Scouting the 2018 Draft: Tristan Casas; Alec Bohm; Tim Cate; Steele Walker

Tristan Casas 3B/1B, HS.  B-L, T-R.  6'4", 235 lbs.  Tristan Casas is a big fellow who is surprisingly athletic looking.  Might be the best pure power bat in this draft class.  His arm(91 MPH) is good enough to play 3B.  He has enough speed(7.15 60) to be passable in LF.  His bat is quick enough(Time to Impact .116) to make his power usable.  The perceived value of corner bats has dropped in recent years.  Casas is at least a mid-first round value who could drop into he second round where he would be a steal, IMO.

Alex Bohm 3B/1B, College(Wichita St).  B-R, T-R.  6'5", 240 lbs.  2016:  .303/.346/.489, 13 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 9 BB, 25 K, 178 PA.  2017:  .305/.385/.519, 13 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 29 BB, 31 K, 233 PA.  CCL:  .351, 5 HR.  Bohm is the RH half of Wichita St's version of the Bash Brothers with Greyson Jenista.  Bohm carries his size well and appears to be more athletic than you would imagine looking at the numbers.  He's played 3B in college though his size may make it difficult to stick there.  He's most likely a 1B in the pros, but is athletic and fast enough to be passable in LF.  The swing is kind of stiff looking but effective.  It looks like he's swinging a broom somewhat reminiscent of Keston Hiura.  Again, may be underrated in the draft due to his status as a corner player.

Tim Cate LHP, College(Connecticut).  6'0", 167 lbs.  2017:  4-3, 3.33, 75.2 IP, 31 BB, 102 K.  Small college lefty with a 3 pitch mix that gets lots of K's.  Could be a late first round value.

Steele Walker OF, College(Oklahoma).  B-L, T-L.  5'11", 190 lbs.  2017:  .333/.413/.541, 16 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 25 BB, 39 K, 222 AB.  2017 CCL:  .280/.333/.400.  2016 Northwoods League:  .406.  High floor college OF who has performed well in wood bat leagues.  Probably not a CF which may hurt his value.

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DrB's Updated 2018 Draft Board:

1.  Seth Beer OF/1B, College(Clemson).
2.  Nander De Sedas SS, HS.
3.  Kumar Rocker RHP, HS.
4.  Ethan Hankins RHP, HS.
5.  Jarred Kelenic OF, HS.
6.  Brady Singer RHP, College(Florida).
7.  Logan Gilbert RHP, College(Stetson).
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8.  Matthew Liberatore LHP, HS.
9.  Travis Swaggerty OF, College(Univ. of South Alabama).
10. Tristan Pompey OF, College(Kansas).
11.  Carter Stewart RHP, HS.
12.  Mike Vasil RHP, HS.
13.  Cole Wilcox RHP, HS.
14.  Mason Denaberg RHP, HS.
15.  Nolan Gorman 3B, HS.
16.  Greyson Jenista, OF/1B, College(Wichita St.).
17.  Casey Mize RHP, College(Auburn).
18.  Alec Bohm 3B/1B, College(Wichita St.).
19.  Tristan Casas 3B/1B, HS.
20.  Nick Madrigal 2B, College(Oregon St.).
21.  Ryan Weathers LHP, HS.
22.  Shane McClanahan LHP, College(Univ. of South Florida).
23.  Ryan Rolison LHP, College(Mississippi).
24.  Steele Walker OF, College(Oklahoma).
25.  Will Banfield C, HS.
26.  Griffin Conine OF, College(Duke).
27.  Brice Turang SS, HS.
28.  Tim Cate LHP, College(Connecticut)
29.  Jeremy Eierman SS, College(Missouri St).
30.  Joey Bart C, College(Georgia Tech).

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Some changes in the board:

-I still think Seth Beer is the best bat in the draft and the quickest to the majors, but that's assuming a rebound in BA in his junior season.

-Both Eric Longenhagen and Keith Law seem to love Nander De Sedas.  Jarred Kelenic not so much. I've been liking De Sedas more the more I've thought about it too.  He would make a terrific OF/IF prospect combo with Heliot Ramos if the Giants were to draft him at #2.

-Brice Turang continues to be top 10 on most boards.  Somebody seems to be trying to hide him for something as there is just no recent information about him on PG with no recent video and no data on speed, arm strength and swing.  What is available just doesn't look that impressive to me despite the rave scouting reports.

-College hitters are kind of thin, although I am sure we will find some interesting ones for rounds 2-10 as the college season gets underway.  College pitching might be even thinner with most of the top prospects having serious flaws.  Even Brady Singer, who is #1 overall on some boards might be the quickest to the majors but has a very unorthodox, violent delivery and may be a reliever in the pros.

-HS pitching is really, really deep.  I'll be looking for more who might be available in rounds 2 and 3.

-There is a long list of HS SS's who are potentially signable in rounds 2-10.  I'll be reviewing them in the near future.

-From now on, I won't necessarily be ranking reviewed prospects on my board if if I don't think they are worthy of top 50 consideration, but will try to flesh out the board to 50 if I find worthy prospects down the list.