NEWSLETTER
With the Chicago Cubs picking 7th in the first round of this year’s MLB Draft, your specific hope for the makeup of the class would be that it was atypically top-heavy, with, oh, say right around seven or eight obvious super prospects (and no more than that). Reality won’t ever be quite that clean, of course, but so far, the evaluations we’ve seen of the class is that it is, indeed, pretty top-heavy compared to other recent years.
Add another data point to those evaluations, as the MLB Pipeline crew is now saying it. Well, kind of:
Here's our brand-new Top 150 Draft Prospects list, which hints at a potentially unprecedented top of the first round: https://t.co/LtZsM9DAMf pic.twitter.com/qXB55095qH
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 26, 2022
Although Pipeline, like other services, is high on the top seven to ten prospects in the class, when it uses the word “unprecedented,” it’s talking about the fact that all of the top ten picks could be bats – something that has never happened before in draft history.
High school righty Dylan Lesko is the only pitcher who is a consensus top ten prospect in the draft by talent, but he’s been out several weeks with a sore arm. Pretty risky top ten pick.
Here’s how Pipeline is ranking the top ten right now:
1. Druw Jones, OF (Wesleyan, Ga.)
2. Elijah Green, OF (IMG Academy, Fla.)
3. Termarr Johnson, 2B (Mays, Ga.)
4. Jackson Holliday, SS (Stillwater, Okla.)
5. Brooks Lee, SS (Cal Poly)
6. Jacob Berry, 3B/OF (Louisiana State)
7. Jace Jung, 2B (Texas Tech)
8. Kevin Parada, C (Georgia Tech)
9. Dylan Lesko, RHP (Buford, Ga.)
10. Daniel Susac, C (Arizona)
All are names we’ve heard some things about, and I appreciated this quote from an unnamed NL scouting official: “The hitters will go high. Druw Jones is the best talent, and then there’s a debate. Elijah Green has improved this spring. Termarr Johnson has a great swing. Jackson Holliday is flying up boards. Brooks Lee, Jacob Berry, Jace Jung, Kevin Parada . . . There’s a lot to choose from.”
Eight names mentioned right there. The four big prep bats and four of the big college bats. And if you happen to really like those eight names – and if there’s debate about all of them as the possible second-best player in the draft – well, then it’s a good draft to be picking 7th, as the Cubs are. Since not all teams will rank their big boards exactly the same, it’s not at all unreasonable to guess that the Cubs will be able to land the third or fourth or fifth best prospect on their board at pick seven.
