It’s prospect time, and prospecting is no more juicy and speculative than right after the Major League Baseball June Draft. For, we all know that nothing dazzles and hypnotizes with the thoughts of the future Mike Trout or Albert Pujols resting on our roster for a decade that comes with the annual amateur selection process.
So, as you enjoy your latte and muffin on what hopefully is a sunny Saturday morning, let’s look at some of the names from the first round that I found interesting.
Casey Mize (RHP, #1, Detroit Tigers): Boy, if ever there was a baseball name, merging the focus of the famous Mudville poem with the HOF Giants slugger Johnny Mize, screaming #1. This Casey, a hurler, was scouted but not selected three years ago, and has since spent time refining his skills at Auburn. He’s 6-foot-3, clocks in the mid-90s, but most impressive is the 12:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio the kid posted. He struck out 319 over 266 Auburn innings with an 0.96 WHIP.
Ryan Weathers (LHP, #5, Padres): All the expert projections I saw listed pitchers as the bulk of the top five and Matthew Liberatore as the top lefty of the draft. Thus, the selection of Southpaw Ryan, son of former MLB’er David Weathers, took me by surprise (I’m not an expert, so what do I know?). Plucked from Loretto High School, the 19-year-old throws in the low-to-mid 90s at present and played on the World Cup 18-and-under team, tossing two scoreless innings.
Kyler Murray (OF, #9, Athletics): OK, I am always interested in Billy Beane‘s mental machinations, and I am sure his instincts about Murray being the best athlete in the draft are dead on. And, Beane was generally the best athlete on his major league teams, but sadly that did not translate to long-term success. Murray does want to play football at Oklahoma, so just that makes the pick a risky one, but baseball has to be the long-term answer for the kid, who had major NCAA improvements in contact and zone judgement last year. So, let’s just see where this goes?
Grayson Rodriguez (LHP, #11, Orioles): Another high school pick, but the Orioles new hurler is 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, and the lefty doesn’t turn 18 till November. All of that is intriguing enough, but Rodriguez brings it around 94 mph and he has been clocked as high as 98, and though the young hurler signed a letter of intent to Texas A&M, he’ll more likely go with the O’s.
Matthew Liberatore (LHP, #16, Rays): Again, Liberatore was ranked as a top five hurler, but he went half-way through to Tampa, so I am wondering if skills or position, or just what influenced the difference between ADP projection and draft reality? Still, the Rays know their pitching, and the 6-foot-5, 200 pound high school lefty has oodles of talent it seems. But in addition to a mid-90s fastball — clocked at 96 this year — Liberatore has a plus curve and slider making him a three-pitch threat, and at 17 years old that portends a dangerous pitcher.
Trevor Larnach (OF, #20, Twins): At Orgeon State this past year, Larnach posted a fabulous .327-17-65 line with a .455 OBP (45 walks to 53 strikeouts) over 58 games. The young outfielder also played a pair of Cape Cod League campaigns, posting a .293-2-25 line over 51 games and should help augment what is already a fine young Twins outfield.
Nico Hoerner (SS, #24, Cubs): I’m always interested in Stanford picks, as smart students generally make smart players, and smart players, as a rule, learn. Hoerner played three years for the Cardinal, hitting an aggregate .305-3-97 over 167 games, but his Junior season was a jump up with a .349-2-40 line with 14 swipes and a solid .896 OPS.
Seth Beer (OF, #28, Astros): Grabbed in the XFL expansion draft by our late friend Steve Moyer in 2017, our jaws dropped when Steve selected Beer with the #1 overall pick. But the Dick Howser Award recipient, who posted a .321-56-177 line over three years at Clemson punctuated by a 1.137 OPS, suggests Steve was onto something alright. I hope he rips it up.
