![]() After a slight dip in his sophomore production, he 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. He went undrafted in the five-round affair that June, then hit. 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. If you’re going into the draft hoping you can find a Justin Verlander type, he’s your guy. Other than the development of that third pitch, I don’t see much that can hold him back beyond the injury risk of any hard-throwing pitcher. He hides the ball extremely well behind his body, so the two pitches he throws should continue to play well even against better hitters, but I did see some guys cheat a little on the fastball because he barely uses a changeup. His delivery is fairly compact for a big guy and he has at least above-average control, with the potential for more. After transferring from the Air Force Academy, where he sat 92-95 mph as a sophomore with a 55 slider, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound right-hander has averaged about 98 mph this year with an easy plus slider, helping him strike out just over 50 percent of batters he’s faced coming out of the regular season he had 164 strikeouts, 40 more than any other pitcher in Division I. ![]() Skenes is the hardest-throwing amateur starter I’ve ever seen, even beating out Hunter Greene and Gerrit Cole when I saw Skenes pitch at the Box this April, he hit 100 or 101 seven times in the first inning and didn’t throw a fastball under 96. That defensive question is what really puts him behind Crews for me in the end, even with a slightly higher offensive ceiling, with more power and speed. Despite that, however, he plays left for Florida, and hasn’t looked great out there, giving some Derek Fisher vibes (another 70 runner who just wasn’t very good anywhere in the outfield). Langford is a 70 runner at full strength - he missed about two weeks this spring after fouling a ball off his … well, I don’t think he was wearing protective equipment, and while he didn’t have surgery, he wasn’t running quite as well after the injury. This year, he’s competing with Crews, who has a longer track record and slightly better performance, especially in getting on base, as well as maybe the hardest-throwing amateur starter ever and two elite high school outfielders. In a typical year, he’d be the no-doubt first pick, but this is an atypical year in all the best ways, with five players I think would reasonably be in the discussion for the first overall pick in the majority of draft classes. He’s even outslugged Crews this year within the SEC. 373/.480/.762 in 114 games for the Gators, with 42 homers and more walks (80) than strikeouts (78), while playing in, yes, the best conference in college baseball. ![]() 250 as a freshman for Florida … because he went 1-for-4. He should be the first pick, and should be in the majors before the end of 2024. He's put up numbers, with the underlying metrics to back it up, in the best conference in college baseball for three years. Even if he has to go to right field, he’d be a plus defender there, and the bat will play anywhere on the diamond. He’s a 55 runner who’s actually picked up some speed since high school, benefiting from LSU’s strength and conditioning program to get stronger without getting slower, and making himself a viable candidate to stay in center in pro ball, although he might be bumped to a corner by a truly plus defender. He destroyed non-SEC pitching, and while he was worse within the conference, he still led SEC hitters in average and OBP through the end of the regular season, and ranked seventh in slugging, with more walks (27) than strikeouts (22). As much as I dislike seeing kids forego a chance for an MLB team to offer them a ton of cash, Crews’ decision certainly worked out, as he’s the best prospect in this draft class, the most likely player to go 1-1, and going to get a decisively larger signing bonus than he could possibly have gotten three years ago.Ĭrews has performed for three years in Baton Rouge, hitting for average, getting on base, posting solid contact rates and even playing above-average defense in center. After the pandemic, he decided to withdraw from the draft and go to LSU. He started that spring poorly, swinging and missing more than expected. Crews was on scouts’ radar as early as his junior year of high school, when his ability to hit and potential for power and to perhaps stay in center marked him as a likely first-round pick when he graduated in 2020.
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