I don’t know how often 2 of the very best pitching prospects face off against each other, but Casey Mize vs Brady Singer was everything anyone could have hoped for. It was a great pitchers duel with each player going 7 strong innings. Unfortunately for Mize, the hot hitting Jonathan India could not be stopped in which he hit a 2 run home run. That would be the difference maker in the game as Florida held on for a 3-1 victory over Auburn.
Brady Singer - 7IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 8K
Casey Mize - 7IP, 4H, 3ER, 1BB, 10K
Jonathan India’s HR:
Every time I watch Jonathan India all he does is hit. For sure a first rounder with his stock soaring after taking Casey Mize deep. #MLBDraft2018 pic.twitter.com/4CI3wHvZ1z
— Josh Nelson (@soxmachine_josh) April 26, 2018
Mock Drafts:
PerfectGame.org (4/20) - Braves select Nolan Gorman, 3B
Fangraphs.com (4/19) - Braves select Kumar Rocker, RHP
BaseballAmerica.com (4/3) - Braves select Kumar Rocker, RHP
TTF Baseball (4/26) - Braves select Travis Swaggerty, OF
Prospect Rankings:
MLB Pipeline updated their rankings and expanded to top 100
PerfectGame.org is up to 250 players
Baseball America has a top 300 list, but membership is required
John Sickels is still working on player draft profiles. Find them here.
Talking Chop player draft spreadsheet
College player stock trending up
Brady Singer (Florida) - With a win over Casey Mize and stringing together some outstanding performances lately, Singer’s stock is ticking back up again. I don’t know if he’ll be in the 1-1 conversation anymore, but I would think his recent performances can only help.
Shane McClanahan (South Florida) - Things were starting to look pretty concerning for McClanahan. Teams were really sitting on the fastball and his secondaries weren’t good enough to keep hitters honest. Maybe he figured something out because this was dominant performance of 13 strikeouts and only 1 earned run over 7 innings of work (just 5 base-runners all night). His stock has been down a bit for awhile now, but there’s still time to turn things around and this is the type of performance that very well could do that. Now, can he keep it going is the question?
Nick Sandlin (Southern Miss) - The sidearm thrower returned last week from a shoulder injury (missed 1 start) and he looks completely fine. Had a dominant game and lowered his ERA to 1.00 to go along with 97 strikeouts to just 8 walks. Count me a fan of Sandlin even though he only throws in the mid to upper 80’s. All he does is get outs. Hitters are only batting .143 against him.
FINAL: Southern Miss 2, Old Dominion 0 ... 7th straight win for the Golden Eagles. CG shutout for Nick Sandlin (10 Ks, 2 walks, 3 hits)
— Jason Munz (@munzly) April 28, 2018
Nick Dunn (Maryland) - Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A smaller second baseman with some pop that also has a good arm and profiles as a plus defender. The only thing Dunn is missing is plus speed. He’s been hitting all season and he carries a fantastic 8% strikeout rate.
Nick Dunn’s leadoff single is his third hit of the day. He has two homers and also drew an RBI walk.
— MD Baseball Network (@mdbaseballnet) April 28, 2018
Top 9 | #Terps 7, Spartans 2
JJ Schwarz (Florida) - Schwarz has run a bit hot and cold this season and he’s been more hot lately as his batting average has climbed to .310. He’s showing decent power with 10 home runs, but the strikeout rate is a cause for concern at 24%.
Steele Walker (Oklahoma) - Walker hasn’t slowed down much. He’s now hitting .364 to go along with 11 home runs on the season.
College player stock trending down
Griffin Roberts (Wake Forest) - Roberts faced off against a great hitting lineup of Georgia Tech and gave up 7 runs as a result, and Joey Bart was 0-3. The former closer has had a few putrid outings this year, but he’s still putting up some fine numbers overall.
DJ Artis (Liberty) - The speedy center fielder has some serious contact issues as he’s only hitting .288 and carries a 16% strikeout rate. Not ideal for a conventional lead-off hitter. However, Artis has a very high OBP due to his extremely high walk rate (24%).
Riley Thompson (Louisville) - I have no clue why they keep trotting Thompson out to pitch an inning here or there. He’s clearly not right. His ERA is sitting at 6.60 now and he has 20 walks in 30 innings. It’s just sad at this point cause they likely rushed him back to try and boost his stock, and it’s completely backfired.
College players to keep an eye on
Kevin Strohchein (Tennessee Tech) - The 6’0” OF is hitting .420 with 29 extra base hits, including 12 home runs.
Ryan Jeffers (UNC Wilmington) - Another power hitting catcher with 12 home runs on the season. Also hitting a robust .356.
Kole Cattam (Kentucky) - Splitting duties between 1B and catcher, Cattam is hitting the ball with authority to the tune of 14 home runs to go along with a .343 average.
Adam Hill (South Carolina) - His ERA looks atrocious at 4.94, but hitters are only hitting .172 against him and he racks up the strikeouts. The 32 walks in 51 innings are really hurting him. There’s a lot to like about Hill, he’s 6’5”, throws low to mid 90’s, his slider is a potential plus pitch, his change-up is already solid too. If he can improve his control and reduce the walks, he could be a steal.
Austin Cox (Mercer) - Like Hill, another pitcher with control issues, but strikes out a ton of guys. Unlike Hill, Cox does give up a lot of hits right now, but has only given up 4 home runs.
LHP Austin Cox is thru 2 scoreless for @MercerBaseball. FB 91-93/95 w/ angle. Lots of offerings, best has been CB @ 77-80 flashing 55. CH (86), CT (87), sidearm SL (81-82) too. #mlbdraft pic.twitter.com/0pPaY1wMGb
— Vinnie Cervino (@vcervinoPG) April 27, 2018
High School Player Notes
Cole Winn - 11K over 6 innings recently. Sitting 93-95, max 96.
Nolan Gorman - 9 home runs on the season and hitting the ball hard.
Nolan Gorman puts up some gaudy exit velos and led all hitters in that category at the NHSI this year with a 102.1 average. https://t.co/i1gNVnFxPi
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) April 21, 2018
Brice Turang - Had a big day earlier in the week. See below.
In Southern California, @BriceCturang went off tonight. 4-for-5 with a double and 2 HR. Here's one of the homers: #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/XDg4okD2Ns
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) April 21, 2018
Ethan Hankins - Looked good again and hit a max of 97. I thought he ditched the slider, so that’s interesting at the tweet below calls it out.
RHP Ethan Hankins (2018 GA) showing the velocity we saw from him this summer sitting 94-96/7 with plenty of angle and life to AS. Flashed 2 avg breaking balls in the 1st (74) CB (79) SL. #AnchorDown commit #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/A8qMlhjNLT
— Gregory Gerard (@GGerardPG) April 27, 2018
Slade Cecconi - Didn’t look as good in his start this past week. Sitting 91-92, max 94 and not getting swings and misses. Curve didn’t show well either.
That’s it for this week. Please share your thoughts on your favorite draft prospects below. Also, if I missed any recent mocks, just let me know and I’ll get them added.