2023 MLB Draft

[sk7326]

Looks like a very strong one for college hitters. In particular, the impacts of the 2020 draft on high schoolers shows as a lot of guys who might have signed in a normal year went to college and are juniors now.

 

Sox pick 14. At the Athletic, Keith Law put out his first mock draft (separate from ranking prospects - it's the intel on what front offices are likely to do)

 

https://theathletic.com/4539593/2023/05/24/mlb-mock-draft-dylan-crews-pirates/

 

14. Boston Red Sox – Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford

I think this is pretty open, with any of the guys I have just ahead of Boston’s pick also possibilities, as well as Shaw. I could see the Red Sox being on Kevin McGonigle given their predilection for high school hitters with potential plus hit tools with their first picks in 2021 (Nick Yorke) and 2022 (Mikey Romero).

 

Names in 10-14 if you want to burrow

 

Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Ole Miss

Arjun Nimmala, SS, Strawberry Crest HS (Dover, FL)

Colin Houch, SS, Parkview HS (Lilburn, GA)

Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland

 

We know the Red Sox under Bloom have focused on bringing in middle guys who can hit, and count on development to coach up the power and lift.

[Randy Red Sox]

just what the Sox need--another SS

[moonslav59]

I've always felt like a team should just take the best player and not think about positions, and most of the best everyday players play SS.

 

I hope, when it is their pick they have a pitcher as the best available.

 

I hope even more, they get it right.

[Hugh2]

just what the Sox need--another SS

 

They should absolutely 100% take a short stop if that's the best player available.

 

Best. Player. Available. Every time.

[Hugh2]

I've always felt like a team should just take the best player and not think about positions, and most of the best everyday players play SS.

 

I hope, when it is their pick they have a pitcher as the best available.

 

I hope even more, they get it right.

 

Exactly, the vast majority of position players drafted are up the middle guys. Guys move off of position all the time, a guy you drafted at SS could be your right fielder one day (Mookie Betts), in another lifetime he may have been your 2nd baseman. Also, this is baseball and not the other sports, these guys are 4-6 years away from being broken-in contributing MLB players so drafting for need is senseless. And after all that, you can always trade strengths for weaknesses. Sox seem to do better than just about anyone out there at drafting position players.

[moonslav59]

Exactly, the vast majority of position players drafted are up the middle guys. Guys move off of position all the time, a guy you drafted at SS could be your right fielder one day (Mookie Betts), in another lifetime he may have been your 2nd baseman. Also, this is baseball and not the other sports, these guys are 4-6 years away from being broken-in contributing MLB players so drafting for need is senseless. And after all that, you can always trade strengths for weaknesses. Sox seem to do better than just about anyone out there at drafting position players.

 

Keep doing what you do best and work on improving areas you don't.

[sk7326]

I've always felt like a team should just take the best player and not think about positions, and most of the best everyday players play SS.

 

I hope, when it is their pick they have a pitcher as the best available.

 

I hope even more, they get it right.

 

I don't think the team thinks about the position so much as where the best athletes are. The time to the majors of prospects is such that you can't draft for need - unless you are dumb.

 

The thing is the Red Sox do seem to be trying to build a competency here - that they can teach guys with good hit tools to get into their power and lift. We will see how that goes.

 

Like, Cleveland has developed a reputation for being able to draft these command and control college pitchers and coach up velocity.

[Larry Cook]

Future star series has us taking chase Davis of arizona at 14.

[sk7326]

The Athletic Keith Law Mock Draft 2.0 (the mock drafts are reporting and intel, not a "should" pick) https://theathletic.com/4620994/2023/06/20/mlb-mock-draft-first-round-changes/

 

14. Boston - Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland

 

Shaw is one of the best hitters in the college class, with hard contact and power, but needs to play somewhere other than shortstop. He’s one of many college bats I’ve heard linked to Boston, along with Troy and Taylor, all of whom are good batted-ball data guys as well as hitters scouts believe will continue to hit in pro ball.

 

Taylor is Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU

Troy is Tommy Troy, SS/3B, Stanford

 

Apparently it is a very deep crop of college bats this year - the fruits of the pandemic mini draft.

[notin]

just what the Sox need--another SS

 

Plenty of players move to other positions at some point in their MiLB careers. In general, shortstops have an easier transition than most…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Plenty of players move to other positions at some point in their MiLB careers. In general, shortstops have an easier transition than most…

 

... unless they're trying to convert to a tallstop.

[Hugh2]

Plenty of players move to other positions at some point in their MiLB careers. In general, shortstops have an easier transition than most…

 

The scouting report even says will likely move off of SS at the pro level. It helps to read up on these guys other than just reading their names and position.

[sk7326]

ESPN's mock 2.0 - Kiley McDaniel

 

14. Boston Red Sox

Matt Shaw, 2B, Maryland

 

I think the Red Sox are looking for a college bat here to follow with some overslot prep position players at later picks -- their basic blueprint in the past few drafts. Wth Shaw, Tommy Troy, Wilson and Schanuel all still on the board, they get their pick of this demographic.

[mvp 78]

Shaw is probably a 2B, but has good speed and played HS ball in Worcester. Nice to get a local kid.

[notin]

... unless they're trying to convert to a tallstop.

 

Maybe, but converting to shortgo isn’t too rough…

[sk7326]

The Athletic's Mock 3.0

 

14. Boston Red Sox — Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU

DOB: 5-22-2002 | Height: 6-1 | Weight: 180

 

The Red Sox might be the floor for Shaw, and they’ve been linked to Taylor, Troy, Bradfield, and Kevin McGonigle as well. I haven’t heard any pitchers here.

 

Scouting Report: Taylor has a very pretty left-handed swing with good loft in the finish to drive the ball in the air, with some of the best batted-ball data in the college class, from launch angle to hard-hit rates and more. He had a low BABIP this year of just .307, inconsistent with how hard he hits the ball and how often he does so. He also slumped in the middle of the season, but had a huge Big 12 tournament, going 8 for 16 with four doubles and three homers, with a .305/.430/.650 line heading into the regionals, and a career-best 21 homers. He’s just an average runner but savvy on the bases, with a perfect 23 for 23 record on the bases his last two years at TCU. He’s a solid-average defender at third with a 55 or 60 arm, although he’s athletic and rangy enough to become a plus defender with the right coaching. Taylor projects as a solid-average regular, with a couple of ways he could turn into something more.

 

ESPN's Mock 3.0

 

14. Boston Red Sox

Matt Shaw, 2B, Maryland

 

I'll keep Shaw here as the Red Sox are mostly tied to safer position-player types at this pick with bolder choices coming down the board. One of the wildest rumors I've heard all spring is that Arizona State 2B Luke Keaschall could be a Nick Yorke-esque pick here. I buy that Boston likes him, is worried he won't get to their next pick, and is thinking about it, but it's just a little too farfetched to project right now. I've given Keaschall to them in the second round.

[Hugh2]

Kiley McDaniels has Matt Shaw going to Boston as well. Here's another that's not the same.

 

Keith Law:

 

Boston Red Sox – Colt Emerson, SS, John Glenn High (New Concord, Ohio)

Yes, another infielder for the Red Sox, although I don’t think you can have too many good infield prospects, ever. Emerson’s one of the younger players in the draft class and there are at least some scouts who think he’s one of the better pure hitters. I’m only hearing them with hitters, including college guys Shaw, Brock Wilken and Chase Davis; and high schoolers with Bryce Eldridge – who supposedly wants to go to a team that will also let him pitch – Houck and Mitchell as other possibilities.

[Hugh2]

All the mock drafts have a Plethora of position player infield players. That also happens to be the Sox M.O. so Maybe they cut a deal with whoever will take the least, or maybe they go after someone who falls.

[moonslav59]

The Sox have 3 picks in the top 83:

14.

50.

83.

 

But, we do have 6 in the top 133:

115. 4th rounder

132. Comp for Bogey

133. Comp for Nate

 

The draft starts Sunday evening.

[Dipre]

I like Taylor because he has a beautiful swing and is pretty athletic, with good power for his smallish frame which has some potential for more filling out. There's no way, however, that he makes it to the Sox, who are more likely than not going after another projectable middle-line (2b/SS/CF) type guy. Also not big on Emerson from what I-ve read.

[Hugh2]

http://news.soxprospects.com/2023/07/2023draft.html?m=1

[Larry Cook]

I would like to see us draft houck in the first round, followed Owen Hunter of Vanderbilt

[sk7326]

Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

 

Law's scouting report https://theathletic.com/live-blogs/mlb-draft-2023/GepZBt2vwRFx/ ... Law's #6

 

Teel might have been a first-rounder had the 2020 spring season taken place, as he was already on everyone’s radar coming out of the previous summer and fall as a very athletic catcher who looked like he’d hit and would definitely stay at the position. He went undrafted in the five-round affair that June, then hit .335/.416/.526 as a freshman at Virginia, catching 20 games and establishing himself as a likely first-rounder for 2023 even that far ahead. After a slight dip in his sophomore production, he hit .414/.480/.668 through the regular season for the Cavaliers, with just a 12 percent strikeout rate, showing excellent bat speed and pitch recognition, with the bat control to even make some decent contact on pitches out of the zone. His swing produces a lot of line-drive contact and he might have another half-grade of power coming if he gets a little stronger. Behind the plate, he’s agile with a plus arm and receives well, needing some work on framing and handling pitches low in the zone, which he tends to catch by dropping the glove first before moving back up towards the bottom of the zone. I’ve compared his ceiling before to a left-handed-hitting Jason Kendall, a guy who puts the ball in play a ton, runs very well for a catcher, and is an asset on defense.

 

Kiley McDaniel, ESPN ... McDaniel's #7

 

Hit: 35/50, Power: 40/55, Speed: 45/40, Field: 50/55, Throw: 55/55

 

Teel shot up boards this spring as he continued to improve defensively, grading as plus for some scouts. Offensively, I don't love what he did with his swing (in short, he could shorten his hand path and may have to in the upper minors) but it's worked for him this year and the offensive tools have been real since high school.

Edited July 10, 2023 by sk7326

[sk7326]

Nazzan Zanetello

 

#33 on Law's Top 100 he sez

 

Zanetello is one of the best pure athletes in the draft class in how he moves – everything is incredibly quick-twitch, from his throwing release to his first step to his hand acceleration at the plate. He’s lean and projectable at 6-foot-2/6-foot-3, and his bat speed is impressive, with a very small load and simple start from which he explodes forward. He played quite a bit last summer and rarely chased pitches out of the zone, but there was some in-zone miss on fastballs, which might be a matter of timing. The bet here is that his athleticism will allow him to stay with better and better pitching as he moves up the ladder, and to make adjustments at the plate and in the field, because right now his physical tools are ahead of his baseball ones, like hit or power. He’s committed to Arkansas.

 

McDaniel sez (his #64)

 

64. Nazzan Zanetello (18.1), SS, Christian Brothers HS (MO), Arkansas commit

 

His athletic testing is excellent and he creates a ton of bat speed with a small hand move, but scouts are split on how good his tools translate to baseball.

[mvp 78]

SoxProspects will most likely rank Teel #6 on their site per what they said on their podcast. Teel should start in Greenville next season and could get through the system pretty quickly. Has better all around tools than the other catchers in the system right now.

 

Zanetello is a pure athlete who will split time between SS and CF. Probably signs for over slot.

[Dipre]

Zanetello was not even in my radar. Like Teel, I didn't think he'd make it to the Red Sox, as he was projected as even a possible reach in the 1st round for teams looking for projectable athletes.

[moonslav59]

SoxProspects will most likely rank Teel #6 on their site per what they said on their podcast. Teel should start in Greenville next season and could get through the system pretty quickly. Has better all around tools than the other catchers in the system right now.

 

Zanetello is a pure athlete who will split time between SS and CF. Probably signs for over slot.

 

Where might Zanetello place? I'm thinking Teel should be 7th, and since the next guys will be pushed back, Z might be placed just in front of Paulino at #18.

[mvp 78]

Where might Zanetello place? I'm thinking Teel should be 7th, and since the next guys will be pushed back, Z might be placed just in front of Paulino at #18.

 

No idea. They didn't say. 18 in front of Paulino?

[sk7326]

Zanetello was not even in my radar. Like Teel, I didn't think he'd make it to the Red Sox, as he was projected as even a possible reach in the 1st round for teams looking for projectable athletes.

 

Zanetello would have really benefited by Lowell still being around ... le sigh

[sk7326]

No idea. They didn't say. 18 in front of Paulino?

 

That seems fair. Right now - he is all athlete ... but probably starts you in the 18-24 range until his on-field resume starts to build up