Last year, we profiled about 60 draft prospects and ranked them in a draft board. Most of our profiled prospects were drafted in the first 3 rounds of the 2017 draft. Let's take a look at how they performed in their first pro competition. Remember, these grades are for current performance only and do not necessarily reflect future value or ceiling. Grades are impacted by whether the player was drafted out of college, JC or HS and by level of pro competition. Expected placements are Rookie for HS draftees and Short Season A for college draftees.
1. Royce Lewis, SS, Twins, HS. R: .271/.390/.414, 15 SB, 133 AB. A: .296/.363/.394, 71 AB. I was a Lewis skeptic and had him lower on my board. GCL and Midwest League are tough places to hit. Midwest is an aggressive placement for a HS draftee. Grade A.
2. Hunter Greene, RHP/SS, Reds, HS. R(Pioneer): .233/.233/.367, 30 AB. 0-1, 12.46, 4.1 IP, 1 BB, 6 K's. Greene pitched and DH'd. After the season ended, he announced that he would concentrate on pitching in the future. Grade D(should still have high ceiling as pitcher).
3. Mackenzie Gore, LHP, Padres, HS. R: 0-1, 1.27, 21.1 IP, 7 BB, 34 K, GO/AO= 3.67. Some analysts thought he was the best pitching prospect in the draft. I didn't see anything all that special. Preliminary returns suggest the Gore enthusiasts were right. Grade A.
4. Brendan McKay, LHP/1B, Rays, College. SS: .232/.349/.376, 4 HR, 125 AB; 1-0, 1.80, 20 IP, 5 BB, 21 K, GO/AO= 1.47. Looks like the Rays will try to develop McKay as a 2-way player which will be interesting. So far, so good. Grade A.
5. Kyle Wright, RHP, Braves, College. R: 0-0, 1.59, 5.2 IP, 2 BB, 5 K, GO/AO= 3.50. A+: 0-1, 3.18, 11.1 IP, 4 BB, 10 K, GO/AO= 2.83. Very aggressive promotion to A+. SSS makes him hard to grade. Can only go by results. Maybe like to see more K's and fewer BB's? Grade B+(good candidate to be first 2017 draftee to reach the majors).
6. Austin Beck, OF, A's, HS. R: .211/.293/.349, 4 3B, 2 HR, 7 SB, 152 AB. Beck caught helium mid-spring, but then fell back as the draft approached as concerns were raised about his swing and hit tool. Tools are evident here, but contact concerns remain. Grade C-.
7. Pavin Smith, 1B, D'Backs, College. SS: .318/.401/.415, 15 2B, 27 BB, 24 K, 195 AB. Vottoesque hit tool and plate discipline, but is there enough power potential for a 1B? Grade A-.
8. Adam Haseley, OF, Phillies, College. R: .583/.643/.833, 12 AB; SS: .270/.350/.380, 2 HR, 5 SB, 137 AB; A: .258/.15/.379, 66 AB. 5-tool college OF I liked a lot. Aggressive promotion schedule with mixed results. Grade B.
9. Keston Hiura, DH/2B, Brewers, College. R: .435/.500/.839, 5 3B, 4 HR, 62 AB. A: .333/.374/.476, 105 AB. Brewers drafted him for the bat which is real. They are gambling that he'll eventually be able to play a position. Appeared in 3 games at 2B. Grade A-.
10. Jo Adell, OF, Angels, HS. R(AZL): .288/.351/.542, 6 3B, 4 HR, 5 SB, 118 AB. R(Pioneer): .376/.411/.518, 2 3B, HR, 2 SB, 85 AB. My candidate for most physically gifted player in the draft. Angels have to be ecstatic with the early hit returns. Arm strength reportedly went missing in the pros. Grade A.( I saw Mike Trout play in Rancho Cucamonga at age 19. I would love to see Adell play in San Bernardino).
11. Jake Burger, 3B, White Sox, College. A(SAL): .271/.375/.409, 4 HR, 191 AB. Aggressive placement. Power maybe a bit disappointing? Grade B+.
12. Shane Baz, RHP, Pirates, HS. R: 0-3, 3.80, 23.2 IP, 14 BB, 19 K, GO/AO= 1.25. I thought Baz might be the best HS pitching prospect in the draft. Early results disappointing. Grade C.
13. Trevor Rogers, LHP, Marlins, HS. DNP. I thought Rogers was the most projectable LHP in the draft. Will be a project. Grade Inc.
14. Nick Pratto, 1B, Royals, HS. R: .247/.330/.414, 4 HR, 10 SB, 198 AB. Sweet swing. Good arm. Lack of speed limits him to 1B. Royals hoping for the next Eric Hosmer. Grade B.
15. JB Bukauskas, RHP, Astros, College. R: 0-0, 0.00, 4 IP, 1 BB, 3 's. SS: 0-0, 4.50, 6 IP, 4 BB, 6 K. SSS after pitching deep into the college postseason. I had him ranked a bit higher than where he was drafted. Grade C.
16. Clarke Schmidt, RHP, Yankees, College. DNP. Recovering from TJ surgery. Grade Inc.
17. Evan White, 1B, Mariners, College. SS: .277/.345/.532, 3 HR, 47 AB. Late start, but power already evident. Grade B.
18. Alex Faedo, RHP, Tigers, College. DNP. Grade Inc.
19. Heliot Ramos, OF, Giants, HS. R: .348/.404/.645, 6 3B, 6 HR, 10 SB, 138 AB. Grade A.
20. David Peterson, LHP, Mets, College. SS: 0-0, 2.45, 3.2 IP, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 4.00. Very SSS, but good results. Grade A-.
21. DL Hall, LHP, Orioles, HS. R: 0-0, 6.97, 10.1 IP, 10 BB, 12 K. Several mock drafts had him going to the Giants. Grade D.
22. Logan Warmoth, SS, Blue Jays, College. R: .273/.304/.409, 22 AB. SS: .306/.356/.419, 5 SB, 160 AB. Nice prospect if he can stick at SS. Grade B.
23. Jeren Kendall, OF, Dodgers, College. R: .455/.455/.727, HR, 4 SB, 22 AB. A: .221/.290/.400, 7 3B, 2 HR, 5 SB, 8 CS, 140 AB. Mixed bag here, but high K rate followed him to the pros. Grade C-.
24. Tanner Houck, RHP, Red Sox, College. SS: 0-3, 3.63, 22.1 IP, 8 BB, 25 K, GO/AO= 1.21. Grade B.
25. Seth Romero, LHP, Nationals, College. SS: 0-1, 5.40, 20.0 IP, 6 BB, 32 K. Romero got kicked off his college team(Houston), but Scott Boras is buds with the Lerners so the Nats took a chance. Mixed results here. Grade B.
26. Bubba Thompson, OF, Rangers, HS. R: .257/.317/.434, 3 HR, 5 SB, 113 AB. Tools are evident. Grade B-.
27. Brendon Little, LHP, Cubs, JC. SS: 0-2, 9.37, 16.1 IP, 9 BB, 12 K's, GO/AO= 0.85. Grade D.
28. Nate Pearson, RHP, Blue Jays, JC. SS: 0-0, 0.95, 19 IP, 5 BB, 24 K's. Grade A.
29. Chris Seise, SS, Rangers, HS. R: .336/.395, .509, 3 HR, 5 SB, 116 AB. SS: .222/.250/.273, 99 AB. Late riser in the draft. Was terrific at age appropriate level. Grade A.
30. Alex Lange, RHP, Cubs, College. R: 0-1, 4.82, 9.1 IP, 3 BB, 13 K, GO/AO= 0.88. Cubs took it easy on him after college postseason. Grade C(performance next season after a winter of rest will be big test).
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Awesome read Doc. Thanks. Giants may have a star in Ramos. Whoever drafts for the Blue jays seems to do really well with evaluating pitchers. I hate how Mayo has ranked Kendall over Ramos on the MLB pipeline.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the run down.
ReplyDeletere: Ramos, what is earliest timeframe in which he could debut for big club? sure, 2021 ... but is 2019 mid-season doable if he tears things up? i think Giants would be wise to forego chasing for a pennant until Ramos can make the MLB club.
ReplyDelete2021 is the most likely ETA for Ramos. Maybe late 2020 cup of coffee?
DeleteI don't see why the Giants can't try to win in the meantime.
Ramos will be 20 in September of 2019 his 3rd year, AA if the Giants are aggressive, playing him at 19 at that level.
ReplyDeleteIf SF waits for 2021 to make a run, Posey will be 34 with a radically different team -- after 2018-2019, the pitching will get old quick, and Bumgarner is not guaranteed to be around.
Since they didn't blow up the team in '17 and Cueto didn't opt out, they have to do what they can to maximize the next couple years: CF with a glove, LF/RF with a bat and pray BB9 is OK.