Scouting report: Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest

Wilken had an extended slump in ACC play this year, finishing the season with a .269/.493/.548 line in conference that was a huge improvement from where he was just three weeks earlier. He has a very good swing with great balance and excellent hip rotation, showing 55 power right now, with improved exit velocities down the stretch and one of the best barrel rates among college prospects in the draft class. He’s at least a solid-average defender at third with a 55 arm and good instincts that make up for a lack of speed or lightness on his feet. I could see him getting to 25-plus homers, or staying more in the teens in home run output with a high average and a lot of doubles, either of which would make him a solid regular at third.

No. 18: Milwaukee Brewers take Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest

The Brewers were supposed to be on college hitting all spring, and Wilken is one of the best still on the board along with Brayden Taylor. Wilken was among D1 leaders with 31 homers and posted a .506 OBP, although he punched out more than most of the other hitters you'll see in the first round tonight. It's a great swing and he barrels the ball very often, enough to believe he'll continue to do enough damage on contact to mitigate the higher strikeout rate. I've got him staying at third base, although there was some talk of him moving to right field.

Scouting report: Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt

Bradfield brings two elite tools to the table – he’s an 80 runner and at least a 70 defender in center, maybe an 80, thanks to that speed and very good reads on balls off the bat. He’s stolen 129 bases in three seasons with the Commodores, through the end of this year’s regular season, with just 13 times caught stealing, none as a sophomore when he was a perfect 46 of 46. At the plate, however, he comes with some questions, including a swing that needs a ton of help. He loads his hands very deep, takes a big stride, opens his hips early, and collapses his back side … it’s a wonder he hits as well as he does, but also opens a world of possibilities for improvement. He’s slight, but not weak, with exit velocities that point to average power if he can sync up his upper and lower halves and stay more upright through contact. The 14 homers he’s hit since the start of 2022 are a promising sign to go with the floor his speed and defense provide.

No. 17: Baltimore Orioles take Enrique Bradfield Jr., OF Vanderbilt

Enrique Bradfield is an interesting departure for the Orioles, who have done exceptionally well drafting hitters in the last few years — and that might understate it. He's a ++ defender and 80 runner whose swing went way backwards this year, but he's athletic and has bat speed, enough that a team that's good at helping hitters with their swings, which the Orioles are, has plenty to work with.

Getting him to stay back and use his lower half to drive the ball should allow him to hit for average and gain some extra bases from his speed, although I doubt he ever gets to more than fringe-average power. He's also incredibly fun to watch, and the floor is high thanks to the defense.

When will we see Gonzalez in MLB?

Both Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet debuted with the White Sox during their draft year. Given how bad Tim Anderson has been this year (he had a 46 wRC+ going into Sunday, where he struck out to end another loss in the 10th), can the Sox's new first-round pick, Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, just meet the team on their nine-game road trip after the All-Star break?

Scouting report: Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, James Madison HS (VA)

There was some buzz coming into the year that Eldridge would be a legitimate two-way prospect, but this spring created some separation, and he’s much more likely to go out as a hitter than as a pitcher. Eldridge is very tall for a hitter by historical standards at 6-7, with no hitter that height staying a regular past his early 30s. But he does offer a short swing given the length of his arms and excellent bat speed, with the strong exit velocities you’d expect from a hitter his size. On the mound, he’s 91-93 mph and can bump 95 mph with a repeatable delivery, but doesn’t have great feel to spin the ball and would likely require far more development as a pitcher than he will as a hitter. He played first base for his high school, ostensibly to protect his arm, but seems more than athletic enough to play a corner outfield spot. The Alabama recruit did miss some time in April with an ankle injury that kept coming back. I don’t think he’s the next two-way prospect, but he does offer a ton of upside as a power-hitting right fielder, even with the risk associated with players his height.

How Eldridge fits with Giants

The Giants announced Bryce Eldridge as a two-way player, the same thing they did last year with first-rounder Reggie Crawford. The organization seems to be trying to build the next Shohei Ohtani.

Will Eldridge stay a two-way player?

The Giants take a two-way player, Bryce Eldridge, for the second straight year. In some ways, last year's two-way player, Reggie Crawford, was like a HS player given how little he had actually played at UConn due to Tommy John surgery wiping out his junior season and Covid cutting his freshman season short. Crawford's development is just beginning, but it will give the Giants a blueprint on how to develop Eldridge.

Crawford is currently throwing every fifth day (one-inning starts right now as he recovers from Tommy John) and DH's every fifth day (on a non-throw day).

No. 16: San Francisco Giants take Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, James Madison HS (VA)

Eldridge wants to be a two-way player, although his future is much more likely to come as a hitter. He's 6-foot-7 with a short swing for his size, generating power but also staying short enough to the ball that he might be able to cover more of the zone than most guys that height do — I've written many times about the high failure rate of hitters 6-foot-7 and up. He's athletic enough to play an outfield corner, but stayed at first base in high school to preserve his arm.

He's got the fastball and delivery to be a pitcher, but hasn't shown any feel to spin the ball yet and would require so much more time as a pitcher that I worry it will hamper his development as a hitter. He also had a lingering ankle issue this spring that might delay his pro debut. The "American Shohei Ohtani" is pretty extreme hyperbole, but I really like Eldridge's bat, and if that doesn't work out he does offer pitching as a fallback option.

Scouting report: Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Mississippi

Gonzalez came into the year with a lot of top-five buzz, although he doesn’t offer the ceiling of the college hitters I have listed above him here. He’s a very solid player for what he is, but with limited potential for more. Gonzalez has excellent hand-eye coordination and strong bat control to make a ton of contact, moving the barrel around to meet the ball where it’s pitched so that he almost never whiffs on pitches in the zone. He hit 18 homers last year, but doesn’t project to hit for more than fringy power in pro ball as he doesn’t use his legs much, with no stride and a tendency to glide over his front side, with very little connection between how his upper and lower halves work. That might be his one path to upside, as his contact quality now is just fair and using his legs more might improve that. He’s hit .327/.435/.564 this spring, an improvement from his sophomore year but I don’t think enough to push him up into the Teel/Shaw/Troy tier of college bats. Gonzalez projects to stay at short with great instincts and soft hands, although he’s a fringy runner and some scouts use that as a proxy for a player’s ability to handle shortstop long-term. I think he’s a solid regular at short, not a star, and in some drafts that’s a top 10 prospect, but this year it’s probably less.

No. 15: Chicago White Sox take Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Mississippi

Gonzalez came into the spring as a potential top 5 pick, but had an underwhelming spring – not a bad one, just not one where he progressed in a way that would have kept him in the top 10 when so many other college hitters were producing. He's a very safe pick, a shortstop who stays there and has the hand-eye to make a lot of contact and hit for average with solid OBPs. He did hit 18 homers this year for Mississippi but I don't think that power is going to hold up with wood bats unless the White Sox get him to use his lower half more.

Kyle Teel’s high school coach talks Virginia catcher’s prowess

When Jeff Remo first met Kyle Teel, the University of Virginia catcher who’s thought of as the best catching prospect in this summer’s MLB Draft, his leadership ability stood out.

Teel was just a freshman at Mahwah High in New Jersey but he didn’t act like one.

“He was basically the leader of our team,” Remo said when reached via phone this week. “We had a lot of upperclassmen who kind of were like, ‘Who is this guy?’ but he was basically like a captain-leader of our team. He wasn’t specifically named the captain but he showed that leadership ability as a true freshman. I’d never seen that before. And the kids respected him and responded to him.”

Read the full story here.

GO FURTHER

Kyle Teel’s high school coach on the Virginia catcher’s prowess: ‘The kid’s gonna play in the big leagues one day’

Scouting report: Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

Teel might have been a first-rounder had the 2020 spring season taken place, as he was already on everyone’s radar coming out of the previous summer and fall as a very athletic catcher who looked like he’d hit and would definitely stay at the position. He went undrafted in the five-round affair that June, then hit .335/.416/.526 as a freshman at Virginia, catching 20 games and establishing himself as a likely first-rounder for 2023 even that far ahead. After a slight dip in his sophomore production, he hit .414/.480/.668 through the regular season for the Cavaliers, with just a 12 percent strikeout rate, showing excellent bat speed and pitch recognition, with the bat control to even make some decent contact on pitches out of the zone. His swing produces a lot of line-drive contact and he might have another half-grade of power coming if he gets a little stronger. Behind the plate, he’s agile with a plus arm and receives well, needing some work on framing and handling pitches low in the zone, which he tends to catch by dropping the glove first before moving back up towards the bottom of the zone. I’ve compared his ceiling before to a left-handed-hitting Jason Kendall, a guy who puts the ball in play a ton, runs very well for a catcher, and is an asset on defense.

No. 14: Boston Red Sox take Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

Teel sliding this far is a shock, really — a college catcher who stays at the position, has a track record of hitting, is a good athlete, and played for an elite program in one of the two best conferences in the country doesn't go in the top 10? I'm shocked, but Red Sox fans should be ecstatic. He has some areas to work on, needing especially to improve his production against left-handed pitching, but he's a great athlete for a catcher and it shows up in his running, his movement behind the plate, and even in the bat speed from his quick wrists. He might not have the upside of some of the bats who went before him but I think he could still end up an All-Star at some point, and has a high floor because he can catch.

Scouting report: Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland

Let’s get the big thing out of the way first — Shaw is a shortstop now, but he is not a shortstop, and if he’d just played second base all spring I think he’d sail into the top 10 picks. So much of the conversation around him has centered on his defensive shortcomings, notably his below-average arm, that there’s been too little focus on the fact that this guy hits. Shaw makes consistent, hard contact, and his average launch angle of 26 degrees puts him right in line for a high Barrel percentage. He’s walked more than he’s struck out so far this year, and after hitting 22 homers as a sophomore, he hit 23 this spring before even getting to the Big Ten tournament — despite getting COVID-19 early in the season, which cost him a weekend when he looked exhausted and may have given some scouts a bad look. I think he’ll be an above-average defender at second, as he’ll show adequate range at short; it’s his arm that will move him off, not his hands or feet. Even at second base, he has All-Star upside because of the bat.

No. 13: Chicago Cubs take Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland

Matt Shaw was sort of a favorite of mine — I ranked him 7th in the class — so of course I love this pick, and he could be a quick mover to the big leagues if the Cubs just slide him over to second base. Shaw can flat-out hit, and makes hard contact with a swing that produces a lot of line drives, so there's reason to believe the big power he showed for Maryland will carry over to 20+ homers when he gets to the big leagues.

He had some of the best batted-ball data in the draft and hit good pitching the handful of times he saw it. We know from last year the Cubs value the data side heavily in the draft, and Shaw fits that, but also comes with a longer track record of strong performance.

Scouting report: Tommy Troy, IF, Stanford

Troy is a very high-contact hitter despite a swing that sometimes looks like it’s going to take him right out of his shoes, occasionally generating very hard contact but with only middling power. He almost never misses a fastball, whiffing on only eight percent of them this spring (through the end of the regular season) even when he goes out of zone, and he clearly hunts those pitches, doing the vast majority of his damage there. He has shown a vulnerability to changeups both this spring and last summer in the Cape Cod League, although not enough to dent his overall line. He’s a 55 runner who’s played all over the field, mostly playing third this year for the Cardinal, but with some shortstop experience. Teams that have been chasing contact should be all over Troy, as he doesn’t just make a lot of contact but solid quality contact, and if someone can get him to put the ball in the air more he might get to 55 power in time.

No. 11: Arizona Diamondbacks take Tommy Troy, 3B, Stanford

Troy is a bat-first prospect who'll have to find a position, although he could potentially work out either at third base or maybe even move to the outfield, not that the Diamondbacks need another centerfielder at this point. He's an outstanding fastball hitter and makes generally hard contact, although he needs to get the ball in the air more to turn those strong exit velos into real power. He's athletic enough that you can just say you'll figure out the position later because the bat will play anywhere.

Scouting report: Nolan Schanuel, 1B, FAU

Schanuel’s stat line might be the only one to rival Crews’, a hilarious .447/.615/.868 with 71 walks against just 14 strikeouts. He’s done so in Conference USA, not the SEC, so he hasn’t faced the same caliber of arms, and he’s limited to first base, which seriously dents his draft stock, as does a mediocre performance hitting on the Cape last summer. He can hammer a fastball, even at good velocity, and rarely whiffs on heaters or chases anything out of the zone. He starts with his hands high above his head, except with two strikes, when he starts a little closer to the helmet, but it’s mostly just for show as he gets his hands into position in time. Otherwise, it’s a simple approach, and his hands and hips work very well together for solid contact … but it’s not elite contact quality or huge raw power, which might indicate there’s a lower ceiling for the bat. If he could play anywhere else, he’d probably sneak into the top half of the round.

Load more updates

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57y6KtnmWSobyov46mo5tllKeup8CMa2dra198srGmoa1pr6%2BCe8VwupCznnyMmn%2B0drzXaA%3D%3D