2020 MLB Draft Focus: College Pitchers
Today we start our look at the top prospects for the MLB draft with college pitchers. Find out look at high school arms and the best hitters on the OTBB homepage over the next couple days
Asa Lacy, LHP, Texas A&M
I first started watching Asa Lacy pitch last year and was thoroughly impressed at the raw talent he had. Fast forward to 2020 and in the early going Asa had much better command and had improved his secondary pitches. He checks almost every box imaginable as a pitcher and is a workhorse who’s ultra competitive, with a chance to have 3 to 4 plus pitches. His fastball that tops out around 98, to go along with a changeup and slider, and he is also working on a curveball.
Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia
Considered by many in the industry to be the pre-season #1 draft prospect his value took a bit of a hit due to some outings in which he got hit a little bit more than expected. He still has one of the most impressive repertoires out there and might still have pitched his way back up to the top had it not been for a shortened season. There’s still a lot to like with Hancock as he has a chance to have 4 plus pitches to go along with perhaps the best command in this year’s draft class. His fastball sits 94-97, and he also uses a plus slider and plus changeup as well as a curveball.
Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville
Detmers was easily one of my favorite pitchers to watch pitch over the last year and a half as he makes it look so easy. He’s never going to blow guys away with velocity as he typically sits 90-91 but he commands all of his pitches extremely well. His best pitch being his plus to double plus curveball that he’s able to locate almost anywhere and use it in any count. He also mixes in a nice change up to help keep hitters off balance well. The 2019 ACC Pitcher of the Year he had a great chance to repeat this season and will more than likely be a top 10 overall pick.
Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota
Max has been one of the more consistent college performers over the last few seasons starring as a two way player for Minnesota and starring as both a closer as a freshman and starter as a sophomore and junior while being named to Team USA’s Collegiate National Team the past few summers. This season however his stuff improved a lot. He owns the best slider amongst college pitchers and has impressive velocity on his fastball that sits 93-97, and he’ll also mix in a changeup. It’s yet to be determined if he has what it takes to be a starting pitcher but he has all the upside to be considered a top 10 overall pick on draft day.
Garrett Crochet, LHP, Tennessee
High Risk, High Upside Arm. Crochet has shown flashes that would allow him to be considered a top 10 overall pick but he’s struggled to stay healthy and in fact made only one abbreviated start this season. Still, the upside he brings especially as a lefty is rare, he’ll top out at 100 mph with his fastball and has shown the potential of having a plus slider and a plus changeup. He’ll need to stay healthy and continue to improve on his command in order to reach his ceiling which is amongst the highest in this year’s draft class.
Cole Wilcox, RHP, Georgia
Cole is a draft eligible Sophomore who had a chance to really see his stock rise this season as he showed improved control and command of his impressive power stuff which includes a fastball that tops out at 100 mph, a plus slider, and solid changeup. Since he’s a draft eligible Sophomore there is some signability risk but he has tremendous upside.
Bobby Miller, RHP, Louisville
Miller has perhaps the most consistent high end velocity I’ve seen among all right handed pitchers as he seems to consistently sit around 97 mph or faster. While there is some reliever risk with him as he’s yet to have a definite put away pitch with his secondary pitches, he’s the type of player you don’t want to sleep on because he’s continued to get better every year. Has shown the ability to pitch at a very high level in big game situations like last year when he almost no hit East Carolina to help Louisville advance to the College World Series. In my opinion he’s kind of a sleeper that’s somewhat reminiscent of Walker Buehler at this same point as an amateur.
Chris McMahon, RHP, Miami
This year compared to the past few seasons seemed like a revelation when it came to Chris McMahon this season. I’d watched Chris McMahon in the past and he was just okay, this year was gonna be special. He had seemingly everything working almost every time out this year and absolutely impressed with his command and arsenal of pitches. His fastball sat in the mid 90s with good movement and both his slider and changeup looked like plus pitches and he was able to throw all 3 for strikes consistently. Super exciting arm that could be amongst the first college arms taken after the big 4.
Cade Cavalli, RHP, Oklahoma
Cade Cavalli is probably one of the more polarizing pitchers in this year’s draft class, there’s things to like with him like his fastball that sits 92-96 and he can at times throw even harder but it lacks movement at times and gets hit more than expected and he’s also struggled with health issues throughout his time at Oklahoma. He has a chance to have 4 plus pitches (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup) but will need to stay healthy and improve in order to reach his potential of a mid to front of the rotation starter.
Tanner Burns, RHP, Auburn
At times Burns showed some glimpses of Casey Mize throughout his collegiate career but lacked consistency and similar to Mize had experienced some durability issues. Both have plus fastballs, plus sliders, and solid changeups but Burns will need to prove he can maintain his stuff from start to start while showing he’s durable enough to be a part of a big league rotation.
OTHER POTENTIAL 1ST ROUND ARMS
J.T. Ginn, RHP, Mississippi State
Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, S. Carolina
Slade Cecconi, RHP, Miami
Bryce Jarvis, RHP, Duke
Clayton Beeter, RHP, Texas Tech
