Inbox: These Draft prospects can lead schools to Omaha (2024)

A year ago, in our first MLB Pipeline Inbox for June, Jim Callis was all in on the Draft, with all four of the questions he answered having some connection to the Draft. He tried to compare Elly De La Cruz to last year’s talented top of the class and (rightfully) concluded he has more tools than any of the hitters taken at the top of the 2023 first round before moving on to discussions that were directly about members of that class.

I’m not going 100 percent Draft here with our first Inbox in June, but I’m getting there. Think of it as an old album, where the B side is just as good as the A. The guys tackled a question about Red Sox prospects on this week’s MLB Pipeline Podcast, and I have a pair of Minor League prospect questions as well. But I’m going to kick things off with a pair of Draft ones.

Which prospects in the NCAA Tournament are you expecting big things from (that are outside the top 12 prospects that you and MLB Pipeline have listed)? -- @StevieDAles97

Gotta love when Stevie D. makes it easy to plug a current story on the site. Based on this week’s pod, we recently posted a story of the top dozen prospects still playing in Super Regionals this weekend. That didn’t satisfy Stevie D., and who am I to deprive him of more names. Here’s a quartet of other Draft prospects who could come up big and help their schools make it to Omaha for the College World Series, with their rankings on our Draft Top 200 in parentheses.

Jacob Cozart, C, North Carolina State (No. 42)
One of three backstops to be named a finalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year, Cozart is the only one of that trio (Sam Houston’s Walker Janek and Cal Poly’s Ryan Stafford are the other finalists) still playing. Other top college catching prospects like Stanford’s Malcolm Moore and Cal’s Caleb Lomavita are also spectators, so Cozart has the chance to stand out while they are on the sidelines.

Blake Burke, 1B, Tennessee (No. 64)
While Christian Moore and Billy Amick get the first-round buzz for the Volunteers, this is a stacked lineup. And Burke has been really good (.364/.439/.676) this season and he was second on the team with his .341 average in SEC play. He only went 3-for-13 in Regional play so he’ll be looking to make up for that this weekend.

Ethan Anderson, C/1B, Virginia (No. 75)
Anderson has now gotten on base in 30 straight games for Virginia after going 4-for-11 in Regional play. He’s hit .333/.435/.521 overall this year. He’s been DHing only in postseason play, so scouts may not get to see him behind the dish much more to evaluate that part of his game, but he could certainly boost his stock with a hot stick.

Aiden May, RHP, Oregon State (No. 82)
May’s Regional start wasn’t great, though he did get the win to extend his record this season to 7-0. He missed a month with an elbow strain, but had a stretch of four starts from April 26 through May 16 where he looked like one of the best college starters in the country, allowing just one earned run (two total) over 27 1/3 innings, yielding only 16 hits and five walks while striking out 37. He primarily uses a fastball that sits around 94 mph and a plus low-80s slider.

Are teams hesitant to draft a 1B this year? Or are they still high on Cags and Kurtz? -- @Blahbla92342524

This would be a tough year to hesitate to take top college bats at positions that you might not think you’d want at the top of the Draft, since there are several who profile at first and second base. Travis Bazzana and JJ Wetherholt will likely play second at the next level while Jac Caglianone and Nick Kurtz, the two you ask about, are certainly first basem*n as professionals.

When a player is limited to that corner infield spot, there is more pressure on the bat. If you’re going to take a 1B in the top 10, he better come with some serious power and run-producing bona fides. The good thing is both Cags and Kurtz have pop to spare, with Caglianone smashing 64 homers over his last two seasons and Kurtz shaking off a slow start this year to hit 22 (and 46 over the last two).

Will the big league struggles of former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson and No. 3 overall selection Andrew Vaughn make teams pause? Only time will tell, but again, you can only pick from the crop given to you and both of those bats belong in the top 10, for sure.

As of now, it seems like Caglianone is holding steady as a legitimate top five selection, with both Jim Callis and I having him go in that range in our mock drafts to date. Kurtz might be a little tougher to place. We’ve had him as high as four; I had him going No. 6 overall last week, but Jim is dropping him down a little bit in his most recent mock. We still think he ends up going early enough, so I guess this is a long-winded way to say, “Yes, teams are still high on the first basem*n.”

My question is regarding Logan Evans of the Seattle Mariners. How does he go from being a 12th round pick last year to complete dominance at the AA level. Is he on your radar and will we see him on a top 100 list soon? --@Ms4Life_

Any shot of Rockies prospect Sean Sullivan getting some top 100 love? Has had an incredible year with, a Crazy K/BB walk rate -- @treat_12

I wanted to bundle these last two questions together because both were just featured in our story that picked one 2023 draftee from each organization off to a good start (I can’t get too far removed from Draft content, sorry.).

The Mariners thought they might have more than met the eye when they drafted Evans, thanks to his athleticism and extension, hoping he was better than the underwhelming numbers he put up while at the University of Pittsburgh. Clearly, they’re ecstatic with how he threw this spring, impressing enough to send him to Double-A out of the gate, where he’s been extraordinary (1.18 ERA., .190 BAA, 0.98 WHIP). He sits around 94 mph with a ton of sink and run to his fastball and the Mariners’ No. 19 prospect has a very good slider and an interesting cutter as well. His stuff is up a tick from last year and he’s showing he can hold it deep into starts.

Sullivan’s success in the High-A Northwest League may not be quite as surprising as a second-round selection out of the Wake Forest pitching lab, but it’s still been impressive as he’s teamed up with first-rounder Chase Dollander in Spokane’s rotation. Currently No. 13 on the Rockies’ list, the lefty has posted a 2.37 ERA over eight starts with that “crazy” 57/4 K/BB rate spanning 49 1/3 IP. He has a very deceptive fastball and excellent changeup as his two best offerings.

While both are excelling at their respective levels and will undoubtedly move up their team lists when we re-rank after the Draft, I don’t think either has entered Top 100 consideration just yet. Give Evans a slight nod because he’s doing it a higher level, and if it continues for both, they may force their way into the conversation, but neither hurler has the kind of wow stuff that would make you think right away that he’s going to be a very successful big league starter. We’ve certainly been wrong before, especially with pitching, but know that we are tracking both of them as starters with up arrows next to their names.