2022 MLB Draft Thread

[Timmy U]

If only Justin Crawford lived in Indiana.

[DirtySox]

  On 5/2/2022 at 11:16 PM, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Zero chance that dude's not pissing hot.  

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Hah. He certainly looks like someone who would be on SARMs.

Edited May 3, 2022 by DirtySox

[Jerksticks]

  On 5/2/2022 at 3:47 PM, southsider2k5 said:

 

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How do you not take this guy if he’s still there

[southsider2k5]

  On 5/3/2022 at 7:19 PM, Jerksticks said:

How do you not take this guy if he’s still there

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Let's be honest, this is the guy the Sox draft and recall almost immediately.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

He's a pie thrower.  Pie throwers usually have below avg breaking balls (check) and poor command (check).  Now granted most pie throwers don't throw 100+ but he's going to need more than that to succeed in the big leagues and his arm action will be working against him.  I'm sure someone will take him somewhere around 3-5 and try to fix him but it's not going to be easy.  

[Springfield Soxfan]

The draft not being until July seems like it is ten years away!

[DirtySox]

Shit. TJ for Barco.

 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

I'd still take him at 1-26.

[caulfield12]

Knew the discussion was going to be about Joyce, lol.

Sale or Crochet?

Crochet seems MUCH more likely.  But the "immediacy" of injecting him into the playoff race falls right there with the Sale/Burdi/Crochet playbook, not to mention drafting Ring and Poreda in the first round as well as relievers.

[Jerksticks]

  On 5/3/2022 at 7:21 PM, southsider2k5 said:

Let's be honest, this is the guy the Sox draft and recall almost immediately.

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Lol for sure.  I suppose there’s a 0-1% chance they take somebody else if he’s available.  
 

I’d be all for it.  A HS middle infielder would bore me. 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

I don't think he's going to be a White Sock.  They don't like pitchers with bad arm actions and by the time they think he'd be worth the risk he'll be long gone.  

[DirtySox]

 

[DirtySox]

James retweeted this with the Sox connection on Roman Anthony again.

[DirtySox]

Law posted his big board. Will post the top 30, plus some of the positions on guys that we've discussed.

https://theathletic.com/3291481/2022/05/05/mlb-draft-prospects-ranking-druw-jones/

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1.) Druw Jones, OF, Wesleyan School (Suwanee, Ga.)

2.) Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola College

3.) Termarr Johnson, SS, Mays High (Atlanta)

4.) Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy

5.) Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly

6.) Jackson Holliday, SS, Stillwater (Okla.) High

7.) Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech

8.) Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech

9.) Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech

10.) Sterlin Thompson, OF, Florida

11.) Jordan Beck, OF, Tennessee

12.) Daniel Susac, C, Arizona

13.) Zach Neto, SS, Campbell

14.) Jett Williams, SS, Rockwall-Heath (Texas) High

15.) Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama

16.) Dylan Lesko, RHP, Buford (Ga.) High

17.) Cole Young, SS, North Allegheny High (Wexford, Pa.)

18.) Brock Porter, RHP, St. Mary’s Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.)

19.) Justin Crawford, OF, Bishop Gorman High (Las Vegas)

20.) Brandon Barriera, LHP, American Heritage High (Plantation, Fla.)

21.) Ian Ritchie Jr., RHP, Bainbridge High (Bainbridge Island, Wash.)

22.) Drew Gilbert, OF, Tennessee

23.) Jacob Berry, 3B, LSU

24.) Adam Mazur, RHP, Iowa

25.) Walter Ford, RHP, Pace (Fla.) High

26.) Justin Campbell, RHP, Oklahoma State

27.) Logan Tanner, C, Mississippi State

28.) Jackson Ferris, LHP, IMG Academy

29.) Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga

30.) Tucker Toman, 3B, Hammond High (Columbia, SC)

36.) Noah Schultz, LHP, Oswego (Ill.) East High

38.) Jonathan Cannon, RHP, Georgia

39.) Jud Fabian, OF, Florida

46.) Kumar Rocker, RHP, No school

47.) Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, East Carolina

50.) Landon Sims, RHP, Mississippi State

62.) Cooper Hjerpe, LHP, Oregon State

65.) Hunter Barco, LHP, Florida

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Edited May 5, 2022 by DirtySox

[DirtySox]

Some quick observations and blurbs on some guys.

- Seems really high on Sterlin Thompson.

- Very high on Collier.

- Higher than most on Jett Williams. Calls him a "fun sized hitter."

- Super low on Jacob Berry. Calls him a future DH.

- Cermak not in his top 100.

- Walter Ford is called "The Vanilla Missile?"

- Joyce not in his top 100 (Not surprising).

- Thinks Landom Sims is likely a reliever.

Collier:

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Collier finished high school early to go to two-year Chipola, probably the best junior college baseball program in the country. As a 17-year-old, he hit .333/.431/.525 despite facing pitchers who were mostly two-to-four years older. He has a plus-plus arm and the athleticism to stay at third base, although ultimately it’s his feel to hit that makes him a top-five talent in this draft. Look for teams that weigh age heavily in their draft models to target him in July.

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Gilbert:

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Gilbert was a two-way player in high school in Minnesota but hasn’t pitched this year for the Vols, instead emerging as a high-contact hitter with plus defense in center. He plays the position very easily, with good reads and a plus arm; while at the plate he focuses on contact over power, without much weight transfer, and he rarely swings and misses. There’s a good floor here as an extra outfielder with some upside if someone can get him to make harder contact.

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Schultz:

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Schultz has a very short arm action that shows the ball late to hitters, even though he’s 6-foot-9 and looks like he should be throwing 100 mph. Instead, he comes from a low 3/4 slot, living more in the mid-90s, and lives by a slider that moves hard away from left-handers and that breaks enough that he’s used it in changeup counts to righties. He’s also a Vandy commit who’ll turn 19 in August, making him draft-eligible as a sophomore if he goes to school.

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Cannon:

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Cannon was on his way to a first-round selection with all of the other college pitchers going down with injuries when he missed two April starts due to a forearm strain. He did return to throw five no-hit innings on the 23rd before a rough outing at LSU last weekend. He’s throwing two-seamers now, still in the 94-95 mph range, generating a ton of groundballs to make up for his somewhat lower strikeout rate.

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Whisenhunt:

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Whisenhunt was suspended before the start of the 2022 college season after he tested positive for a PED. He was a likely first-round pick before that and now will have to pitch in independent ball or in a collegiate league before the draft so scouts can evaluate him. Last spring, he worked mostly 90-92 mph, touching 95 mph, with very good control of a three-pitch mix highlighted by a plus changeup.

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Hjerpe:

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It’s been an incredible year for Hjerpe so far, with a strikeout rate over 42 percent thanks to a plus slider that plays up from his low slot, but he cuts himself off and comes way across his body, something you seldom see in starters in the majors.

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Edited May 5, 2022 by DirtySox

[Quin]

  On 5/4/2022 at 3:13 AM, caulfield12 said:

Knew the discussion was going to be about Joyce, lol.

Sale or Crochet?

Crochet seems MUCH more likely.  But the "immediacy" of injecting him into the playoff race falls right there with the Sale/Burdi/Crochet playbook, not to mention drafting Ring and Poreda in the first round as well as relievers.

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I love this because it's "likely Hall of Famer or current reliever, more likely to be a reliever."

Like, no kidding Caulfield.

[DirtySox]

From Law's chat today.

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Trevor J.

1h ago

Ben Joyce just missed list?

Keith Law

1h ago

@Trevor J. No. He's a one-inning reliever who's already had TJ and missed 2021 and 2019. When you consider the attrition rate of prospects who are relievers at the time of the draft, he's not a top 100 guy or even close to it.

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Victor B.

56m ago

Also have you seen enough improvement with Jud Fabian related to pitch selection that he’s back to a possible 1st rd pick? Also does Barco elbow drop him out of round 1 and 2?

 

Keith Law

19m ago

@Victor B. Someone might take him in the first but I wouldn't. Fabian's "improvement" is as much about being nearly 22 as it is better selection. Barco isn't going in the first - he was a reach for that before the injury.

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Jacob J.

54m ago

Injuries aside, what pitcher has the highest upside in your opinion this year?

Keith Law

17m ago

@Jacob J. Lesko or Prielipp. I'm intrigued by Crawford given his lack of experience on the mound, but that means more downside as well as upside.

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Daniel O.

1h ago

With so many health question marks among pitchers ranked highly for the first round, which hurlers do you think could be sleeper steals that fall to the 2nd round area?

Keith Law

49m ago

@Daniel O. None of these guys are sleepers - the whole industry knows who they are. With 8 TJ guys on the list, they're not all going in the first round; I'd guess the majority don't, in fact. But in the sandwich/second rounds, historically, teams have shown more risk tolerance (the "one in the bank" philosophy, where you get a more sure thing with your first pick), and I would bet all of the TJ guys go by the end of the second round unless there's a mitigating circumstance - a bad medical beyond the surgery, or a bonus demand that is out of line with peers. Maybe someone like Cole Phillips decides it's better to go to college, get healthy, and show the stuff he flashed this spring over a full college season.

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Ron D.

1h ago

Has Rocker pitched? What was the injury and probability that he could get back to what made him a top 5ish pick last year. Could be a steal if he is sound. What are your thoughts

Keith Law

52m ago

@Ron D. He hasn't pitched. We all expect him to do so next month. He's never getting back to what he was, say, freshman year, though - I am not sure he's ever really been the same after the 2019 no-hitter.

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Robert M.

52m ago

In a few words how would you characterize this class compared to others

Keith Law

15m ago

@Robert M. Honestly? This is one of the worst draft classes in my now 21 drafts in the industry. The college hitting group was always a little underwhelming. The college pitchers have been wiped out by a TJ pandemic. And it's a good HS hitting crop, but not good enough to make up for all of that.

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Edited May 5, 2022 by DirtySox

[Harold's Leg Lift]

  On 5/5/2022 at 6:02 PM, DirtySox said:

Cermak not in his top 100.

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No Cermak, no Owen Murphy and no Gavin Kilen though that one doesn't surprise me as much.  Eh, your list is suspect, Law.  

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Again HS stats are meaningless but what he's doing is just freakin ridiculous. Murph is one of if not the most polished HS arms in the country.  He's a Zack Greinke starter kit.

 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Good lord. 

 

[DirtySox]

Aaron Fitt sure loves Hjerpe. Pretty much calling him Chris Sale 2.0.

Edited May 7, 2022 by DirtySox

[DirtySox]

Callis mock from last night.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mock-draft-2022-position-players-standout?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

  Quote

26. White Sox: Dylan Beavers, OF, California (No. 20)
College outfielders such as Beavers and Drew Gilbert (Tennessee) make sense here, as could a college arm.

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[Harold's Leg Lift]

I haven't heard them on Beavers. They're definitely on Gilbert.  I still think they're gonna take a college pitcher. It may take a little while to figure out how all the injured guys are going to shake out but I think there's going to be a guy there they like enough. 

[Y2Jimmy0]

  On 5/12/2022 at 3:54 PM, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I haven't heard them on Beavers. They're definitely on Gilbert.  I still think they're gonna take a college pitcher. It may take a little while to figure out how all the injured guys are going to shake out but I think there's going to be a guy there they like enough. 

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Could go lots of directions. It could depend on what they want to do later. If they think they can get Ryan Clifford at 62 for like $2 million, it could influence what they do in round 1. 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

  On 5/12/2022 at 7:29 PM, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Could go lots of directions. It could depend on what they want to do later. If they think they can get Ryan Clifford at 62 for like $2 million, it could influence what they do in round 1. 

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No doubt.  Picking that low and the uncertainty of the college pitchers they will have to wait and see how the board falls.  They wanted Gunnar Hoglund last year but when he was gone they took the next highest guy on the board.  That could happen again but I'm pretty sure Rick Hahn is looking at the lack of pitching in the upper minors (or all the minors) and he knows his owner doesn't pay for FA pitching so he's going to try to get a college arm he hopes will move fast.  I'm thinking there should be at least a few to chose from. I also think they're gonna grab a college catcher somewhere in the top 5 rounds.