Nationals Arm Race

"… the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same – pitching.” — Earl Weaver

2023 Draft Coverage: Local draft-prospects to keep an eye on

3 comments

First draft of this post?  8/10/21 when Perfect Game updated its Virginia rankings for the 2021 prep season and added in some top-level DC area players.

The College players are mostly drawn from my 2020 Local High School draft coverage, listing guys who were HS seniors in 2020 who went to 3-year programs and who are now draft eligible.

2023 could be a real banner year for DMV guys; we legitimately have two potential 1st round high school players, which I can’t remember the last time happened, as well as several collegiate 1st rounders who project as high as top 10.

Reminder: on the Draft Tracker resource, I have a tab specifically for DC/MD/VA local players that I generally try to track each year. I’ve spec’d out the top prospects who are likely to drafted alraedy for 2023.

Major Local College Draft Prospects for 2023

  • Kyle Teel, C/Util UVA (by way of NJ hs): 2022 2nd team Pre-season d1baseball AA as a sophomore. top of 2023 collegiate draft class per D1baseball Feb 2022. Projecting as mid 1st rounder by BA for 2023. Keith Law projects as high as 6th overall.
  • Matt Shaw, 2B UMaryland. top 100 of class of 2023 per D1Baseball. Mid 2nd rounder per BA, moving up late 2022 per MLBPipeline (late 1st rounder). Law now has him mid-1st rounder.
  • Jake Gelof, 3B UVA; drastically improved power numbers sophomore year, now projecting as 2nd rounder.
  • Jack Hurley, OF, Virginia Tech. True CF, slashed .375/.452/.664 with 14 homers sophomore season.

Lesser Local College draft eligibles w/ Local Ties

  • Carter Tryce, 2B/OF ODU (by way of ?? HS). top 100 of class of 2023 per D1Baseball.
  • Jason Savacool, RHP UMaryland. top 100 of class of 2023 per D1Baseball.
  • Trey Gibson, RHP Liberty (by way of Grafton HS in Yorktown, VA): 2021 Freshman AA. top 25 of 2023 collegiate draft class pre-2022 season per D1baseball. Liberty’s Friday night starter. Mid 2nd roudner per BA fall of 2022.
  • Luke Shliger, C UMaryland. Struggled early 2023, but a C who can hit will always get drafted.

DC/MD/VA Local Prep players for 2023

  • Bryce Eldridge, RHP/1B Madison HS. #2 in the state, #18 nationally in class in Mid 2021. Huge kid 6’8″ can hit mid 90s as a sophomore, easy velocity and sinking action from huge height. USA Prime summer team, Alabama commit. Bats L, throws R. #14 in the Class per BA in Feb 2022, again in May 2022. Projecting to upper 90s as a 6’8″ thrower. Projecting as supp-1st rounder Fall2022. 18U USA baseball team. MLBPipeline Dec 2022 as at #26. Law projects going in the 1st round teens (#17).
  • Jonny Farmelo SS Westfield. #9 in 2021 state PG rankings, UVA commit. Now ranked #86 per BA’s list Feb 2022. #76 on BA’s July 2022 list. #52 MLBpipeline Dec2022. Law projecting end of 1st round possibly.
  • Cameron Johnson, LHP IMG Academy (was McNamara, Forestville, MD). #55 on BA’s Feb 2022 list. LSU commit, blew up at WWBA last October. #44 July 2022 on BA list. Mid 90s from a big guy 6’5″ wow. Area Code Games 2022. 18U USA baseball team. MLBPipeline has #50 Dec2022

Lesser DC/VA/MD prep players of note.

  • Tommy Roldan, LHP/OF Georgetown Prep via Poolesville. UVA commit, Area code Games 2022. 92 from the left hand side.
  • Brody Shawn, RHP West Potomac HS. Pop-up mid 90s velocity, Wake Forest commit. #88 on BA’s feb 2022 list.
  • Bryson Moore, RHP/1B Fairfax HS: #6 in 2021 state PG rankings, UVA commit
  • Brett Renfrow, RHP Colgan. #12 2021 PG state rankings, Virginia Tech commit
  • Jack McDonald, RHP/SS Independence . #15 2021 PG state rankings, ECU commit
  • Marcus LeClair ? position, Gonzaga HS. #18 2021 PG state rankings, UVA commit

Extended DC/MD/VA Prep players (outside DC Area) on the radar.

  • Blake Dickerson; LHP; Ocean Lakes HS, Virginia Beach, Va. Big tall lefty, Low 90s as a 17yr old. 18U USA Baseball team summer 2022. Virginia Tech commit. MLBpipeline top 100 Dec2022. Mayo called him out specifically here in his Dec 2022 newsletter.
  • Tayshaun Walton, OF (corner), IMG Academy (was Maury HS Norfolk) . #1 player in the state as of 2021, UMiami commit. #5 nationally. Could blossom into a mid-1st rounder. Dirtbags summer team, 6’3 220, tons of power. Justin Upton comp. #28 ranked by BA Feb 2022. #75 BA list July 2022, falling somewhat. Not in MLBpipeline’s top 100 Dec2022

Sources used

Written by Todd Boss

July 6th, 2023 at 11:15 am

Posted in Draft,Local Baseball

«
»

3 Responses to '2023 Draft Coverage: Local draft-prospects to keep an eye on'

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to '2023 Draft Coverage: Local draft-prospects to keep an eye on'.

  1. Law lists three locals in his list of players beyond his top 100 to watch:

    Jake Bloss, RHP, Georgetown
    Connelly Early, LHP, Virginia
    Ethan O’Donnell, OF, Virginia

    https://theathletic.com/4649700/2023/07/06/mlb-draft-2023-prospects-watch/

    The Nats drafted at least three guys originally from the area last year: Trey Lipscomb, Cortland Lawson, and Everett Cooper. Plus they “brought home” James Wood in the big trade.

    KW

    6 Jul 23 at 2:12 pm

  2. We’re fixated on the #2 pick, as the Nats have a shot at a likely generational talent in Crews or Skenes. (For the record, if both are still on the board at #2, it’s hard to see Rizzo passing on Skenes, who seems to have been created in a lab to be his dream of a draftee.) But this is a huge draft for the Nats beyond the 1st round. They have picks #2, 40, 71, 102, 138, 165, and 195. That’s basically four top-100 players and seven top-200 players.

    And they have a lot of needs. If the Nats get Crews at #2, I would be expecting a college arm at #40. Somewhere at #40 or #71, I sure wish they’d look at a college shortstop. They really have no Plan B in the system right now behind Abrams. I still think Abrams has a lot of potential at age 22, but he’s not exactly setting the world on fire at .233. Bonus baby Armando Cruz currently is slashing .196/.283/.255 in A ball at age 19. There’s really no one else, which is why they played the Jeter Downs long shot.

    KW

    6 Jul 23 at 9:50 pm

  3. Just new posted on latest mocks, which are all showing Pitt skipping on Crews.
    KW: i’ve created a tab in the draft tracker for local players and added in these guys you mentioned as Law calling out.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qd5DS9GlmkQOEh_zGhOvlhHK0EegqY1uJB4mLGmRBaY/

    Todd Boss

    7 Jul 23 at 11:55 am

Leave a Reply