Twins Daily 2022 Draft Coverage, April 14

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The draft is a short three months away. Over the last week, there have been a number of newsworthy draft notes. Continue reading to learn more.

Shortly after submitting last week’s piece, Georgia prep pitcher Dylan Lesko set the internet ablaze with a dominating performance in the NHSI tournament in Cary, North Carolina. Over four innings and 51 pitches, Lesko struck out seven and allowed two hits, hit a batter, and gave up a run. He had 12 swinging strikes that can be seen below.

Over the next couple days I read about comparisons to Stephen Strasburg as well as prep pitchers who have gone very high in the draft over the last decade. You can read more about Lesko and other prospects seen at NHSI here.

Of course, pitchers are fragile and earlier this week ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reported that Lekso would miss his next start due to arm soreness.

At this time, I’m not going to react in any other way besides bumping him up my prospect list. High school coaches, typically, keep the player’s best interest in mind. College coaches… well, they don’t. Assuming Lesko returns to health, there is no reason to believe he won’t be the first pitcher taken.

Chase DeLauter, an outfielder from James Madison, was considered a potential Top 10 pick before a horrible opening weekend. He was starting to help his draft stock before the news dropped that he may miss the rest of the season.

We’ve mentioned Brandon Barriera in this space in recent weeks. In a year where pitching is light, Barriera is deciding to shut it down early and prepare for his next step. If there’s one school that can persuade top prospects to not go pro, it’s Vanderbilt. I don’t think that will be the case here.

And finally, because it’s never too early to think about next year’s draft, Ole Miss shortstop Jake Gonzalez is a dude and may be the early favorite to go first overall.

Only a few changes in my top 10.

Jeremy's Top 10 MLB Draft Prospects 

1.) Druw Jones, OF, Georgia prep (Vanderbilt commit)
2.) Termarr Johnson, 2B, Georgia prep
3.) Elijah Green, OF, Florida prep (Miami commit) (Baseball America breaks down his game.)
4.) Dylan Lesko, SP, Georgia prep (Vanderbilt commit)(Baseball America breaks down his game.) (previously: 5)
5.) Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly (previously: 4)
6.) Jacob Berry, 3B, LSU 
7.) Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech
8.) Jace Jung, 3B, Texas Tech
9.) Andrew Susac, C, Arizona 
10.) Jackson Holliday, SS, Oklahoma prep (Oklahoma State commit)
 

MOCK DRAFTS / PROSPECT BOARDS

• Baseball America - v2.0 (4/1/22) /  v1.0 (2/10/22) / Top 200 (3/14/22)
• MLB.com - Callis - Top 10 (12/15/21), Mayo - Top 20 (7/20/21) / Top 100
• The Athletic - Law Top 30 (3/10/22)
• ESPN - Early Draft Rankings (7/26/21) ($$$ - ESPN+) / McDaniel’s Draft Rankings (2/24/22)
• Fangraphs - The Board / 2022 MLB Draft Rankings and Offseason List Primer (11/30/21) 
• Just Baseball v1.0 (2/10/22)
• My MLB Draft (1/18/22)
• Prospects Live v1.0 (1/4/22)

 

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[RJA]

Great update, Jeremy.  I like your top 10.  I would be comfortable with any of these ten for the Twins, though in terms of need, I would prefer a SS or catcher over third baseman.  But, if Berry is truly the best pure hitter in the collegiate ranks, he would be a fast mover.  Holliday is definitely moving up, so it will be interesting to see where all these folks end up in your final rankings.  

[Dman]

Twins will probably take Susac if he is there I think Parada is going to go earlier.  I really like the lefty Barriera.  If he can hit 99 he should be able to maintain 94 -95 and for a lefty those are good numbers.  He has three plus pitches already.  Pitching currency is the gold standard I would double down on pitching.  Especially since it is a weaker class for pitching.  Lets zag instead of zig.

The farm is hurting for up the middle players so I guess if they find a bat they like they probably go bat but like I said I really like Barriera.  Good lefties are hard to find and the farm is in short supply as well.

[2wins87]

This coverage has been great Jeremy.

Early on it seemed like one of the college hitters was destined for the #8 pick.  It's a type they seem very comfortable scouting and there seems to be depth this year.  But some other interesting options have emerged too.

I still like the idea of either Parada or Susac. There is no one in the Twins system right now that I can point to that really projects as more than a third catcher. I think developing catcher defense is still an organizational strength even after the departure of Tanner Swanson, so I think they could do well with a bat first catcher (either of whom are mostly expected to stick at catcher anyway).

I've started to get pretty interested in Matt Holliday's son Jackson though. It seems the consensus top 3 high school hitters will most likely be gone, but Holliday looks like someone who will have impact on both offense and defense.

I don't think this front office is going to be in on one of the high school arms, but they do still sometimes surprise.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

Shortly after submitting last week’s piece, Georgia prep pitcher Dylan Lesko set the internet ablaze with a dominating performance in the NHSI tournament

He's finishing his senior year, he's pitching at the highest level of high-school competition, and he still found time to write a piece for this website? What a prodigy! ?

[AlwaysinModeration]

If four HS players get taken before the Twins, and they want to go college player, they essentially have the fourth pick.  Now, what are the chances that either Lee or Parada fall to them?  Maybe there is a late riser like Barriera sneaks up the list ahead of their pick.