It’s still early in the whole process
We have already done a mock draft roundup to begin this lovely draft season. High schools around the country are in the midst of their seasons as we speak, colleges are also in the thick of their seasons and that means scouts are able to get a lot of looks at multiple players that will be available for the choosing at All Star weekend.
Side note: why have they moved it there? I mean, I know why: they want it be an event in the same vein as that of the NFL draft, where fans are able to attend and cheer on the player that is now in the organization. These guys don’t play for the team for another 3-4 years and some, especially on a team like the Padres, will never play a game for the team that drafted and developed them. Just go back to the draft in mid June, in the studio, with the commissioner calling the name and moving on.
Anyway, there have only been a few mock draft since the last one we did, so not much has changed. Instead of trying to stretch it, grabbing from the clickbait sites that have no real expertise in the area, let’s look at the few more reliable sources, then round up some of the names on the lower half of top draft pick lists to see who might be available for the Phillies, who draft 26th this year.
MLB Pipeline – Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS
Neyens’ left-handed power rivals that of Holliday, though he comes with more questions about his bat.
USA Today – Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina
The best catcher available falls here, though Stevenson’s throwing ability is his biggest carrying tool at the moment. Can join Cal Raleigh, Patrick Bailey and Ryan Jeffers as big league backstops grown in the Tar Heel State.
Now, in honor of the Phillies choosing 26th this season, here are several lists of top 50/100 prospects for this year’s draft with the 26th player on each list highlighted.
Because we know that’s exactly how this is going to turn out.
MLB Pipeline – Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS
Neyens has long been seen by area scouts as a potentially elite hitter from the left side of the plate with an outstanding approach. He made some adjustments to his setup and swing, adding leverage and starting to show off at least plus raw power and the ability to not only get to it, but to do so to all fields. There was some concern about the increase in his swing-and-miss rate as the summer progressed, though some scouts who know him well think he was gassed after playing what one evaluator estimated was well over 100 games during the summer. Those concerns resurfaced with some lackluster showings at the plate this spring at times.
Baseball America ($) – Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek (Georgia) HS
Pierce is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound shortstop and standout athlete with a well-rounded game. He’s a slick defender at shortstop who has the actions, hands, quickness and arm strength to stick at the position and be an above-average defender. While Pierce’s bat trails behind his defensive game for now, he has a solid batting eye and approach could grow into average raw power and has also turned in 70-grade run times, though he’s more consistently a plus runner.
The Athletic ($) – Slater de Brun, OF, Summit (Oregon) HS
De Brun is small but fairly strong for his size and shows excellent feel to hit, so of course everyone assumes the Diamondbacks are taking him. As you’d hope for someone his size (listed at 5-foot-10, which, well, I need that measuring tape for my own house), he doesn’t chase and he doesn’t miss, going to a super-wide stance with no stride when he gets to two strikes. It’s fringy power that will probably never get to average, while he’s a plus runner who should be a plus defender in center field. Fun-sized hitters like him aren’t for everyone; he does do all of the things you’d expect a top position-player prospect his size to do.
The draft is really far away still and evaluations will firm up once crosscheckers get involved in the final decisions. These may not be the names that are at the top of the Phillies’ board, so it’ll be interesting to see how they lean once the time comes that they are on the clock.