should be a relatively easy fix for the player development program, and Stewart ultimately has a chance to club 30+ home runs a year with good on-base percentages if everything breaks right. Drafted as a third baseman, the Miami native will likely move to first base in pro ball with clunky actions around the bag and below average speed. If you want another comp, Pete Alonso makes sense as well.

2-55: C Logan Tanner, Mississippi State. My rank: #73.
Slot value: $1.37 million. Signing bonus: $1.03 million ($346,500 below slot value).
The Reds draft catchers like clockwork, and Logan Tanner makes it eight drafts in a row where they took one in the first seven rounds going back to Tyler Stephenson in 2015. Tanner was right up there with Kevin Parada and Daniel Susac at the top of a deep college catching class heading into the spring, and even though a disappointing season (.285/.387/.425, 7 HR, 45/32 K/BB in 55 games) dropped him out of the first round, there is still a lot to like. The southern Mississippi native is one of the best defensive catchers in the country, showing great agility back there that helps him block baseballs well, but he stands out most for his arm. It's a plus-plus cannon that not only nabs base stealers on the routine throws, but also works from multiple angles a lot like Patrick Mahomes. Check out this throw from Mississippi State's 2021 National Championship run. Usually, you're going to have to settle for a light hitter if you want defense like that, but Tanner can swing it. He takes very good at bats, with a simple right handed swing that produces high exit velocities and potentially above average power. However, his bat to ball skills are a bit behind his pitch recognition and he doesn't have great feel for the barrel just yet, which led to an overall lack of impact in 2022, but because he understands the strike zone well he should recover quickly with some pro coaching. Overall, he probably projects for 15-20 home runs a year with solid on-base percentages and great defense at best, a starter's profile if he gets back to his 2021 form.

CBB-73: OF Justin Boyd, Oregon State. My rank: #210.
Slot value: $901,300. Signing bonus: $847,500 ($53,800 below slot value).
The Reds saved a little more money on Justin Boyd, a pick somewhat reminiscent of Justice Thompson a year ago. Boyd did not play in the shortened 2020 season then showed well in a part time role in 2021 before breaking out in 2022, slashing .373/.490/.577 with nine home runs, 24 stolen bases, and a 58/52 strikeout to walk ratio over 62 games. An on-base machine, he is one of the more patient hitters in this class and draws a ton of walks. Those deep counts do lead to some strikeout concerns, as he has just average bat to ball skills, but it's nothing egregious. He's mostly a gap to gap hitter, drilling balls to all fields and letting his plus speed do the work, and while he can turn on one for a home run here and there, I don't expect more than 10-15 home runs per season here at peak. The Denver-area product can play all three outfield positions well with his speed and a good arm, to me giving this a very solid fourth outfield profile with a chance for more if he can tap some power while keeping his strikeouts down.

3-94: LHP Bryce Hubbart, Florida State. My rank: #64.
Slot value: $649,900. Signing bonus: $522,500 ($127,400 below slot value).
I really like this pick for the Reds, and I think it could turn out to provide the best value of their whole draft. Bryce Hubbart threw well as a sophomore at Florida State in 2021 but broke out in the Cape Cod League last summer, where he posted a 0.87 ERA and a 45/8 strikeout to walk ratio over 31 innings. Those Cape numbers become even more impressive when you find out that all three earned runs that Hubbart allowed came one one swing, a three run Braylen Wimmer (Phillies, 18th round) home run in the third inning of his very first start – from there, he closed out the season with 28.2 consecutive shutout innings (aside from one unearned run). His 2022 was a bit more up and down, beginning with dominant outings against James Madison, Samford, and California and ultimately ending up with a 3.32 ERA and a 96/21 strikeout to walk ratio over 76 innings. Hubbart really interests me as a pitcher. His fastball velocity fluctuates, getting as high as the mid 90's on the Cape but also dipping into the upper 80's at times with Florida State, typically settling in the 90-92 range. The pitch plays like an invisiball, though, with sneaky riding action that misses bats and confounds hitters. That means even when he's 89-91, he can get consistent outs against advanced hitters, and when he's more 92-94, he dominates the elite like we saw on the Cape. He throws both a curveball and a newer slider, both of which flashed plus on the Cape, but they're both inconsistent and he prefers to pitch off his fastball. Hubbart rounds out his arsenal with an average changeup. He has a very skinny 6'1" frame and an uptempo delivery, but to this point he has shown that he can hold up just fine in the rotation. In order to take the mound every fifth day in the big leagues, he'll have to get more consistent with both his velocity and his offspeed stuff, and while his command has steadily improved, it's still fringe-average and will need some fine tuning in pro ball. The Orlando-area native really understands the analytical side of pitching and will take well to the Reds' player development program, and with a June birthday, he's on the younger side for a college junior. I think the ceiling is huge here if the Reds can get him back to where he was on the Cape, when he looked like an easy first round pick.

4-123: RHP Kenya Huggins, Chipola JC. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $488,300. Signing bonus: $407,500 ($80,800 below slot value).
The Reds picked up a power arm in the fourth round, getting Cam Collier's Chipola teammate Kenya Huggins. Huggins earned some draft interest a year ago out of high school in New Orleans, but went the JuCo route and showed well as a freshman in Marianna, posting a 2.96 ERA and a 97/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 73 innings. He sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, getting up to around 96, but the pitch can play a bit straight and stands out more for its velocity than its movement. His best pitch is a mid to upper 80's power slider with late bite ,getting ugly swings and misses especially when he locates it down and away to right handed hitters. There's also a changeup here, and while it needs more refinement, he gets some fade on it and he's just 19. The 6'3" righty is big and physical and will only get stronger, though he carries some relief risk because he doesn't always stay on line in his delivery and has fringy command for now. Huggins will want to iron that out in pro ball while also refining his changeup if he wants to start, and if he can find a way to increase the life on his fastball, he could be a very good one. Otherwise, the fastball/slider combination should play out of the bullpen.

5-153: C Cade Hunter, Virginia Tech. My rank: #79.
Slot value: $364,600. Signing bonus: $362,100 ($2,500 below slot value).
Like I said, the Reds love college catchers who perform in power conferences, so Cade Hunter will join Logan Tanner, Matheu Nelson (Florida State), and Chris Okey (Clemson) as early round picks in the system. Hunter played just 29 games combined in 2020 and 2021 and had just 17 career hits coming into the season, but he was one of the country's better breakout bats in 2022 with a .330/.440/.637 slash line, 17 home runs, and a 59/32 strikeout to walk ratio over 58 games for the surprising Hokies. While Tanner is probably glove-first at this point, Hunter is definitely bat-first, with massive raw power from the left side that produces huge exit velocities. He gets great separation in his swing, throwing the hips while leaving his hands back and creating a rubber band effect to consistently drive the ball with force. The hit tool is a bit behind at this point, as he struggles with breaking stuff to a somewhat concerning level, but he does hammer fastballs at any velocity. He also looked just a little bit lost later on in the season and struck out four times in Virginia Tech's season-ending loss to Oklahoma in the Blacksburg Super Regional (though to be fair, that was a major step in Cade Horton's coming out party, which you'll read about in the Cubs review). Behind the plate, the Philadelphia-area native is extremely athletic and can pop out of the crouch and run with the best of backstops, but his glovework and arm strength are more average and will need some refinement in pro ball. The potential onset of robo umps does help that profile a bit. Overall, I see a potential everyday catcher that can hammer 25+ home runs a year, but he will have to figure something out against quality breaking balls in order to reach that ceiling.

6-183: RHP Zach Maxwell, Georgia Tech. My rank: #103.
Slot value: $279,700. Signing bonus: $222,500 ($77,200 below slot value).
If you like Joe Boyle, who is looking unhittable at High A Dayton right now, then you're going to love Zach Maxwell. Maxwell is a huge, 6'6", 275 pound beast of a man, and he's slowly pulling it together on the mound. After walking 23.9% of his opponents as a freshman in 2020 and 25.6% in 2021, he cut that walk rate to 17.3% in 2022 and that helped him post a 5.26 ERA and an 84/41 strikeout to walk ratio over 51.1 innings this year in a swingman role. The Atlanta-area product sits in the mid to upper 90's with his fastball, touching triple digits with serious life. The pitch has extreme vertical axis and rides a ton, making it jump on hitters even quicker than the already impressive radar gun readings would tell you. His slider is downright ghoulish, with massive spin rates and devastating late bite that makes it one of the best breaking balls in the class. Those two pitches are kind of it for now, as Maxwell doesn't have much of a changeup and he doesn't really need it. Command is obviously the big question, as even though it improved in 2022, it's still well below average as the big guy doesn't always repeat his delivery well and struggles to harness his explosive stuff. He made a few starts this year and actually showed very well in a few of them, but unless he can take massive steps forward with his command and changeup, it's a pure relief profile and I think the Reds will be okay with that. With all of Joe Boyle's success so far, they have a pretty good blueprint for development.

7-213: SS Trey Faltine, Texas. My rank: #202.
Slot value: $219,000. Signing bonus: $200,000 ($19,000 below slot value).
Trey Faltine earned some top 100 draft interest as a two-way player in high school, but made it to campus at Texas and has been exclusively a position player. He had a breakout year in 2022, slashing .282/.393/.552 with 15 home runs and a 104/33 strikeout to walk ratio over 69 games, but those 104 strikeouts were second in college baseball only to Oklahoma State's Nolan McLean at 107. Faltine has an explosive swing from the right side that is capable of producing high exit velocities and above average raw power, but he may have gotten too power conscious in 2022 and that led to an ugly 35.6% strikeout rate. He's a bit passive at the plate and struggled in Big 12 play, so the hit tool is very much in question as he enters pro ball and he'll likely need to trade some power to make enough contact. The Houston-area product is a very good defender at shortstop, with slick actions, good range, and a plus arm that sat around 90 when he pitched in high school. That alone should buy the bat plenty of slack, and given his ability to pummel the baseball, there is some upside. But the swing and miss is very alarming.

11-333: RHP Ben Brutti, South Kingstown HS [RI]. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $405,000 ($280,000 against bonus pool).
The Reds only went above slot value once after Cam Collier, but they just could not resist the live armed Ben Brutti. He had very limited track record entering 2022, but exploded onto the scene with a loud spring that sent scouts flocking to southern Rhode Island to see him pitch. Brutti's fastball sits in the low to mid 90's, getting up to 96 with hard running and sinking action from a very low three quarters slot. His slider is equally devastating when it's on, showing sharp, late sweeping action in the opposite direction of his fastball, though it's not as consistent. He also throws a solid changeup that plays well off his fastball, but he hasn't needed it so far. The profile is a bit relievery, as Brutti throws with considerable effort, emphasized by sharp stabbing action in the back of his arm stroke and an explosive stride down the mound. The 6'3" righty has to get a little more consistent with his command in addition to his offspeed stuff if he wants to start long term, and he's also extremely old for a high school senior having turned 19 in May. Still, I see a potential impact reliever that could close games if it all breaks right. He had been committed to South Florida.

12-363: RHP Mason Pelio, Boston College. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
Mason Pelio is unfortunately an example of a pitcher who has developed in the wrong direction. He was a standout as part of Boston College's rotation as a freshman in 2019, when he posted a 3.62 ERA over thirteen starts, and heading into the 2021 draft cycle he was considered second to third round pick (though I was never that high on him). Unfortunately, his command disappeared that year and he finished with a 6.65 ERA over fourteen starts, so he returned to Chestnut Hill to give it one more go. That did not work out, and he lost innings throughout the year as he finished with a 9.16 ERA and a 21/20 strikeout to walk ratio over 18.2 innings. Pelio has been into the upper 90's at times, but typically sits in the low 90's with cutting action while flipping over a fringy slider and an above average changeup. He's a big guy at a listed 6'3", 230 pounds, but he's seen his command move backwards from average to fringy to well below average now, causing all of his stuff to play down. Even when he had close to average command, I wanted to see him sharpen up his slider before I fully bought in, which he hasn't done. The San Diego-area native represents a reclamation project for Cincinnati, but the building blocks are there. He has that big strong frame, a ton of arm strength, and an advanced changeup, and he just needs to be put back together. If a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered, I wouldn't close the book just yet on him becoming a back-end starter.

18-543: OF Mason Neville, Basic HS [NV]. My rank: #133.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: did not sign.
The Reds took a shot at Mason Neville in the 18th round but ultimately could not keep him away from an Arkansas commitment. Neville is a great athlete that shows off a variety of tools, albeit in need of some refinement that he'll get in Fayetteville. His loose left handed swing produces power to all fields when he connects, and at a projectable 6'3", he should grow into even more power in time. He makes good contact but it often comes at the expense of his power, as Neville will often throw the bat head at the ball in order to make contact if he doesn't recognize the pitch right away. The Las Vegas native has big upside at the plate if he can learn himself a bit more as a hitter, and I'll be interested to see how the Arkansas coaching staff goes about that. He's also a plus runner that can play center field, adding to his value.

2022 MLB Draft Review: Oakland Athletics

Full list of draftees

The A's drafted four consecutive position players to start off the draft, including three outfielders that all have a broad enough skill set to develop into true five tool players. They kind of spent the rest of the draft playing bonus catchup after going more than $650,000 above slot value to sign second rounder Henry Bolte and six figures over slot again to sign third rounder Colby Thomas, but they have to feel great about getting a whole new outfield and a potential starting catcher all early in the draft. There are no slam dunk starting pitchers in this class, with the first two arms they selected showing considerable stuff but difficulty harnessing it and perhaps their best bet, eleventh rounder Christian Oppor, turning them down so he could attend JuCo in Florida.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.

1-19: C Daniel Susac, Arizona. My rank: #15.
Slot value: $3.53 million. Signing bonus: $3.53 million.
The A's got great value here in the back of the teens, landing a catcher that many thought was talented enough to go in the top ten picks. The younger brother of former Giants catcher Andrew Susac, Daniel is also a hometown kid that grew up in the northeastern Sacramento suburb of Roseville, meanwhile commuting to Carmichael to attend Jesuit High School. He earned a lot of draft attention there in the five round 2020 draft, but opted to head to Arizona for college and that move paid off. Susac made an immediate impact in Tucson, slashing .335/.392/.591 with twelve home runs as a freshman, then stepped it up a notch in 2022 by slashing .366/.429/.582 with twelve more home runs and a 52/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 64 games. Working with a strong, long limbed, 6'4" frame, he produces high exit velocities from the right side that give him plus raw power when he lifts the ball. He's an aggressive hitter whose 7.4% walk rate was actually the lowest on my entire draft board this spring, but his above average bat to ball skills help him make a ton of hard contact regardless and strikeouts have never been an issue. In pro ball, he'll probably want to refine that approach a little bit as pitchers start to take advantage of the chases, but it's not terribly concerning given the rest of the profile. Behind the plate, he stands out as one of the better pitch framers in the class, so he'll provide immense value in that regard until MLB one day implements robo umps. His defense is otherwise average, enough to help him stick back there but he probably won't be winning many Gold Gloves. Together, it's an everyday catcher's profile that could produce 25+ home runs annually with solid on-base percentages. Two of the Athletics' past three first round picks have been catchers from the Central Valley, with Susac joining Turlock's Tyler Soderstrom, though Soderstrom is playing less and less catcher. Susac debuted in the Arizona Complex League and picked up three hits in his first two games.

2-56: OF Henry Bolte, Palo Alto HS [CA]. My rank: #41.
Slot value: $1.34 million. Signing bonus: $2 million ($658,100 above slot value).
After going local to the east with the Sacramento area's Daniel Susac, the A's went local again to the west by grabbing Henry Bolte out of Palo Alto High School. Bolte didn't come cheap, costing more than $650,000 above slot value to sign away from a Texas commitment, but he has a chance to be a special hitter in Oakland. He's a great athlete with a big, physical 6'3" frame oozing with tools. His right handed swing produces a ton of torque and high exit velocities, so the next step there will be helping him loft the ball more effectively and turn that plus raw power into more home runs in games. He also has a ways to go with his approach at the plate, but he does show the ability to impact the ball to all fields and should take well to pro pitching with a little refinement. Bolte has plus speed that could keep him in center field, where his plus arm could make him a Gold Glover if it all comes together. There is huge upside here as a potential five tool player, and he's not terribly far off from that ceiling for a high schooler. Oakland may opt to take it slow with their potential future star, but this will be a fun one to track and he has two hits in his first six at bats in the ACL.

CBB-69: OF Clark Elliott, Michigan. My rank: #81.
Slot value: $977,500. Signing bonus: $900,000 ($77,500 below slot value).
Clark Elliott has a lot of fans out in the Midwest, and it looks like the A's were among them. He didn't put up big numbers in his first two years at Michigan, but turned a lot of heads when he hit .344/.464/.478 with a strong 20/17 strikeout to walk ratio in the elite Cape Cod League last summer. He continued that success in Ann Arbor this spring, where he hit .337/.460/.630 with 16 home runs and a 56/49 strikeout to walk ratio over 61 games. Elliott has plenty of wiry strength in his lean 6' frame and has always shown strong feel for the barrel, previously employing a line drive, all-fields approach. In 2022, he began turning on and elevating the ball more effectively, tapping some pull side power that should play in pro ball. There are some concerns over his ability to handle quality breaking stuff, but overall it's a very well-rounded offensive profile augmented by plus speed that will help him stay in center field. There's no one plus tool here aside from that speed, but the Chicago-area native projects to be a well-rounded profile that can impact the game in a number of ways. He walked and scored in his first game in the ACL.

3-95: OF Colby Thomas, Mercer. My rank: #71.
Slot value: $642,100. Signing bonus: $750,000 ($107,900 above slot value).
The A's rounded out their outfield by selecting Colby Thomas out of Mercer, and he has a chance to be the best player in the group. He was up and down as an underclassman then showed well in the Cape Cod League last summer before breaking out in 2022 with a .325/.451/.734 slash line, 17 home runs, and a 32/34 strikeout to walk ratio over 42 games. Thomas is not huge at a listed 6', 190 pounds, but he can really put a charge into a baseball with a very leveraged right handed swing, great bat speed, and strong feel for the barrel. Those 17 home runs in 42 games this year were no fluke, and he should continue to hit for power in pro ball. Previously an aggressive hitter with some swing and miss in his game, the South Georgia native smoothed that out considerably this year and walked more than he struck out. It remains to be seen how Thomas handles the jump to professional pitching from the Southern Conference, but if it goes smoothly, this could end up being a steal of a pick. Meanwhile, he's not quite as fast as Henry Bolte or Clark Elliott, but he is a good runner that has a shot at center field if he hits and those guys don't or if Bolte slows down as he fills out. He has a good arm to top it off, giving him a chance to be a five tool player just like the other two outfielders here.

4-124: RHP Jacob Watters, West Virginia. My rank: #146.
Slot value: $483,500. Signing bonus: $491,750 ($8,250 above slot value).
The first pitcher of the draft for Oakland is an interesting one. Jacob Watters didn't get much exposure growing up in one of the most remote corners of Virginia, so he ended up on campus at West Virginia and has shown off some of the more impressive arm strength in the class. The numbers weren't pretty this year, with a 6.22 ERA and a 75/41 strikeout to walk ratio over 59.1 innings as a swingman, but he did strike out fifteen Longhorns during a start against Texas in May and there is a lot to work with. Watters sits in the mid 90's with his fastball and can touch triple digits in relief, just overpowering hitters when they're not explicitly sitting on the pitch. His curveball is his best pitch, coming in with huge spin and tight break, and together it's one of the better fastball/curveball combinations out there. He also throws a changeup, but it's well behind the fastball and curveball. Watters has shown well in relief but has really struggled as a starter, where his below average command really hurts him and he struggles to maintain his stuff. The 6'4", 230 pound righty is country strong and does have a chance to start if he can get that command ironed out and work on his changeup, but his most likely destination is the bullpen where he'll rely on the fastball and curveball. It's a fun profile with some upside here in the fourth round.

5-154: RHP Jack Perkins, Indiana. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $361,000. Signing bonus: $270,750 ($90,250 below slot value).
The A's spent big on their first five picks and now in the fifth round find themselves nearly $700,000 over their bonus pool pick for pick, so the money savings start in earnest here. Jack Perkins had serious draft interest out of Louisville last year, but walked 22 batters 16 innings and decided to stay in school. He transferred from Louisville to Indiana, which was closer to home, and got the opportunity to start that he wouldn't have gotten at Louisville. This year, he put up a 5.10 ERA and a 91/47 strikeout to walk ratio over 83 innings for the Hoosiers, unremarkable numbers on the surface but a big step forward from where he was. Perkins can sit in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, getting up to 97 in relief and coming in with big spin rates, but there were times in 2022 where he hung closer to 90. He works in vicious, plus slider that looks like one of the better breaking balls in the draft at its best, while also showing a cutter and a changeup. The Kokomo native's command improved from non-playable in 2021 to below average in 2022 as he smoothed out his delivery considerably, and if he moves back to the bullpen in pro ball, it should be good enough. Given how he couldn't quite maintain his stuff in a starting role, in addition to the command questions, I think the bullpen is where he belongs, and he could be a nasty reliever if the transition goes how it should. Aside from being a year older and a few inches shorter, there are some similarities here to Jacob Watters.

6-184: 3B Brennan Milone, Oregon. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $277,300. Signing bonus: $200,00 ($77,300 below slot value).
Brennan Milone was a big name for the 2019 draft out of high school in the Atlanta area, but made it to campus at South Carolina where he played sparingly and struggled to make an impact for two years. Looking for a change of scenery, he transferred across the country to Oregon this year and broke out with a .337/.405/.545 slash line, 12 home runs, and a 36/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 60 games for the Ducks. He makes a ton of contact from the right side, with a strong approach at the plate and good pitch recognition ability. Though there isn't huge power in his 6'1" frame, he finds the barrel frequently enough to tap what he has, and should continue to hit for impact at the next level. It's not the most exciting offensive profile, but he should get on base and could hit around 15 home runs per season at his peak if things break right. He's an average defender with enough arm for third base, adding to the well rounded profile here. To top it off, he's young for a college junior and only turned 21 in May, adding a little extra development time, not that he really needs it. He picked up two hits, including a double, in his first four at bats in the ACL while adding a walk.

8-244: RHP Micah Dallas, Texas A&M. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: $177,100. Signing bonus: $125,000 ($52,100 below slot value).
Micah Dallas earned some draft attention after a successful three year career at Texas Tech, but decided to transfer to Texas A&M for his senior season rather than turning pro. The results were more good than great with a 5.18 ERA and an 86/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 81.2 innings, so all in all his stock is roughly in the same place it was last year. He sits around 90 with his fastball usually a tick above and tops out around 93, coming in with steep angle. His best pitch is a downer slider, while he also works in a solid changeup. It's not the loudest stuff in the draft, but he's a bulldog on the mound that throws everything with conviction, daring hitters to hit it, and as a result walks have not been an issue for him. The 6'2" righty throws with some effort and given the average stuff, he's probably better suited for bullpen work where it can hopefully take a step forward, and his demeanor would work very well in that role. He never quite took the step forward I was hoping to see, but I still like this pick as an eighth round money saver.

13-394: RHP Jake Pfennigs, Oregon State. My rank: unranked.
Slot value: up to $125,000. Signing bonus: $125,000.
The A's picked up an interesting senior sign in Jake Pfennigs, though it will take some work to make him a major league option. He did a good job keeping runs off the board in 2022 with a 3.96 ERA for Oregon State, but was otherwise mediocre with a 1.79 WHIP and a 30/27 strikeout to walk ratio over 36.1 innings. He stands 6'7" with a high release point, giving his low 90's fastball some of the most extreme downhill plane in college baseball. Despite that, its generic movement makes it extremely straight and easy to square up, so the A's will want to play with his release and find a way to help the pitch play better to its slot. He works with a slider, curve, and changeup to round out his arsenal, with decent feel for spin that can keep hitters off his fastball but nothing to this point that misses a ton of bats. Oakland's main focus will be that fastball, but helping him sharpen up at least one offspeed pitch will help too. The northern Idaho native throws enough strikes to make it work, and it's hard to find another prospect with his release characteristics so they have themselves a unicorn. He's probably middle inning reliever but he could crack it as a #5 starter if everything breaks right and the A's unlock something with his fastball.