MLB Draft: Five of the biggest risers in latest mock drafts
Based on recent discussions and mock drafts, these five names appear to be quickly rising up MLB draft boards.
We may not have a date for the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, but we are quickly approaching this year’s MLB draft, one of the deeper drafts in recent memory.
The five-round amateur selection process will take place next week, with first-round and Competitive Balance A picks taking place on June 10th (7 pm, ESPN) and rounds two-five taking place the following day (5 pm, ESPN2).
The 2020 MLB draft has long been heralded for it’s college pitching depth. This year’s crop of college arms are so deep, teams like the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers will have the opportunity to select prime first-round arms into round two of the draft as they use large bonus pools and multiple early picks to continue to stock their farm systems with talent.
Without a high school baseball season this year, teams are expected to stick to picking out of the college ranks where more data is available and scouts have had the opportunity for more live looks. But don’t be shocked to see some of the more elite high school talents go very early in this year’s draft.
Two types of players have seen their stock rise the most over the last few days, those college pitchers and high school studs. Here are five of the biggest risers in next week’s draft, based on movement in recent mock drafts.
Outfielder Zac Veen- Spruce Creek High School, Florida
The team over at Baseball America dropped a bit of a bombshell on Wednesday morning with the release of their latest mock draft.
Carlos Collazo continued to mock Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson to the Detroit Tigers, but shook things up by mocking high school outfielder Zac Veen to the Baltimore Orioles at number two overall.
It’s been widely assumed that the Orioles would go with Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin or Texas A&M’s Asa Lacy, maybe even New Mexico State’s Nick Gonzalez. However, it now appears that recent discussions have led to a real possibility of the Orioles selecting Veen out of Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida.
Veen is listed at 6’5” and 200 pounds, with plenty of projection left in his frame and powerful swing from the left side of the plate. At 18 years old, scouts have a plus-grade on Veen’s raw power with an above-average hit tool and a strong outfield arm that could play well in a corner spot as he likely moves off center field as he continues to grow into his 6’5” frame.
This pick makes a lot of sense for the Baltimore Orioles. With a large crop of pitchers with first-round grades sure to be available when the Orioles come back at pick number 30 and 39 overall, many of whom are likely to fall due to high signing bonus demands, the Orioles can grab themselves an elite outfield bat and save some money to go after tougher signs later in the draft.
Veen currently ranks fifth on Fangraphs’ big board and seventh on Baseball America’s. If the Orioles decide to go with Veen second overall, it would certainly make the first round of the draft a bit more exciting.
Where will RHP Nick Bitsko go in the 2020 MLB draft? It may be earlier than expected.
RHP Nick Bitsko- Central Bucks East High School, Pennsylvania
Let’s stick in the high school ranks and look at right-handed pitcher Nick Bitsko, a University of Virginia commit out of Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Bitsko is ranked 16th and 19th according to Fangraphs and Baseball America, respectively, and has been mocked as a mid-first round pick to possibly falling deep into the first round/early second round due to his likely high price tag and the fact that teams haven’t seen him pitch in about a year.
Bitsko reclassified to graduate early and head to UVA next year, but has seen his draft stock rise significantly over the last few days. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel released an in-depth profile on the prep arm, highlighting his elite pitch-mix that compares favorably to some of the current top arms in the major leagues.
Bitsko is just 17, yet as McDaniel uncovered with some fascinating pitch data from recent workouts, he might have the highest ceiling of any player in the 2020 draft. It’s hard to read McDaniel’s piece and not instantly fall in love with Bitsko’s potential.
Baseball America has Bitsko going as high as eighth overall to the San Diego Padres in their latest mock draft (with a mention of him possibly falling to the Orioles at number 30). The Padres aren’t afraid to go after high-risk/high-reward high school talents early in the draft, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that general manager AJ Preller joins Mike Elias in shaking things up a bit.
Bryce Jarvis has been climbing up MLB draft boards since a dominant start to the 2020 season.
RHP Bryce Jarvis– Duke University
Early reports on Bryce Jarvis had the 6’2″ righty slotted as a second or third-round pick this year, but Duke’s Friday night starter put in offseason work at Driveline, increased his fastball velocity into the mid-90’s, and was able to showcase his new stuff briefly in 2020 before Covid-19 struck.
Throwing a perfect game with 15 strikeouts against Cornell earned Jarvis a lot of hype and that attention has continued to grow.
Despite being ranked 37th overall on Baseball America’s big board, Jarvis now finds his name mocked at number 25 to the Atlanta Braves, up a few spots from where both Baseball America and Fangraphs have slotted Jarvis in previous mocks.
Scouts believe he has three plus-pitches and a real opportunity to stick as a starting pitching prospect, as long as he can hold his velocity deep into outings once he gets into affiliate ball.
After walking more than 4/9 IP in his first two seasons at Duke as a starter and reliever, Jarvis struck out 40 hitters and walked just two in 27 innings this year (four starts) for the Blue Devils. He gave up no home runs and 11 hits in total.
Ryan Sikes, Site Expert at FanSided’s Friars on Base and contributor to Da Windy City, recently interviewed Jarvis who described how his offseason work has prepared him to become a more confident pitcher and one of the more talked about names in this year’s draft.
“At Driveline, I was able to work on pitch design with their team and get on their motion capture software. The main focus with them was tweaking my slider to make it a little more east-west instead of north-south so that I could add a true curveball into my arsenal this year.”
“The jump in velocity, however, I attribute most to the added weight and functional strength that I put on at CSP (Cressey Sports Performance). I gained about 20 pounds in 7 weeks and felt more sturdy and robust on the mound overall. The added velocity to all of my pitches gave me newfound confidence to attack hitters more, and I think that helped with my command and walking fewer guys. My fastball command is in a place that it has never been before, and that makes all of my other pitches play up as well.”
Teams looking to add impressive catching talent in this year’s MLB draft may reach for Ohio State’s Dillon Dingler.
Catcher Dillon Dingler– Ohio State University
If you like athletic catchers who can produce at the plate and strike fear into the hearts of baserunners, Ohio State’s Dillon Dingler is your guy.
Just how athletic is Dingler? He not only played catcher with the Buckeyes, but also saw significant time in center field. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, I don’t know what else will.
Dingler has been ranked as a top 30 prospect by most major outlets for a while now, but he has seen his name slowly rise up draft boards recently, going as high as 20th to the Milwaukee Brewers in Baseball America’s latest mock.
If teams get antsy once the draft process begins and they like Dingler, he could hear his name called much earlier. It could come down to whether or not teams in the mid-pack of the first round prefer Dingler’s tools and track record in the Big Ten or taking a risk on one of the high school talents mocked ahead of him.
The 6’3″ 210-pound catcher hit .276 in his two-plus seasons at Ohio State with a .367 on-base percentage and almost as many walks (52) as strikeouts (59). While he hit five home runs in 13 games this season, scouts are wary of just how much power Dingler will tap into as a major leaguer, but there’s no denying his solid offensive tools.
He threw out 50% of would-be base stealers in college and even showed off some wheels on the basepaths, swiping eight bags himself as a sophomore. That speed on the basepaths may not stick around as he continues to fill out, but his unique skill set as a catcher are sure to be intriguing to many teams.
Texas Tech’s Clayton Better could be working his way into the first round of the 2020 MLB draft.
RHP Clayton Beeter– Texas Tech
Texas Tech’s Friday night starter, Clayton Beeter is currently ranked as the 58th overall draft prospect per Baseball America but is up to 19th on Fangraphs’ rankings and now looks to be climbing up the ranks as a potential first-round pick next week.
Beeter is a risky pick, but one with enormous upside. The 6’2″ and 220-pound righty has undergone two surgeries since arriving at Texas Tech as a freshman, including Tommy John that wiped out his freshman year.
As a result, Beeter has just 41.2 college innings under his belt and four starts, all of which came this year during the shortened NCAA season. He made the most of his four starts, striking out 33 hitters and walking only four. He fanned 12 in his final outing against Rice University, giving scouts one final positive image of him heading into the MLB draft.
Scouts grade Beeter’s fastball (touches 97 mph), slider, and curveball as plus-pitches, with a changeup also included in his repertoire that scouts believe could develop into a solid fourth offering.
He is currently mocked to go 27th overall to the Minnesota Twins, per Baseball America. If teams are confident in his advanced metrics and data and believe he can be a rotation candidate, even without much experience as a college starteer, Beeter could even go a few slots higher.
Next. Possible Orioles Pitching Targets In 2020 MLB Draft. dark
Guessing where players will go in this year’s draft is a complete crapshoot, as is the case in most MLB drafts, but we can be certain that there is a lot of talent up for grabs this year.