Category: MLB

As is tradition at Amazin’ Avenue (2025, 2024, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019), we take a look back at the high school players players who declined to sign with the Mets out of high school in order to attend college and see how their careers have gone now that they’re draft eligible once again. In 2023, the Mets drafted six high school players. Of those six, five signed with the club- Colin Houck, A.J. Ewing, Boston Baro, John Valle, and Jake Zitella- while one- Gavyn Jones- elected not to. Jones is a junior and now eligible for the 2026 MLB Draft, so let’s check in and see what he’s been up to and how he’s been doing.

Gavyn Jones, LHP (18th Round, 546 Overall)

With their 18th round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, the Mets selected Gavyn Jones, a left-handed pitcher from White Oak High School in White Oak Texas. The southpaw won Texas District 15-3A Most Valuable Player honors that spring, hitting .490 with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs, and 16 stolen bases in 18 attempts and posting a 0.97 ERA in 79 innings on the mound, walking 47 and striking out 144. The 6’2”, 205-pound left-hander had a fastball that sat in the low-to-mid-90s at the time and complemented it with a raw but projectable slider and a raw but projectable changeup.

Jones initially had a commitment to Texas Tech, but that fell through and he ended up attending McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. Jones appeared in 8 games for the Highlanders, starting 4, and posted a 14.54 ERA in 13.0 innings, allowing 21 earned runs on 20 hits and 18 walks while striking out 13. Additionally, he had 48 at-bats and hit .271/.352/.458 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 1 stolen base in 2 attempts, and drew 5 walks to 13 strikeouts.

Draft eligible once again due to his status as a junior college student, Jones went unselected in the 2024 MLB Draft. He entered the transfer portal and was accepted into the University of Oklahoma baseball program. In his sophomore season, he appeared in 22 games, starting 1, and posted a 6.37 ERA in 29.2 innings, allowing 33 hits, walking 7, and striking out 28. Jones also appeared in two additional games as a hitter and went 3-3, giving him a 1.000/1.000/2.000 batting line for the year and comically putting him on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year watch list.

That summer, the left-hander pitched in the Cape Cod Baseball League, pitching for the Chatham Anglers. He appeared in 7 games, starting 4, and posted a 5.33 ERA in 25.1 innings, allowing 32 hits, walking 9, and striking out 14. When he returned to Oklahoma in the fall, coach Skip Johnson had Jones officially transition to becoming a full-time pitcher.

The southpaw appeared in 22 games for the Sooners in 2026 and pitched 26.2 innings for the eventual College World Series champions. He posted a career-best 4.73 ERA and allowed 24 hits, walked 17, and struck out 28. In the NCAA regionals, he made 1 appearance and threw 2.0 scoreless innings against Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, allowing 1 hit, walking 1, and striking out 3. In the College World Series Championship Series, he made 1 appearance and threw 2.1 scoreless innings against the North Carolina Tar Heels, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 4.

We are one day away from Christmas in July as the MLB Draft, along with all the other festivities, is set to begin this weekend. There have been some changes, including the date and timings of the event so let’s review everything you need to know about the draft.

How To Watch

The draft will be held across two days with rounds 1-4 coming on Saturday, July 11th and rounds 5-20 on Sunday, July 20th.

Day 1

• Coverage begins at 1:00 PM ET on NBC/Peacock for picks 1-10 of the first round..
• Coverage will then shift to MLB Network for picks 11-40 (end of the 1st, PPI, competitive balance round A).
• Coverage shifts again to MLB.com, MLB.tv for picks 41-135.

Day 2

• Coverage begins at 11:30 AM ET for rounds 5-20 and will be found on MLB.com/MLB.tv

Where will the Braves pick in the draft order?

If you’re on this website in particular you’re here for Braves coverage so let’s focus on those picks in particular. The Braves received a PPI (Prospect Promotion Incentive) pick because Drake Baldwin started the season on the roster, and won Rookie of the Year, giving them an additional pick before the second round.

Round 1, pick 9 | PPI, pick 26 | Round 2, pick 84 | Round 3, pick 84 | Round 4, pick 112 | Round 5, pick 144 | Round 6, pick 173 | Round 7, pick 202 | Round 8, pick 232 | Round 9, pick 262 | Round 10, pick 292 | Round 11, pick 322 | Round 12, pick 353 | Round 13, pick 382 | Round 14, pick 412 | Round 15, pick 442 | Round 16, pick 472 | Round 17, pick 502 | Round 18, pick 532 | Round 19, pick 562 | Round 20, pick 592

How much Draft Bonus Pool money do the Braves have?

Another result of the Drake Baldwin Rookie of the Year award is that the PPI pick comes with additional value, so the overall draft pool the Braves may draw from totals $15,870,800. The value is of importance because if a team exceeds that allotment by up to 5%, they pay an additional 75% tax on the that overage. These penalties increase the more you go over that threshold, but that is extremely rare.

Did the Mariners have a tiny bit of momentum coming out of that homestand last week? You bet. Did they squander it all away immediately? Of course. After being swept in Miami, Seattle finds itself back at .500 and a half game behind the Rangers in the AL West. Just a year ago, the M’s were coming off a rough sweep on the road heading into the final series before the All-Star break against the best team in the American League. In one of the big turning points in their season, they swept the Tigers to head into the midseason break on a high note. Now, they’ve got that same opportunity in Tampa Bay.

The Rays have been one of the biggest surprises in the AL this year. After back-to-back fourth place finishes in the AL East in 2024 and ‘25, it seemed like the competitive window Tampa Bay had been building since ‘19 was slamming closed. Instead, they’re leading their division with the best record in the AL. They’re definitely a bit out over their skis — they’ve outperformed their Pythagorean record by five games and their Base Runs record by six games — but the wins they’ve banked already mean they’re almost guaranteed a postseason berth thanks to the mediocre playoff field behind them.

The top three players in the Rays lineup carry most of the load. Junior Caminero has gone nuclear recently, blasting 12 home runs over his last 16 games. He’s one of the most dangerous young power hitters in the game and this hot streak has pushed him into the middle of the AL MVP race. Yandy Díaz is one of the few familiar names anchoring this lineup. He’s the longest tenured Ray at this point and is in the midst of his best offensive season since 2023. Jonathan Aranda is cut from the same mold as Díaz: a compact swing geared for hard, line drive contact and a solid approach at the plate. The rest of the lineup is filled with flexible role players and platoons which force opponents into uncomfortable matchups throughout the game.

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

It feels like Nick Martinez is the most spiritually Rays player who hasn’t actually played for Tampa Bay until this year. Over the past four years, he’s admirably served as a part-time starter, part-time swingman, and even saw some high-leverage work at times. He’s been solid no matter which role he’s playing. That’s the sort of flexibility the Rays covet, though they’ve deployed him as a full-time starter out of their rotation this year. He’s made the odd tradeoff to try and generate a lot more weak contact rather than swings and misses this year; he’s emphasized his sinker over his four-seamer and increased the usage of his fantastic changeup. The topline results are there — his 2.61 ERA is third best in the AL — but all of his peripherals scream regression.

Griffin Jax was an odd trade deadline acquisition last July. The Rays weren’t in a position to buy, but they traded Taj Bradley straight up for Jax, who was one of the best setup men in baseball at the time. Jax struggled as a reliever with the Rays and the team decided to convert him to a starter on the fly in May. It’s not the worst idea in the world; Jax has a deep repertoire that didn’t fit a traditional high-leverage reliever. Things have worked out pretty well despite the odd timing of it all. Across 13 starts and 56 IP, he has a 2.89 ERA, 3.99 FIP, and 3.87 K/BB out of the rotation.

The Rays have been able to use Nick Martinez in their starting rotation because they already have a pitcher fulfilling Martinez’s traditional role of part-time starter, part-time swingman, part-time high-leverage arm already. Ian Seymour started off last year in the bullpen but had a brief but successful stint as a starter to finish the season. Tampa Bay stuck him back in the bullpen to start this year and he eventually worked his way into a high-leverage role for a while. He’s been working as a starter for the past month and that might be his most successful role to date. Over his last six appearances, he’s allowed just 10 runs in 30.1 innings with an elite 6.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

The Big Picture:

Despite getting crushed 13-1 on Wednesday, the Rangers pulled off a series win against the Angels with a walk-off win yesterday. That pushed them back into first place in the division. The Astros lost their series against the Nationals earlier this week, though they’re still a game and half out in the Wild Card race. The two Texas teams meet this weekend in Arlington. The Athletics continue to tumble down the standings; they were swept by the Tigers this week, have lost six straight, and 14 of their last 17. They head to Chicago to face the White Sox ahead of the All-Star break.

2026 MLB Draft Preview: Connor Comeau scouting report.

The 2026 draft is just days away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at prep infielder Connor Comeau.

Connor Comeau is a 6’4”, 180 lb. lefthanded hitting, righty throwing shortstop out of Anderson High School in Austin, Texas. Comeau doesn’t turn 18 until August, and is committed to Texas A&M.

Comeau offers a quality hit tool with power projection. Baseball America says he “stands out for his present hitting ability.” He has a nice, easy swing and showed strong contact ability on the showcase circuit last summer. He has shown the ability to hit the ball hard to all fields. He has shown the ability to hit for power — MLB Pipeline notes he finished second in the Home Run Derby at the Canadian Futures Showcase this past summer — but is still extremely lean currently, so there’s a belief that he should add more power as he develops and his body fills out.

Comeau has a good arm, but otherwise, the defensive package doesn’t offer a whole lot. While he plays shortstop currently, he’s not expected to stick there going forward, due to his size and lack speed. He’s likely destined for a corner spot, with third base seen as the best fit. He is a below-average runner currently, and generally guys get slower, not faster, as they fill out, which makes playing a corner outfield spot potentially problematic.

Baseball America has Comeau at #55 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Comeau at #55 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts puts Comeau at #66 on his top 150 list. Keith Law has Comeau at #59 on his board. Fangraphs has Comeau at #32 on their board. Baseball Prospectus does not have Comeau on their top 30 draft board.

Like Daniel Jackson yesterday, I’m doing a write-up on Comeau because he was mentioned by Evan Grant as one of five potential candidates for the Rangers to select with their first pick in his article earlier this week. While I am skeptical of Jackson being picked by Texas, though, Comeau seems like someone who would be a potential fit.

Comeau has some similarities to Gavin Fien, the Rangers’ first round pick last year. Both are tall, bat-first first prep shortstops who were expected to move off of shortstop fairly quickly (Fein has moved off the dirt altogether, having played outfield exclusively this season for the Nationals). Both were relatively young for a their draft class — Fien turned 18 just a few months before draft day, and Comeau is still just 17. Both are relatively advanced with their hit tool and show future power potential. Fien is more filled out — Comeau appears to have the Evan Carter build currently — and an overall better prospect, which is why Fien was projected to go mid-first round and Comeau is looked at as a late first or second round guy.

Grant mentions that the Rangers really liked Comeau when they had him in for a workout, and if he’s a priority, there’s a couple of paths Texas could take. They could take him at 16 with a well-under-slot deal, then make a deal with one of the college pitchers with injury issues (such as Logan Reddemann) for an over-slot deal in the second round. Or they could do it the other way around, offering Comeau that they’ll give him enough over slot if he gets to them at #54 that he can scare other teams off before then with his asking price.

Previously:

Liam Peterson

Tyler Bell

Aiden Robbins

Jared Grindlinger

Logan Reddemann

Cooper Harris

Justin Lebron

Cameron Flukey

Derek Curiel

Hunter Dietz

Logan Hughes

Carson Wiggins

Peyton Bonds

Ace Reese

Sawyer Strosnider

Gio Rojas

Chris Rembert

Jack Natili

Andrew Williamson

Trevor Condon

AJ Gracia

Brett Renfrow

Wes Mendes

Daniel Jackson

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The Los Angeles Dodgers welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game weekend series in Chavez Ravine. 

L.A. has opened up a 14.5-game lead in the NL West and is rightfully a sizable favorite (-233) with Shohei Ohtani starting the opener, while the total is set at 8.5.

See my plays for the side and total with my Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Friday, July 10.

Who will win Diamondbacks vs Dodgers today: Dodgers -1.5 (-112)

Eduardo Rodriguez's 2.25 ERA is a product of smoke and mirrors. His 5.00 xERA indicates immediate regression against a potent Los Angeles Dodgers lineup (128 wRC+ against southpaws over the last 20 days) in hitter-friendly weather. 

Shohei Ohtani's 1.79 ERA, on the other hand, is a product of an elite 114 Stuff+. He should mow down an Arizona Diamondbacks lineup that has been utterly helpless against right-handed pitching (67 wRC+ over the last 14 days).

One of these NL All-Stars is overvalued, while the other is so dominant it's difficult to accurately price. Play L.A. -1.5 up to -120.

COVERS INTEL: Rodriguez rarely makes batters miss (10th percentile whiff rate, 13th percentile K-rate) and won't now against a Dodgers lineup with the second-lowest Swing% (29.5%).

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-112)

Ohtani has dominated Arizona's lineup in the past (.170 AVG and .484 OPS across 47 at-bats), and there's no reason to expect any difference on Friday.

He suppresses loud contact (92nd percentile barrel rate, 89th percentile xBA), and Arizona doesn't hit for much power, holding the second-lowest ISO (.137) against RHP. 

L.A. has routinely played in low-scoring games with Ohtani on the bump (3-11 O/U). The bullpen behind him is well-rested after Thursday's day off, and Arizona's pen has a Top-5 FIP (3.35) and SIERA (3.28) in the last 14 days.

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers weather

Wind blowing out to center at 8 mph will give the offenses a slight bump on an 81F day in Los Angeles.

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Diamondbacks +223 | Dodgers -233
• Run line: Diamondbacks +1.5 (+104) | Dodgers -1.5 (-108)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+100) | Under 8.5 (-104)

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers trend

The Diamondbacks have played to the Over just once in Eduardo Rodriguez's last 12 starts. Find more MLB betting trends for Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Diamondbacks vs Dodgers and game info

Diamondbacks vs Dodgers latest injuries

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Folks, after sweeping Tuesday with three YRFIs, we’re looking to run it back this evening and kickstart the weekend the right way!

Tonight, I have at least one NRFI on my radar, along with two other YRFIs to sweat out. Let’s see if we can keep the good vibes rolling!

Check out my full MLB picks below.

Best NRFI/YRFI predictions today

Pick	Odds
/ - Astros vs. Rangers YRFI	-107
/ - Athletics vs. White Sox YRFI	-121
/ - Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers NRFI	-112

Astros at Rangers: YRFI (-107)

Cal Quantrill is set to take the mound this evening for the Texas Rangers, and that automatically triggers me to lean toward the YRFI. Especially with Yordan Alvarez owning 100% arsenal coverage against him while grading out as an elite hitter on Batters-Box. He might be the only bat we need to rely on in the first inning.

However, on the other side, Hunter Brown is taking the mound for the Astros and has been struggling recently. Over his last 3 outings, Brown owns a 6.23 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP.

Overall, both offenses have been swinging the bat well over their last 6 games, each posting at least a 107 wRC+, a .199 ISO, and a .323 wOBA.

With Houston ranking second in first-inning runs scored and fifth in YRFI percentage, this sets up as a prime spot to root for some early offense.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CW33, SCHN

Athletics at White Sox: YRFI (-121)

This may be one of the biggest vibes plays I've made in quite some time, as White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami is set to return from the IL. The White Sox offense has gone cold this week, but I think getting their star first baseman back is exactly the spark this lineup needs to get back on track.

They draw struggling Athletics right-hander Aaron Civale, who owns one of the worst pitcher ratings on the slate. He also grades poorly in matchup ISO, wOBA, hard contact, strikeout rate, and ground ball rate.

Through 15 starts, Civale has allowed 8 first-inning runs, with opposing hitters slashing .339/.382/.548 with a .931 OPS.

Sean Burke gets the ball for the White Sox, and he hasn't exactly been sharp early either. Through 14 starts, he has surrendered 9 first-inning runs, with opponents hitting .309 with a .473 SLG and .800 OPS.

I think this is a great spot for early runs, but I'm leaning toward the White Sox being the team that gets us to the window.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, NBCSCA

Diamondbacks at Dodgers: NRFI (-112)

This could get sweaty, but that's the beauty of the NRFI. Both the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have gone cold offensively over their last 6 games, with each posting a wRC+ below 85, a wOBA under .295, and an OPS below .660. I think the NRFI is in play here.

Shohei Ohtani takes the ball for the Dodgers against a Diamondbacks lineup that doesn't feature a single elite or strongly rated hitter in Batters-Box's current season ratings. On the other side, Eduardo Rodriguez only has to navigate one elite and three strong-rated bats.

I'm willing to sweat out what will likely be a tense bottom of the first.

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ARID, SNLA

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It wouldn’t be a day ending in “y” without a Braves roster move:

Hurston Waldrep’s ongoing recovery has had quite a few twists and turns. Following a pseudo-breakout late last year, after the Braves were out of it and had little to play for other than trying to garner the kind of major league development that Waldrep largely showed (a 68 ERA-, 79 FIP-, and 89 xFIP- in 56 1/3 innings, good for 1.2 fWAR), the right-hander hit the shelf with recovery from an elbow cleanup, and made just a handful of rehab-ish outings in the minors before the Braves promoted him.

His first outing of 2026 was rough with a 3/4 K/BB ratio in two innings of relief, but he and the defense somehow kept the runs off the board. Waldrep then had his first start back, which had a fine enough 4/1 K/BB ratio in five innings… except that it involved a hit-by-pitch and a three-run homer, putting the Braves in a 3-0 hole early. And then, there was his disaster in Pittsburgh, where he hung multiple breaking pitches to Ryan O’Hearn in a blowout loss.

So, the Braves will welcome back Tyler Kinley from his time actively playing papa and go with a somewhat bulkier bullpen for a while.

Mark Bowman reports that the Braves plan to have JR Ritchie start on Sunday. Ritchie’s rookie season is not going particularly well (108/130/116) and he’s been used as a multi-inning-ish reliever fill-in so far in July, but he’ll get another shot to improve this weekend. Personally, I’m not really sure that “Waldrep being really bad on balance after three outings” is markedly worse for the team’s immediate-term outlook than “Ritchie being sub-replacement on balance after ten outings,” but my hope is that the Braves can go Johnny Wholestaff in that game anyway and not have to worry about which of their young arms potentially implodes either way.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with Kyle Schwarber's official announcement that he's participating in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby

Will Kyle Schwarber be joining Bryce Harper for the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby in front of a home crowd at Citizens Bank Park on July 13? Yes.

Less than 24 hours after Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly accidentally leaked the MLB home run leader's plans to participate in the event, Schwarber announced on Friday, July 10 through the Phillies' social media pages that he will compete in the event for the third time in his career.

"I'm glad he's doing it, especially in Philly. Him and Kyle both, right?" Mattingly said when asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Harper participating in the Home Run Derby following the Phillies' 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on July 9.

Will Kyle Schwarber be in the Home Run Derby? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/JKDb3yBvXo

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 10, 2026

2026 MLB Home Run Derby field: Who is competing in Philly? Who isn't?

With Schwarber participating in the Home Run Derby, it not only gives the event another marquee name in the field, but it also marks his first time in the event since 2022. He first competed in the Home Run Derby in 2018 as a member of the Chicago Cubs, where he proceeded to lose to Harper in the finals at Nationals Park.

In addition to Harper, the field also includes Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice, Kansas City Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone, Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras and St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker.

Schwarber expressed interest in competing in the event over the last week, but only if his back was feeling OK. He continues to deal with a sore lower back that kept him out for two games in June. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber reported on July 10 that, should Schwarber take one of the final two spots in the field, a Phillies coach or staffer will throw to him.

"I just want to make sure I’m not putting myself in a risky position," Schwarber said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Phillies' designated hitter enters the final weekend of the first half of the season with 32 home runs and 58 RBIs, becoming the fastest Phillies hitter to reach 30 home runs on the season — in just 80 games — on Sunday, June 28. He reached the milestone with a go-ahead, two-run home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

"It's just been fun to watch," Mattingly said of Schwarber in June when asked by USA TODAY Sports about his power hitter's season during a media availability. "There's been a lot of big ones that either get us early leads or get us back in the game.

"What I really like is that Schwabs is really all about the team and us winning and I think when you stay in that mode of doing something to help your team win. From a leadership position, that's huge because then everybody's in that mode."

The MLB Home Run Derby is set for 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The MLB Draft is this weekend in Philadelphia, and there are plenty of mock drafts circulating and predicting who each team is going to take with their first round pick. The Pittsburgh Pirates pick at five in the first round of the draft and there’s a varied opinion on who people think the Buccos will select.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.con predicts that the Pirates will address their longterm issues at catcher and select one of the best catchers that the college ranks have to offer in Vahn Lackey out of Georgia Tech.

“The Pirates have drafted the best high school position player (Konnor Griffin) and best high school pitcher (Seth Hernandez) in the last two Drafts,” Mayo writes. “If they wanted to go down that road again they could look at Eric Booth Jr. on the hitter side, or Gio Rojas on the mound, but it would be tough to pass on the super-athletic Lackey, the Yellow Jackets’ catcher with a 1.265 OPS, 15 homers and 14 steals.”

The Pirates are certainly in need of a catcher, and having one as athletic as Lackey would be a great grab at fifth overall. Being that he’d be coming out of college it would be assumed that he’d be closer to being pro-ready as well, so if the Pirates go in that direction it may not be long before a player like Lackey would be seeing action in Pittsburgh.

Keith Law of The Athletic thinks that the Pirates could add another strong arm to their pitching staff by taking one of the best college pitching projects in this year’s class. Jackson Flora out of UC Santa Barbara is Law’s pick, after setting school records for most strikeouts in a season.

“The most opaque team in the top 10, the Pirates would take any of those top three names if one fell here. Buster Posey was the No. 5 pick in 2008, and Vahn Lackey has some similarities in his career arc, although they are not similar players — but that’s probably not happening at pick 5,” Law writes. “Several sources noted that the Pirates have swung big in several drafts now and have a pretty good hit rate, so don’t be surprised if they go for another high-upside pick here.”

ESPN and Bleacher Report both see the Pirates taking one of the top high school prospects in the country. Shortstop Jacob Lombard out of Gulliver Prep High School in Florida has been shooting up mock draft boards as of late, with ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel officially projecting he’ll be a Pirate.

“The Pirates are a lower-payroll team with playoff aspirations, but the college players available aren’t talented enough to move them off the best talent,” McDaniel writes. “In addition, I would only give Lombard to a team with a history of picking and developing players who will need a contact improvement and/or swing tweaks. Konnor Griffin is a nice recent example. Lombard’s profile is similar to that of 2025 No. 4 overall pick Ethan Holliday at the same stage, but with even more athleticism/upside.”

Sports Illustrated Ryan Phillips also predicts that the Pirates will draft a top high school prospect, he just happens to think it’ll be the one from the same home state as the Pirates’ current short stop, Konnor Griffin. Eric Booth Jr. out of Oak Grove High School in Mississippi is looking to be one of the most athletically gifted outfielders in this year’s class and has all the makings of a big league center fielder.

“Flora could be the pick here, but the Pirates like upside and might be able to cut a deal with Booth. That would save money for the three other picks they have in the top 51,” Phillips writes. “At 6’ and 207 pounds, Booth has elite speed, a plus hit tool and good raw power. He’s also a plus fielder in center who will flash an above-average arm. The Vanderbilt commit’s swing can get a bit out of whack as he holds his hands away from his body and moves them up and down as a timing mechanism before he locks them to move to the pitch. He still has good bat-to-ball skills despite that. There’s a lot of upside here with proper development.”

The Pirates and the rest of Major League Baseball will begin the draft on July 11 from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

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The Houston Astros are healthy -135 favorites against the Texas Rangers on Friday night.

With a massive starting pitching advantage, my Astros vs. Rangers predictions and MLB picks for July 10 believe that line is short and the value lies with the road team.

Who will win Astros vs Rangers today: Astros moneyline (-135)

Injuries have prevented Hunter Brown from being his usual, dominant self. However, he has still pitched well when healthy.

He hasproduced xERAs of 3.78 or lower in five of six starts, only struggling against the AL East-leading Rays.

One of the only problems to date is control, and that should be less of an issue against a Texas Rangers team sitting 27th in BB% against righties over the last month.

Cal Quantrill (3.35 ERA, 5.35 FIP) is a prime regression candidate, and the Houston Astros have hit much better of late.

Back Houston to -150.

COVERS INTEL: Quantrill ranks in the 23rd percentile in xERA this season, indicating his solid counting stats are smoke and mirrors.

Astros vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-115)

Globe Life Field is extremely pitcher-friendly. 

Brown’s ability to limit hard contact, and induce grounders at a high rate, makes him particularly well-equipped to prevent runs.

Scoring should be like pulling teeth for the Rangers, which puts a lot of pressure on the Astros to put up a big number.

They will give Brown enough support to win, but I wouldn’t expect a ceiling performance offensively. For all Quantrill’s faults, he doesn’t give up a ton of hard contact and has limited homers effectively (1.12 HR/9).

There’s enough there to avoid a blowup. Bet to -125.

Astros vs Rangers weather

The Rangers generally keep the roof closed and temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s. No impact.

Astros vs Rangers odds

• Moneyline: Astros -140 | Rangers +120
• Run line: Astros -1.5 (+120) | Rangers +1.5 (-140)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-105) | Under 8.5 (-115)

Astros vs Rangers trend

Houston has hit the moneyline in 16 of their last 25 away games (+8.60 units, 33% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Rangers.

How to watch Astros vs Rangers and game info

Astros vs Rangers latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

As we move into the summer months of our birthday series here at PSA, we are once again brought to a perhaps lesser known player in the deep history of baseball in the Bronx. Despite that less-than-household-name status, today’s entry highlights a 14-year big league career, an accomplishment in its own right, and a player with an all-time record to call his own. Buddy Groom only had a brief tenure with the Yankees, but throughout the early 1990s and early 2000s, the lefty was a staple in plenty of bullpens.

Wedsel Gary “Buddy” Groom Jr.
Born: July 10, 1965 (Dallas, TX)
Yankees Tenure: 2005

Wedsel Gary Groom, born in Dallas 61 years ago, did his college pitching two hours south in Belton at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The left-handed hurler made enough of a name for himself there to earn selection in the 12th round of the 1987 Draft, a pick made by the White Sox.

Before he could work his way all the way through Chicago’s minor league system, he was traded to the Tigers, where he would finally break into the big leagues. He’d pitch there for three seasons, with mostly forgettable returns, and would eventually be dealt to the Marlins mid-year in ‘95, his first season with a fuller workload. Still, ERA marks above seven don’t move the needle much.

Groom signed with the Athletics prior to the 1995 season, and would pitch four full seasons with the A’s. His first year there was his best, when he posted a 3.84 ERA in a career-high 77.1 innings of work. Most notably, his tenure in Oakland established him as a durable left-handed option out of the ‘pen. His four years there marked the beginning of seven consecutive seasons in which he would make 70 or more appearances on the mound. From 1996-2002, Groom’s 511 appearances were the third most in all of baseball.

The reliever’s scenery changed for the 2000 season, when he signed with the Orioles, beginning a four-season run in Baltimore. His 2002 season with the O’s was by far the best of his career, when he posted a sparkling 1.60 ERA across 62 innings of work. One of the fun things about relief pitching, is that sometimes a guy can just find it, and clearly Groom did so during that ‘02 campaign.

The lefty pitched with Baltimore through the 2004 season, before hitting free agency once again in the following offseason. In February of 2005, Groom signed with the Yankees to pitch in the Bronx for his age-39 season.

Now in his late-30s, Groom’s stuff had diminished, and he only pitched 25.2 innings across 24 appearances for the Yankees to begin the season. Not necessarily bad, but a 4.91 ERA and an unimpressive strikeout rate makes it awfully difficult to stick around in any big-league bullpen. At the end of July, Groom was designated for assignment by the Yankees, and eventually sent off the the Diamondbacks. The 23 appearances he would make for Arizona in 2005 would be the final of his career, as it marked the end of a solid 14-year career, during which his left arm was called upon more than almost any other’s.

Despite the lack of accolades on his resume, it would be far from fair to call Groom’s career insignificant. He led the league in pitching appearances in 1999 with 76, and is the all-time leader in games played without ever taking an at-bat in the majors. Beyond all else, Groom was depended on for nearly a decade and a half as a dependable lefty out of the bullpen, an asset almost any team would sign up for.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

This is the third and final edition of the consensus rankings. If you are interested in the previous versions, the June Top 200 and the April Top 100 are linked here if you want to see how a player has been moving over the past few months.

There are some changes this time around. Obviously the most notable is going from a Top 200 to a Top 500. The next big change is the number of lists included drops from seven to six, as the Keith Law/Athletic list was very short (only Top 100) and the rankings were very different than anyone else’s, so it would throw off things both at the top and in that 75-150 range. Another small change from last time is I am cutting out the listing of player movement, as there wasn’t enough time to get that done and have this list ready for you in time for the draft due to these lists being released late.

The six lists used are Baseball America, Pipeline (Only Top 250), Perfect Game, ESPN/Kiley McDaniel (Top 250), Overslot/Mock Draft Simulator, as well as my own. The player ranked No. 1 on a list gets 500 points towards the consensus total, while the player ranked No. 500 receives one point. In total there were 695 players who received at least one point. All of these lists have been recently updated, so there is nothing old in these rankings. Two of these lists are shorter than a Top 500, so there will be heavier weight to the other four lists in the bottom half of the rankings.

Note that these rankings are a composite of all sources, and outside of my own rankings being one part of the six rankings included, this is not something I have influenced at all. For players who are tied in points for a spot, I am giving the higher ranking to the player who ranks higher on the greater number of lists, with the second tie breaker being awarded for the highest ranking on any list, followed by number of lists a player is included on, and if it’s still tied the player with the lowest ranking on any individual list loses. I will include some comments below on some of the interesting things included in the composite, and break this down into tiers solely based on how highly rated these players were in terms of points.

Tier 1

1.Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA – 2996 points

2.Grady Emerson, SS, Texas HS – 2995

3.Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech – 2991

The original thought that Cholowsky would be a consensus top pick is out the window, as he beats Emerson by just one point. Roch was the top guy on three boards to two for Emerson. Lackey took home the other top slot and was second in another set of rankings. It’s clear that there isn’t much separating these three guys from each other and they have separated themselves from the second trio that makes up the clear Top 6.

Tier 2

4.Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 2978

5.Eric Booth Jr., OF, Mississippi HS – 2974

6.Jacob Lombard, SS, Florida HS – 2972

These three are tightly grouped as a clear second tier of the Top 6. In all six sets of rankings, these guys occupied 17 of the 18 total slots of 4/5/6 in the rankings, with only Lombard coming in at 7th.

Tier 3

7.Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech – 2957

8.Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky – 2949

9.Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas – 2948

10.Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M – 2941

11.Derek Curiel, OF, LSU – 2931

Tier 4

12.Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, California HS – 2922

13.Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama – 2917

14.Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina – 2916

15.Gio Rojas, LHP, Florida HS – 2915

16.AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia – 2909

17.Trevor Condon, OF, Georgia HS – 2897

18.Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State – 2894

19.Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida – 2883

20.Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU – 2876

Tier 5

21.Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas – 2853

22.Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State – 2850

23.Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia – 2840

24.Mason Edwards, LHP, USC – 2840

Jackson takes the first tie, ranking with a higher slot on four of the six lists.

25.Zion Rose, OF, Louisville – 2839

26.Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi – 2830

27.Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Tennessee – 2827

28.Coleman Borthwick, RHP, Florida HS – 2817

29.Bo Lowrance, 3B, South Carolina HS – 2812

30.Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech – 2811

31.Carson Bolemon, RHP, South Carolina HS – 2808

32.Caden Sorrell, OF, Texas A&M – 2793

33.Logan Reddeman, RHP, UCLA – 2791

34.Eric Becker, SS, Virginia – 2789

35.Taylor Rabe, RHP, Mississippi – 2884

36.Cole Prosek, SS, Mississippi HS – 2780

Tier 6

37.Brody Bumila, LHP, Massachusetts HS – 2764

38.Logan Schmidt, LHP, California HS – 2762

39.Aiden Robbins, OF, Texas – 2761

40.Tyler Spangler, SS, California HS – 2759

41.Archer Horn, SS, California HS – 2756

42.Jack Radel, RHP, Notre Dame – 2754

43.Aiden Ruiz, SS, New York HS – 2751

44.Chase Brunson, OF, TCU – 2737

45.Ben Blair, RHP, Liberty – 2737

Brunson takes this tie with the second tie breaker, coming in highest of the two anywhere – 29th on the list over at Overslot.

46.Taj Marchand, SS, South Carolina HS – 2728

47.Jensen Hirschkorn, RHP, California HS – 2712

48.Ty Head, OF, NC State – 2685

49.Jarren Advincula, 2B, Georgia Tech – 2678

50.Landon Thome, SS, Illinois HS – 2672

51.Connor Comeau, SS, Texas HS – 2669

52.James Clark, SS, California HS – 2666

53.Sean Duncan, LHP, Canada HS – 2665

54.Blake Bowen, OF, California HS – 2664

55.Will Brick, C, Tennessee HS – 2664

After both coming in higher on two lists, Bowen wins the tie because he ranked highest on a list – 37th on the PG list.

56.Chris Rembert, 2B, Auburn – 2658

57.Blake Bryant, RHP, Georgia HS – 2654

Tier 7

58.Kaiden McCarthy, RHP, Vermont HS – 2638

59.Gavin Grahovac, 3B, Texas A&M – 2634

60.Joey Volchko, RHP, Georgia – 2631

61.Kaeden Waechter, RHP, Florida HS – 2629

62.Jake Brown, OF, LSU – 2625

63.Carson Tinney, C, Texas – 2620

64.Wes Mendes, LHP, Florida State – 2618

65.Andrew Williamson, OF, UCF – 2615

66.Jack Natili, C, Cincinnati – 2610

67.Joseph Contreras, RHP, Georgia HS – 2603

68.Owen Hull, OF, North Carolina – 2587

69.Rocco Maniscalco, SS, Alabama HS – 2579

Tier 8

70.Luke Williams, SS, Pennsylvania HS – 2511

71.Mulivai Levu, 1B, UCLA – 2500

72.Myles Bailey, 1B, Florida State – 2487

73.Brett Renfrow, RHP, Virginia Tech – 2483

74.Jake Schaffner, SS, North Carolina – 2480

75.Cole Koeninger, SS, Texas HS – 2472

76.Noah Wilson, OF, Tennessee HS – 2468

77.Ethan Wachsmann, RHP, Colorado HS – 2463

78.Ethan Kleinschmit, LHP, Oregon State – 2459

79.Caden Bogenpohl, OF, Missouri State – 2448

80.Ruger Riojas, RHP, Texas – 2426

81.Will Gasparino, OF, UCLA – 2425

82.Carter Beck, OF, Indiana State – 2423

83.Gabe Gaeckle, RHP, Arkansas – 2416

84.Ethan Bass, SS, Illinois HS – 2409

85.Will Adams, OF, Alabama HS – 2407

86.Jacob Dudan, RHP, NC State – 2403

87.Cooper Harris, RHP, Texas HS – 2402

88.Kevin Roberts Jr., OF, Mississippi HS – 2401

89.Tyson LeBlanc, SS, Kansas – 2394

90.Dee Kennedy, SS, Kansas State – 2388

91.Carson Kerce, SS, Georgia Tech – 2385

92.Jace Mataczynski, SS, Wisconsin HS – 2384

93.Elliot Lascelles, SS, Canada HS – 2380

94.Peyton Bonds, OF, Rutgers – 2376

95.Bo Holloway, LHP, Tennessee HS – 2361

96.Beau Peterson, 3B, Kansas HS – 2358

97.Ryan Lynch, RHP, North Carolina – 2356

98.Savion Sims, RHP, Texas HS – 2349

99.Jason DeCaro, RHP, North Carolina – 2347

100.Trey Ebel, SS, California HS – 2346

101.Evan Dempsey, RHP/OF, Florida Gulf Coast – 2340

102.Dominic Santarelli, OF, Wisconsin HS – 2338

103.Malachi Washington, OF, Georgia HS – 2335

104.Sean Dunlap, C, Indiana HS – 2334

105.Lucas Nawrocki, RHP, Texas HS – 2333

106.Daniel Cuvet, 3B, Miami – 2333

After both being higher on three lists, this tie is broken by myself having Nawrocki the highest – 72nd overall.

Tier 9

107.Ryan Peterson, RHP, Sam Houston State – 2316

108.Brendan Brock, C, Oklahoma – 2316

Peterson ranks higher on four out of the six lists.

109.Kyle Jones, OF, Florida – 2315

110.Keon Johnson, SS, Georgia HS – 2314

111.Roman Martin, 3B, UCLA – 2310

112.Tommy LaPour, RHP, TCU – 2299

113.James Tronstein, SS/OF, California HS – 2297

114.Martin Shelar, OF, Georgia HS – 2297

Tronstein ranks higher on four of the six spots.

115.Cooper Sides, RHP, California HS – 2293

116.Shane Sdao, LHP, Texas A&M – 2283

117.Camden Kozeal, 2B, Arkansas – 2280

118.Caden Ferraro, OF, Texas Tech – 2269

119.Jack Slightom, RHP, Illinois HS – 2267

120.Julian Garcia, RHP, California HS – 2256

121.Ethan Norby, LHP, East Carolina – 2250

122.Jaxon Willits, SS, Oklahoma – 2228

123.Carson Wiggins, RHP, Arkansas – 2226

124.Gavin Gallagher, 2B, North Carolina – 2223

125.Eric Guevara, 3B, Auburn – 2215

126.Tre Broussard, OF, Houston – 2211

127.Denton Lord, RHP, Florida HS – 2205

128.Ryan Marohn, LHP, NC State – 2200

129.Kollin Ritchie, OF, Oklahoma State – 2195

130.Bryce Hill, RHP, Connecticut HS – 2192

Tier 10

131.Kade Lewis, 3B, Wake Forest – 2177

132.Jason Amalbert, SS, New Jersey HS – 2166

133.Maxx Yehl, LHP, West Virginia – 2150

134.Matt Ponatoski, RHP/SS, Ohio HS – 2150

Yehl takes this tie because his 102nd overall ranking on the Overslot list was the highest of either player.

135.Alex Weingartner, SS, New Jersey HS – 2145

136.Wilson Andersen, RHP, Florida HS – 2125

137.Dylan Bowen, SS, Indiana HS – 2118

138.Henry Ford, 3B, Tennessee – 2115

139.Anthony Murphy, OF, California HS – 2114

140.Alex Hernandez, 2B, Georgia Tech – 2112

141.Camden Johnson, 3B, Oklahoma – 2086

142.Jake McCoy, LHP, South Carolina – 2086

143.Hudson DeVaughan, RHP, Indiana HS – 2086

Johnson and McCoy each ranked highest on three lists, which sends DeVaughan into third in this three-way tie. Johnson takes the win because coming in at 101st on Baseball America is the highest of his and McCoy’s rankings.

144.Gannon Grant, RHP, Indiana HS – 2079

145.Robbie Lavey, C, George Washington – 2078

146.Garrett Wright, C, Tennessee – 2058

147.Tyler Putnam, RHP, Missouri HS – 2040

148.Rylan Lujo, OF, Georgia – 2039

149.Andruw Giles, OF, Nevada HS – 2035

150.Duncan Marsten, RHP, Wake Forest – 2026

151.Deiten Lachance, C, Oklahoma – 2021

152.Tre Phelps, 3B, Georgia – 1983

153.James Jorgensen, RHP, Texas HS – 1980

154.Kyle Johnson, LHP, Virginia – 1979

155.Steele Murdock, RHP, UC San Diego – 1978

156.Carson Jasa, RHP, Nebraska – 1973

157.Gary Morse, RHP, California HS – 1972

158.Ryan Cooney, 2B, Oregon – 1964

159.Trey Beard, LHP, Florida State – 1961

160.Nathan Taylor, RHP, Cincinnati – 1956

161.Cal Randall, RHP, UCLA – 1949

162.Dalton Wentz, 3B, Wake Forest – 1947

163.Eli Herst, RHP, Washington HS – 1941

164.Jake Carbaugh, RHP, Florida HS – 1937

165.Brayden Dowd, OF, Florida State – 1920

166.Deven Sheerin, RHP, LSU – 1920

Dowd takes this tie because his ESPN ranking is the highest spot either of these two was listed.

167.Trey Rangel, RHP, Texas HS – 1907

168.Logan Georges, RHP, California HS – 1904

169.Carson Bailey, RHP, Texas JUCO – 1885

Tier 11

170.Dawson Montesa, RHP, West Virginia – 1869

171.LJ Mercurius, RHP, Oklahoma – 1854

172.Luke McNeillie, RHP, Florida – 1852

173.Kolby Stringer, RHP, Mississippi HS – 1833

174.Lucas Moore, OF, Louisville – 1832

175.AJ Rice, RHP, Georgia HS – 1826

176.Landon Brown, RHP, Texas HS – 1804

177.Brady Harris, OF, Florida HS – 1788

178.Isaac Morton, RHP, Minnesota – 1778

179.Coleton Brady, RHP, Florida HS – 1773

180.Alex Conover, OF, Oklahoma State – 1772

181.Aidan Knaak, RHP, Clemson – 1761

182.Grayson Willoughby, RHP, Kentucky HS – 1756

183.Jack Dugan, SS, Tennessee HS – 1755

184.Dominic Voegele, RHP, Kansas – 1754

185.Joe Tiroly, 2B, Virginia – 1751

186.CJ Weinstein, SS, California HS – 1750

187.Jet Berry, SS, Arizona HS – 1722

188.Ryne Barker, 3B, Arizona HS – 1717

189.Dylan Vigue, RHP, Georgia – 1693

190.Bo Rhudy, RHP, Tennessee – 1693

Vigue wins because he ranks higher on five of the six lists. The reason for the tie is that Vigue was not listed on the shorter ESPN list. Had he been ranked even 300th there, plausible since he was in the Top 200 everywhere else, he would have come in at 169th on this list.

191.Brady Snow, RHP, Florida HS – 1685

192.Jorvorskie Lane Jr., C/OF, Texas HS – 1670

193.Cole Dennis, RHP, Florida HS – 1663

Tier 12

194.Braden Holcomb, OF, Vanderbilt – 1644

195.Maddox Molony, SS, Oregon – 1640

196.Noah Danza, SS, New Jersey HS – 1636

197.Gavin Giese, RHP, California HS – 1621

198.Eric Segura, RHP, Oregon State – 1612

199.Jack Brenner, C, Wisconsin HS – 1608

200.Alex Sosa, C, Miami – 1605

201.Ty Horn, RHP, Nebraska – 1586

202.Gunner Skelton, 3B, Tennessee HS – 1562

203.Sawyer Nelson, SS, Oregon HS – 1560

204.Owen Kramkowski, RHP, Arizona – 1556

205.Will Plunkett, SS, New York HS – 1542

206.Thomas Burns, RHP, Texas – 1542

Both players ranked higher on three lists, but Plunkett had the highest ranking anywhere of the two.

207.Wessley Roberson, OF, Georgia HS – 1530

208.Robert Omidi, 3B, Canada HS – 1522

209.Ethan McElvain, LHP, Arkansas – 1513

210.Nu’u Contrades, 3B, Arizona State – 1506

211.Cashel Dugger, C, UCLA – 1490

212.Justin LeGuernic, RHP, Clemson – 1485

213.Kyle Casteel, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 1463

214.Cal Scolari, RHP, Oregon – 1463

This came down to the second tie breaker, with Casteel winning by ranking one slot higher on Pipeline’s list than Scolari came in on PG’s list.

215.Wil Libbert, LHP, Mississippi – 1457

216.Tyler Fay, RHP, Alabama – 1448

217.Michael Harpster, RHP, East Tennessee State – 1435

218.Isaiah Galason, SS, Georgia HS – 1426

219.Eric Nachtsheim, RHP, McNeese State – 1423

220.Alain Gomez-Gudino, C, Arizona HS – 1382

221.Brayden Martin, 3B, Maryland – 1382

Gomez-Gudino, who was Cam Caminiti’s high school catcher, ranked higher on four out of the six lists.

222.Shawn Sullivan, RHP, Ohio HS – 1372

223.Grant Govel, RHP, USC – 1328

224.Genson Veras, OF, Florida HS – 1322

225.Griffin Long, RHP, Georgia HS – 1320

226.Trevor Hansen, RHP, UC Irvine – 1295

227.Tyson Grulkowski, RHP, Wisconsin HS – 1276

228.Judah Ota, OF, Hawaii HS – 1267

229.Kam Durning, SS, Missouri – 1260

230.AJ Curry, OF, California HS – 1254

231.Hudson Calhoun, RHP, Mississippi – 1253

232.Russell Sandefer, RHP, Florida – 1252

233.Brandon McCraine, SS, Auburn – 1252

Sandefer ranks higher on three lists, versus two for McCraine. Neither was on the shorter ESPN list.

234.Ryan Harwood, OF, Arizona HS – 1250

235.Sherman Johnson, 3B, NC State – 1239

Tier 13

236.Hudson Barrett, LHP, Oklahoma State – 1219

237.Matthew Thomas, OF, Cal State Northridge – 1208

238.Josh McDevitt, RHP, Missouri – 1202

239.Erik Paulsen, 1B, North Carolina – 1201

240.Jack Beck, SS, Tennessee HS – 1199

241.Ricky Ojeda, LHP, UC Irvine – 1196

242.Cam Johnson, LHP, Oklahoma – 1177

243.Clayton Freshcorn, RHP, Texas A&M – 1153

244.Cody Boshell, 1B, Florida HS – 1145

245.Tate McKee, RHP, Georgia Tech – 1124

246.Jon Mora, OF, Florida HS – 1116

247.Brady Ballinger, 1B, Kansas – 1114

248.Micah Worley, LHP, Stony Brook – 1109

249.Max Bayles, RHP, Santa Clara – 1107

250.Teagan Scott, C, Oregon HS – 1107

Bayles ranks highest in four spots, with each being left off one list.

251.Ryan Piech, RHP, Xavier – 1077

252.Wyatt Clatur, RHP, Tennessee HS – 1074

253.Hunter Brown, RHP, New Jersey HS – 1074

Each ranks highest on three lists, but Clatur has the high mark of the two.

254.Chase Kiker, RHP, North Carolina HS – 1068

255.Blake Morningstar, RHP, Wake Forest – 1063

256.Jaxon Jelkin, RHP, Kentucky – 1054

257.Landon Thiel, LHP, Ohio HS – 1040

258.Ryan Kucherak, SS, Northwestern – 1037

259.Cooper Webb, RHP, Texas HS – 1036

260.Cam Jackson, SS, Georgia HS – 1034

261.Josiah Morris, SS, California HS – 1025

262.Calvin Proskey, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 1021

263.Bear Harrison, C, Texas A&M – 1014

264.Jacob Madrid, C, California HS – 995

265.Ryan Stedman, RHP, Iowa HS – 990

266.Brandon Arvidson, LHP, Tennessee – 989

267.Nathan Aceves, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 988

268.Donovan Thiery, RHP, Florida HS – 987

269.Spencer Evans, LHP, Florida HS – 986

270.Hunter Carns, C, Florida State – 984

271.Luke Costello, OF, Wake Forest – 978

272.Haiden Leffew, LHP, Texas – 970

273.Dominic Battista, OF, Illinois HS – 969

274.John Stowers, C, Alabama HS – 967

275.Kaleb LaFavor, RHP, Iowa HS – 966

276.Connor Fennell, RHP, Vanderbilt – 964

277.Collin Bland, 1B, Tennessee HS – 961

278.Bryson Moore, RHP, Florida State – 957

279.Graham Schlicht, RHP, California HS – 955

280.Cole Tryba, LHP, UC Santa Barbara – 950

281.Macon Winslow, C, North Carolina – 943

282.Alex Petrovic, RHP, Auburn – 936

Tier 14

283.Ethan Sutton, RHP, South Florida – 915

284.John Abraham, RHP, Florida State – 913

285.Cody New, LHP, Cal Baptist – 911

286.Declan Dahl, RHP, Louisiana Tech – 907

287.Ben Davis, RHP, Mississippi State – 892

288.Michael Addari, RHP, Illinois State – 880

289.Chris McHugh, 1B, NC State – 877

290.JJ Drennan, RHP, New Jersey HS – 871

291.Ryan Novak, OF, Miami(OH) – 862

292.Kenny Ishikawa, LHP/OF, Georgia – 838

293.Zane Adams, LHP, Alabama – 829

294.Sam Harris, 1B, Virginia – 827

295.Dustin Dunwoody, RHP, California HS – 821

296.Hayes Holton, RHP, Louisiana HS – 815

297.Colin Fisher, LHP, Arkansas – 810

298.Josiah Kemp, OF, Oklahoma HS – 810

Fisher ranked higher on three lists, versus one for Kemp.

299.Lorenzo Carrier, OF, Pitt – 807

300.Matthew Sharman, RHP, Georgia HS – 803

301.Colin White, LHP, Georgia HS – 800

302.Kyle McDaniel, 2B, Utah Tech – 799

303.Ethan Surowiec, 3B, Florida – 790

304.Carlos Martinez, RHP, Hofstra – 788

305.Jason Jutronich, LHP, California HS – 787

306.Gavin Van Kempen, RHP, East Carolina – 781

307.Matthew Kelley, SS, Nevada HS – 778

308.AJ Evasco, OF/1B, Kansas State – 776

309.Jerek Turlij, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 772

310.Easton Autrey, 3B, Texas HS – 769

311.Alex Harrington, SS, California HS – 764

312.Jake Long, OF, Utah – 760

313.Dylan Blomker, RHP, New Mexico HS – 758

314.Keller Bradley, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 757

315.Colin Linder, RHP, Arizona State – 751

316.Cole Stokes, RHP, Florida State – 748

317.Jaxon Matthews, OF, North Carolina HS – 733

318.Anthony Del Angel, 3B, New Mexico HS – 732

319.Rhett Britt, RHP, North Carolina HS – 731

320.Isaiah Hearn, OF, California HS – 719

321.Alejandro Garza, 3B, Cal Poly – 719

Hearn wins this tie by having the higher ranking of the two.

322.Ross Norman, RHP, Coastal Carolina – 707

323.Hunter Possehl, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast – 705

324.Colin Barczi, C, Vanderbilt – 705

Possehl ranks higher on three of the four lists that either are featured on.

325.Grayden Seuferling, RHP, Missouri HS – 692

326.Mark Quatrani, C, Notre Dame – 691

327.Ryan Tayman, C, Cal Poly – 684

328.Luke Pettitte, RHP/1B, Dallas Baptist – 680

329.Ty Burnham, RHP, Arkansas HS – 678

330.Jarren Purify, 2B, Clemson – 662

331.Paul Contreras, OF, Cal State Fullerton – 657

332.Grayson Fitzwater, 1B, VMI – 656

333.Matt Scott, RHP, Georgia – 650

334.Connor Marshburn, RHP, UNC Wilmington – 645

335.Luke Nixon, 2B, NC State – 638

336.Christian Doty, SS, Mississippi HS – 637

337.Josh Gunther, RHP, South Carolina – 629

338.Carson Turnquist, RHP, Cal Poly – 619

339.Alfredo Capacete, RHP, Cal Baptist – 617

340.Michael Malki, RHP, Cal Baptist – 616

341.Michael Anderson, 1B, Penn State – 614

342.David Hinojosa, RHP, New York HS -611

343.Ty Tillery, RHP, Georgia HS – 609

344.Beau Bryans, LHP, Jacksonville State – 607

Tier 15

345.Caden McDonald, 1B, Florida – 595

346.RJ Cope, LHP/1B, Georgia HS – 591

347.Jaxson Wood, OF, Alabama HS – 591

This one came down to the second tie breaker, with Cope winning due to a very high ranking on PG.

348.Tyler Minick, 3B, UConn – 569

349.Javar Williams, OF, Wake Forest – 560

350.Gage Peterson, RHP, Appalachian State – 555

351.Reece Moroney, SS, Rhode Island – 555

Peterson has the higher ranking on four lists.

352.Jacob Haley, RHP, South Alabama – 545

353.Tanner Marsh, SS, Liberty – 539

354.Matthew Mansbery – SS, Ohio HS – 536

355.Landon Koenig, RHP, Mississippi – 533

356.Cash Scarborough, RHP, Texas HS – 530

357.Andrew Gonzalez, 2B, Texas HS – 528

358.Selden Kolkenbeck, RHP, New Jersey HS – 527

359.Cooper Moore, RHP, LSU – 527

Kolkenbeck having the highest ranking of the two is what got him the win in this tie.

360.Aidan Weaver, RHP, Duke – 525

361.Ethan Mendoza, 2B, Texas – 518

362.Matt Conte, C, Wake Forest – 515

363.Dean West, OF, UCLA – 513

364.Aidan Keenan, RHP, Stanford – 512

365.Aidan Teel, OF, Mississippi State – 511

366.Griffin Graves, LHP, Auburn – 510

367.AJ Krodel, RHP, UC Santa Barbara – 510

Graves had the higher ranking on three lists, versus one for Krodel.

368.PJ Moutzouridis, SS, Arizona State – 506

369.Kuhio Aloy, 1B, Arkansas – 502

370.Anthony Potestio, SS, UC San Diego – 495

371.Justin Byrd, RHP, Georgia – 488

372.Clay Burdette, OF, Xavier – 486

373.Deacon Nelson, SS, Ohio HS – 479

374.Vincent Lombardo, OF, Connecticut HS – 474

375.Parker Ishee, RHP, Mississippi JUCO – 469

376.Dominic Pellegrin, SS, Louisiana HS – 465

377.Griffin Stieg, RHP, Virginia Tech – 456

378.Chase Meyer, RHP, formerly West Virginia/MLB Draft League – 454

379.Fabio Bundi, RHP, California JUCO – 454

After each player saw himself higher on two lists, Meyer got the edge due to the highest ranking in any set.

380.Mickey Gilligan, C, New Jersey HS – 452

381.Ethan Wheeler, RHP, Florida HS – 448

382.Brodie Purcell, RHP, Florida State – 448

Wheeler ranked higher on two lists to just one for Purcell.

383.Drew Titsworth, RHP, Clemson – 447

384.Jaden Jackson, OF, California HS – 445

385.Collin Jennings, OF, Illinois – 442

386.Parker Loew, SS, Florida HS – 442

With the highest ranking anywhere, this one went to Jennings.

387.Jordan Ransom, SS, Arizona HS – 441

388.Tyler Pitzer, RHP, Mississippi State – 436

389.Brett Lanman, LHP, Abilene Christian – 433

390.Isaiah James, LHP, North Carolina HS – 424

391.Ezra Liggon, OF, Wisconsin HS – 423

392.Owen Kelly, RHP, Mississippi – 415

393.Ethan Offing, SS, South Carolina HS – 413

394.Colin Driffill, RHP, Nebraska HS – 412

395.Louis Hernandez, 3B, Florida HS – 405

396.Devin Diaz, C, New York HS – 404

397.Connor Shouse, 3B, Texas Tech – 399

398.Jacob Bean, RHP, Louisville – 398

399.Erick Dessens,OF, Sacramento State – 391

Tier 16

400.Hunter Rose, LHP, Arkansas HS – 380

401.Zach Edwards, RHP, Oregon State – 377

402.Garrett Lambert, RHP, Mercer – 377

Edwards ranks higher on three lists to Lambert’s one.

403.Ryan Zuckerman, 3B, Georgia Tech – 371

404.Bryant James, SS, Virginia HS – 365

405.Colton Semmelmann, LHP, Wisconsin HS – 364

406.Jimmy Anderson, SS, Illinois JUCO – 363

407.Hayden Johnson, LHP, Coastal Carolina – 362

408.Tryston McCladdie, SS, Clemson – 361

409.Anthony Quigley, 3B, Florida JUCO – 360

410.Noah Sullivan, 1B, Mississippi State – 358

411.Matt Quintanar, C, Texas Tech – 353

412.Matt Sauser, RHP, UCF – 351

413.Eric Zdunek, OF, California HS – 340

414.Reese Chapman, OF, Tennessee – 340

Zdunek wins this because he has the highest ranking of the two.

415.Conner Griffin, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 339

416.Jacob Johnson, 3B, Saint Mary’s – 336

417.Caden Matusak, SS, Indiana HS – 333

418.Cider Cannon, C, Duke – 332

419.Mason Eckelman, C, Ohio State – 331

420.Josh Skowronski, OF, Winthrop – 328

421.Sean Loggie, LHP, New Jersey HS – 327

422.Cole Hansen, C, Cal Baptist – 327

This one came down to Loggie having the higher peak ranking.

423.Jaden Bastian, OF, Florida – 326

424.Cameron Tarkenton, RHP, North Carolina HS – 325

425.Christian Chatterton, RHP, Auburn – 325

Tarkenton ranks higher on two lists, versus one for Chatterton.

426.Carson May, C, Kansas HS – 323

427.Parker Brosius, OF, Georgia Tech – 321

428.Brady Marconi, C, South Carolina – 319

429.Weston Moss, RHP, Texas A&M – 317

430.Logan Johnstone, OF, Vanderbilt – 316

431.Juriel Collazo, OF, Puerto Rico HS – 311

432.Harrison Ailshie, OF, North Carolina HS – 305

433.Andrew Wiggins, OF, NC State – 302

434.Garrett Luett, 3B, Iowa HS – 302

Wiggins ranked higher on three lists, while Luett only made the ESPN list.

435.Ben Cleary, SS, Santa Clara – 301

436.Colton Coates, SS, Louisiana Tech – 298

437.Julian Sabourin, RHP, Canada HS – 289

438.Taden Krogsgaard, RHP, California HS – 289

Sabourin ranked higher on two lists versus one for Krogsgaard.

439.Braylen Montgomery, OF, Louisiana HS – 288

440.Rintaro Sasaki, 1B, Stanford – 285

441.Kaleb Traylor, 3B, New York HS – 285

Sasaki ranked higher on three lists, while Traylor made just one.

442.Drew Whalen, RHP, Auburn – 284

443.Jax Robinson, C, Texas HS – 283

444.Kael Barney, 1B, Tennessee HS – 282

445.Isaiah Lane, SS, Hope International – 281

446.Michael Graziano, OF, Mercer – 281

Lane is ranked highest on two lists to one for Graziano.

447.Christian Coppola, RHP, Saint Joe’s – 280

448.Troy Southisene, SS, Nevada HS – 277

449.Brenden Olsen, OF, Michigan HS – 274

450.Daniel Kellis, RHP, Pennsylvania HS – 273

451.Brody Schumaker, 2B, California HS – 273

Kellis ranks higher on two lists to just one for Skip Schumaker’s son.

452.Trey Miller, SS, Mississippi HS – 268

453.Brady Neal, C, Alabama – 267

454.Adam Troy, RHP, USC – 267

Neal ranks higher on three lists, while Troy has the edge on one.

455.Lee Garris, 2B, Virginia HS – 266

456.Easton Kitura, 3B, Canada HS – 264

457.Amp Phillips, RHP, South Carolina -260

458.Nick Robert, RHP, Miami – 260

459.Alex Overbay, RHP, Arizona State – 260

Phillips ranks highest on two lists, while Overbay and Roberts each have one. Robert gets the second spot because he has the highest ranking.

460.Brady Murrietta, C, California HS – 258

461.Luke Ekdall, RHP, Texas JUCO – 257

462.Alex Philpott, RHP, South Carolina – 257

Ekdall claims the top spot by being higher on three lists, versus one for Philpott.

463.Cory Les, SS, Illinois HS – 255

464.Owen McMahan, LHP, Tennessee HS – 254

465.Tanner Mally, OF, Western Michigan – 253

466.TJ McQuillan, OF, Indiana HS – 246

467.Porter Buursema, RHP, Georgia Tech – 244

468.Gavin Michaels, SS, Illinois HS – 243

469.Mikey Bell, 3B, Gonzaga – 243

This tie goes to Michaels due to having the highest ranking.

470.Ned Frutchey, RHP, California JUCO – 242

471.Zane Shaw, RHP, Kansas HS – 242

472.Justin Lee, RHP, UCLA – 242

A three-way tie has Frutchey highest in two spots to one each for Lee and Shaw. Shaw gets the second spot due to the highest ranking.

473.Gunnar Alm, OF, North Carolina HS – 241

474.Max Kaufer, C, Wichita State – 236

475.Ben Tryon, 1B, Dallas Baptist – 234

476.Drew Smith, 3B, Oregon – 233

477.JP Robertson, RHP, Mississippi – 231

478.Tristan Bissetta, OF, Mississippi – 231

Robertson ranks higher on two lists, with one for Bissetta.

479.Diego Castellanos, OF, Saint Mary’s – 230

480.Deacon Avery, SS, Florida HS – 230

481.Brayden Harris, RHP, Florida HS -230

Castellanos ranks highest in two spots to one each for Avery and Harris. Avery has the highest ranking on any of the lists, so he claims the second spot.

482.Rob Czarniecki, OF, Indiana HS – 227

483.Hunter Elliott, LHP, Mississippi – 227

Czarniecki ranks higher on two lists, while Elliott has just one.

484.Hideki Prather, C, Cal – 221

485.Tommy Harrison, OF, Miami(OH) – 220

486.Dylan Alonso, RHP, Troy – 220

487.Michael Benzor, LHP, Dallas Baptist – 220

Each of these guys ranks highest on one list. So this comes down to Harrison having the highest ranking, Alonso having the second, and Benzor coming in third.

488.Yodelkis Quevedo, 3B, Florida HS – 218

489.Dillon Moss, C, California HS – 215

490.KJ Scobey, SS, South Carolina – 215

Moss ranks higher on two lists.

491.Wyatt Williams, RHP, Alabama HS – 213

492.Matthew Maxon, RHP, California HS – 212

493.Maika Niu, OF, Arkansas – 211

494.Eric Jeon, 2B, Stanford – 210

495.Ariston Veasey, RHP, Clemson – 208

496.Karson Reeder, RHP/1B, Texas HS – 208

There is no tie breaker here so I gave this tie to the guy who I personally ranked higher. Both players were each on one list, and they came in ranked at the same spot. Veasey ranked 293 on my list, while Reeder was 293 on the PG list.

497.Landon Schutte, RHP, California HS – 206

498.Stone Lawless, C, Tennessee – 202

499.Caleb Trugmann, RHP, California HS – 199

500.Mavrick Rizy, RHP, LSU – 198

The MLB Draft starts tomorrow (Saturday) at 12 noon CT. The Cubs have the 23 pick of the first round along with the 62nd, 75th, and 98th pick over the first three rounds. The 75th pick is a extra pick the Cubs received for losing Kyle Tucker.

After that, the draft continues with rounds 4 through 20 over Saturday and Sunday.

In case you are wondering, the Cubs’ “bonus pool,” or the money they have to give out in bonuses to picks in the first ten rounds, is $9,644,100. They can go up to five percent over that and just pay a fine. The front office does that every year. But if they go five percent or more over that figure, they lose next year’s first-round draft pick and no one wants to do that. So expect the Cubs to spend $10,126,304.99 on signing bonuses for the first 10 rounds.

Players taken after the 10th round can be given up to a $150k bonus with no penalty. Bonus money above that comes out of the bonus pool. Last year, the Cubs gave 14th round pick Kaemyn Franklin $200k and 17th-round pick Logan Poteet $180k.

If you want to follow along, MLB has some very convoluted coverage this year. Moving the start of the Draft to Saturday before the All-Star Game is a change from previous years when it started on Sunday nights. This means the draft will be happening as games are being played, which is not ideal.

The first 90 minutes of the Draft, from noon to 1:30 CT, will be on NBC and Peacock. This should only be the first 10 picks, so the Cubs’ first choice won’t happen here. Coverage then switches to MLB Network, MLB.com or MLB.tv for the rest of the first round and compensation picks. That’s supposed to last from 1:30 to 3:30 CT. Then they will pick rounds two through four from 3:30 to 6:45 CT on Saturday. That will be on-line coverage only.

On Sunday, they’re going to try to cram in rounds 5 through 20, starting at 10:30 a.m. CT and going until around 6:45 p.m. That will be a conference call, but you can listen in on MLB.com or MLB.tv.

So with all that nonsense out of the way, who will the Cubs take with their first-round pick? I’m going to confess that I don’t know and that Cubs scouting director Dan Kantrovitz doesn’t know at this point. He knows who the Cubs will take if they are available at 23, so don’t worry about that. But I don’t.

Just a warning. I’ve never had a lot of success guessing who the Cubs will take over the past 20 years. When the Cubs had the second overall pick in the draft in 2013 it was easy to predict Kris Bryant and I had a strong sense that they’d take Javier Báez two years earlier. Then I had a long streak of making poor predictions before I hit on back-to-back choices of Matt Shaw and Cam Smith. But before I got too cocky, Ethan Conrad wasn’t even on my radar last year.

But here’s a collection of possible picks for the Cubs in the first round with the 23rd pick. Some of them will be selected before pick number 23, but I think all of them have a chance to fall to 23.

Mason Edwards. LHP USC

There’s no player I’ve seen mocked to the Cubs at number 23 more than Mason Edwards, although some more recent reports have given him “helium,” meaning he’s rising on draft boards and may not be around when the Cubs pick at 23. There have been the possibility floated of either the Royals at 6 or the Angels at 12 trying to cut an underslot deal with Edwards if they don’t like anyone else available at that pick. 

Edwards is a 6’2” lefty who led the nation in both strikeouts and strikeout percentage. His best pitch is his wipeout 80-85 mile per hour spike curve that gets a ton of swing and miss. He also has a very good changeup. He has an unusual “rock step” windup and a bit of a cross-body followthrough.

The biggest knock on Edwards is his fastball. While he has touched 95 with it occasionally, mostly it sits at 90-92 mph. Some organizations think they can improve Edwards’ fastball, but that might be tough to do without messing with the curve. 

Edwards also struggles with control and walked a lot of batters at USC, although he did improve somewhat his control in 2026. It’s more of a yellow flag than a red one. He’s also very young for a college junior as he doesn’t turn 21 until three days after the Draft. Edwards appeals to a lot of teams because of his age. 

Zion Rose OF Louisville

Keith Law of The Athletic has in particular linked the Cubs to Rose, which makes sense because he reminds me of a bigger and stronger and right-handed version of Kane Kepley, the Cubs’ second-round last year out of a different ACC school. That Rose is a Chicago native probably also figures in to the connection. His baseball talents had him leave Chicago for IMG Academy down in Florida, which is another school that the Cubs draft a lot of players out of.

Rose missed the first half of the 2026 college season with an ankle injury, but he came back with a vengeance, hitting .417/.491/.646 with six home runs and 24 steals in 36 games. Most of that was done against better ACC competition as well. Rose has a career batting average of .358 over three seasons at Louisville and also hit a productive .295 in the wooden bat Cape Cod League after his freshman season. 

Rose is 6’1” with a quick swing and impressive hand-eye coordination. He makes a ton of gap-to-gap hard contact and is much faster than his 200 pound frame might indicate. Rose does have a tendency to chase pitches out of the zone, which are usually the kinds of pitches that he can make contact with but probably shouldn’t. But that tendency to swing and make contact keeps both his strikeout and walk rates low.

Rose is strong enough to hit for power, but his current swing path is more oriented towards ground balls and line drives. Barring some swing changes, his power is definitely below average for a left fielder, which is his natural position and probably the only one he should be playing in the major leagues. He doesn’t have the arm for right and despite having the speed for center, he hasn’t looked good out there in limited opportunities. 

Aiden Robbins OF Texas

Robbins is a name I’ve seen connected to the Cubs more often lately and he is a player expected to go somewhere between the 20th and 30th overall pick. He had a very good performance in last summer’s Cape Cod League and the Cubs’ scouting metrics place a lot of emphasis on performance in the Cape.

Robbins’ is a big, 6’2” right-hander with easy power to all fields. When he really gets hold of one, he can send it a long way. I saw a highlight of him hitting one up onto the train tracks at Daikin Park. Last year with the Longhorns, he hit .333/.426/.696 with 24 home runs in 60 games. He hit 14 home runs in 26 games on the Cape.

Robbins tends to crush fastballs, but there’s a lot of swing-and-miss against breaking pitches. Robbins chases out of the zone too often. In college, his contact skills were good enough to drive a lot of those pitches, but he will have to make adjustments as a professional. In a perfect world, Robbins makes those adjustments and becomes a 30 HR a year outfielder. The downside is that he gets eaten up in the minors.

Robbins played center for Texas but while he’s not slow, he probably doesn’t have the pure foot speed to be an everyday center fielder in the majors. But he could be a pretty solid left or right fielder. His arm is good for left field and good enough for right.

Daniel Jackson C Georgia.

Jackson had a monster junior season with the Bulldogs, hitting .379/.473/.803 with 32 home runs in 67 games. That performance earned Jackson the Golden Spikes, Dick Howser and Buster Posey Awards.

The 6’2” right-handed-hitting Jackson has plus power to all fields right now and has a chance to grow into more. He’s also has above-average speed—not just “for a catcher” but for anyone. Jackson became the first Division I catcher in history to record a 25-25 season for home runs and stolen bases.

The good news on Jackson kind of ends there. There is a ton of swing and miss in his game. Jackson struck out 20.1 percent of his plate appearances which isn’t bad, but he struck out a lot more against better SEC pitching than he did in non-conference games. The Cubs also put a lot of stock in Cape Cod League performance and Jackson only hit .256 there last summer with a strikeout rate of 32 percent. 

Beyond the very real questions about his hit tool, a lot of observers don’t think Jackson can stick behind the plate. He only moved there full-time as a junior and is still quite raw defensively. Many scouts think that he could learn the position in time, but there might be a Kyle Schwarber situation going on here. Would a team really want Jackson to spend three years or more in the minors learning to catch when his impact bat could help the major league team immediately? So a move to left field seems more likely than not. However, unlike Schwarber, Jackson has the foot speed to be at least average in left. 

Cade Townsend RHP Mississippi

The 6’1” Townsend is a five-pitch pitcher with some impressive stuff. His four-seamer averages around 94-to-96 mph and has touched as high as 98. It is a big straight, however, and probably gets hit a bit more than it should. But his low-90s cutter, high-80s slider and low-80s curve ball have good spin rates and movement. All four pitches grade out as above-average and he also has a solid changeup, giving him a fifth pitch and a good option against left handers.

Townsend doesn’t have the most fluid pitching motion and that has led to control problems, although he did improve in throwing strikes this past season. But he also missed a start with shoulder soreness in March and while he did come back just fine, there are some medical concerns surrounding him. 

Taylor Rabe RHP Mississippi

If the Cubs think Townsend’s upside is a little low and are willing to take a bigger gamble for more upside, his teammate Taylor Rabe may be more their style. Rabe has a plus fastball that sits 96-97 mph and has been known to touch 100. The fastball may not have as much movement on it as you’d like, but he really does locate it well and Rabe has very good control. 

Rabe contrasts that four-seamer with a hard low-90s cutter that gets a lot of swings and misses. He also has a mid-80s slider that is a work-in-progress but Rabe did have more success with it late in the season. Rabe’s changeup is also under construction and he currently only throws it to left-handed hitters.

Despite his 6’5” frame, Rabe has a fairly simple delivery that he repeats well. He dominates the strike zone, striking out 105 batters and walking only 15 last year over 76 innings.

Normally a power pitcher with good control would be long gone by pick 23, but Rabe has an injury history. He missed all of his freshman season and most of his sophomore season with Tommy John surgery. He came back strong this year, but his track record should scare a lot of teams off. There’s a wide range of possible outcomes for Rabe, from ace starter to reliever to someone who can’t stay healthy enough to pitch regularly in the majors.

Hunter Dietz LHP Arkansas

Dietz is another big upside/big injury risk pitcher. The huge (6’6”, 235) lefty managed to pitch only 1.2 innings total over his first two seasons at Arkansas because of a stress fracture in his elbow that required surgery. But he bounced back healthy his junior year and struck out 131 batters over 85.2 innings. His strikeout rate was an impressive 36.2 percent and his walk rate was a solid 8.6 percent.

Dietz has a plus fastball that sits 94-96 mph that can touch 98 with very good movement. Dietz matches that with a power cutter/slider that’s in the upper-80s and also grades out as plus. Dietz also has a more conventional mid-80s slider and a low-80s curve with a two-plane break.

Again, Dietz is a player who would likely be one of the top-ten picks in the draft were it not for his injury history. If he stays healthy as a pro, a mid-rotation starter might be the most likely outcome with the possibility of even more. 

AJ Gracia OF Virginia

The Cubs love guys with good strike zone judgement and good contact rates and that describes Gracia to a T. The 6’3”, 195 left-handed hitter hit .354 at Virginia last year with a .489 OBP and 14 home runs. He walked 47 times compared to just 38 strikeouts, a sign of his selectivity and bat-to-ball skills. 

Gracia has decent power, but he seemingly trades contact for some of that power. There are some observers who feel that Gracia could add some more strength and hit the ball harder for more power in the future. 

Gracia’s speed and arm are below average, so he’ll probably be limited to left field. The ceiling on Gracia isn’t high, but he has a solid chance to be an everyday left fielder with solid on-base and power numbers. 

Some of these players will be taken before the Cubs’ first pick, but I’m fairly confident several of them will still be available at 23. Some other players whom the Cubs might pounce on if they somehow fall to 23 are Coastal Carolina RHP Cameron Flukey, Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian and Florida right-hander Liam Peterson. I think all three of them will be gone by pick 23, but it’s something to keep an eye on.