'23 MLB Draft Discussion

[Pitcher in the Rye]

Prospects Live from 2 weeks ago. Yoyo's stock has undoubtedly risen.

36	Yohandy Morales	3B	Miami
62	Andrew Walters	RHP	Miami
106	CJ Kayfus	1B/OF	Miami
158	Zach Levenson	OF	Miami
218	Alejandro Rosario	RHP	Miami
285	Dominic Pitelli	SS	Miami

Commits:

261

Daniel Cuvet

3B

St. Thomas Aquinas

29

Adrian Santana

SS

Doral Academy Charter

197

TayShaun Walton

OF

IMG Academy

265

Antonio Jimenez

SS

Archbishop McCarthy

Erik Fernandez SS Riviera Prep: (Likely drafted but decent chance he ends up on campus)

Transfers:
Wooyeoul Shin OF/INF Miami-Dade College: Future Arnold Novins winner but is looking to go pro if picked in the top ten rounds.

 

[AndreiVasy88]

Yoyo is definitely going first round. I think Walters goes round 2-3.

 

[HurricanePhilly]

Thats a lot to replace and if we lose 2-3 of those incoming guys this class goes from pretty good to solid but needing to give guys 1-2 years to develop.


Cuvet and Walton have big time potential from a power standpoint and the SS's give us more speed and no drop in Defense.

Shin is interesting. He can swing it but doesnt run great and not sure of what position he plays at the next level. Only 6'0 220. I'd throw him at 1B and turn him into the next Kayfus.

Fingers crossed they all get to campus. But we should still be in the portal for at least 1-2 frontline arms.

 

[IndayArtHauz]

Unrelated but Cyr was named a Freshman All American.

 

[scane]

I admittedly haven’t paid as much attention to our recruiting class this year, but what’s up with Cuvet? Everything in the recruiting thread seemed to point to him being certain to never show up on campus.

 

[JayCane20]

Yoyo is a top 20 pick imo. Walters probably much later than his ranking since he's relief only. Dropping into the low 90s in his 3rd inning against Louisiana might have cost him some money if there was a team out there that thought he could transition to starter down the road. However, he has shown the ability to be effective throwing 2-3 days in a row and not lose velocity.

Ben Joyce from Tennessee didn't go until late round 3 last year and he had a lot more buzz than Walters.

Teams prefer to draft guys that can start and then transition them to the bullpen if needed. Most guys in the upper minor leagues can transition their body and mind from a starter throwing low 90s 5-6 innings to a reliever throwing mid 90s for 1-2 innings with no problem.

 

[scane]

MLB.com 200
17 Yoyo
121 Walters
152 Kayfus
192 Levenson
194 Rosario


34 Santana
165 Walton

 

[scane]

MLB.com 200
17 Yoyo
121 Walters
152 Kayfus
192 Levenson
194 Rosario


34 Santana
165 Walton

These rankings came out May 29, but their June 1 mock has Yoyo going 32nd to the Mets

 

[sandimas0912]

Does Walters have eligibility left or is he a senior sign?

 

[AndreiVasy88]

Does Walters have eligibility left or is he a senior sign?

He has a year left

 

[sandimas0912]

He has a year left

Thanks. I don't know why I had convinced myself he didn't. @JayCane20 is right that he'll probably be picked below his rank, but there's always a market for college relievers that teams think can move quick. Especially a team that thinks they can improve his slider (or maybe even just turn it into a cutter).

 

[AndreiVasy88]

Thanks. I don't know why I had convinced myself he didn't. @JayCane20 is right that he'll probably be picked below his rank, but there's always a market for college relievers that teams think can move quick. Especially a team that thinks they can improve his slider (or maybe even just turn it into a cutter).

Yea I think Walters will move through the minors fast. I'm still going with Round 2 or 3. If he drops below the 5th then something is up.

 

[shoeless]

Is Pitelli sure to go high enough to leave? Or is there a chance he’s back?

 

[Pitcher in the Rye]

I admittedly haven’t paid as much attention to our recruiting class this year, but what’s up with Cuvet? Everything in the recruiting thread seemed to point to him being certain to never show up on campus.

MLB prospects has him at 47, so yes, he's probably not coming. 47. Daniel Cuvet, 3B, ESB Academy (FL) – With as much raw power as any in this prep class, Cuvet is about as prototypical a power-power 3B as it gets. He has a massive arm, although he can get too confident in it and make plays closer than they need to be, and absolutely demolishes baseballs. There is plenty of swing and miss in the bat which does raise some concerns, but less in today’s game than a generation ago. He is one of the younger players in the class despite having a very mature and strong body. There is some fear he outgrows 3B and ends up as a lumbering right fielder or 1B, but the bat will play regardless of where he ends up defensively.

 

[JayCane20]

Yea I think Walters will move through the minors fast. I'm still going with Round 2 or 3. If he drops below the 5th then something is up.

I lean towards rounds 3-4-5 but closer to 5. Teams probably think he is a candidate to move fast in the system but also probably hesitate because his slider is very poor. His different arm angle that allows his fastball to be so deceptive also limits the potential of his off-speed offering. Hard to throw it from that arm slot. He's not quite Edwin Diaz low but still low enough it probably has to evolve into a hard cutter and then get something else that sinks down and in like a split or a change-up.

He's ranked higher than Ben Joyce was a year ago but Joyce had a true 80 grade fastball and Walters is a 65 grade. Everything else is the same.. maybe slightly better control and a lesser off-speed offering. Beyond it being a weaker draft I can't see him going higher than what Joyce was valued at.

If he could it would have probably already been done but he could come back and evolve into a starter and move into the 1st round with a good year. Heard they toyed around with it and he just never came around to having a consistent slider to be effective for more than 3 innings after the fastball starts to flatten out. I remember him saying last year he wanted to walk with "a clean million" meaning $1M after tax to leave.. that is about 1.6M so he's not getting that unless he's top 60 ish. $1M before taxes is top 100ish. Joyce got $1M at 89 so he's got some pull with another year of eligibility.

 

[scane]

MLB prospects has him at 47, so yes, he's probably not coming. 47. Daniel Cuvet, 3B, ESB Academy (FL) – With as much raw power as any in this prep class, Cuvet is about as prototypical a power-power 3B as it gets. He has a massive arm, although he can get too confident in it and make plays closer than they need to be, and absolutely demolishes baseballs. There is plenty of swing and miss in the bat which does raise some concerns, but less in today’s game than a generation ago. He is one of the younger players in the class despite having a very mature and strong body. There is some fear he outgrows 3B and ends up as a lumbering right fielder or 1B, but the bat will play regardless of where he ends up defensively.

Not finding him at 47 (or anywhere) in the MLB Top 200, or is this another outlet?

 

[HurricanePhilly]

Didnt realize Cuvet was on the young side. Ill sound like a homer fan but its more just seeing kids sign and then fizzle that makes me think he would be very wise to go to college. Even a JUCO for a year or 2 to get some higher-level experience.

But who knows...he could be a very mature youngster who is driven for only one thing and thats the pro's. But so were guys like Keon Barnum

 

[scane]

Keith Law at the Athletic has Yoyo at 32 and Santana at 61

 

[Pitcher in the Rye]

Here's the scouting report on Rosario- It pretty much mirrors what everyone on CIS has been saying, but mercifully omits his need for a HOF sports psychologist. Also not mentioned was his poor spin efficiency. I'm not sure JD understood that just because the TrackMan shows a high spin rate that it would necessarily equate to spin efficiency. I'm guessing Walt had excellent spin efficiency and that's why his fastball was so tough to barrel up.

"He’s touched triple digits with his fastball and averaged better than 95 mph with the pitch this spring. But there’s little deception and it’s pretty true, leading it to get hit more than it should, though he’s had some success in sinking it at times. His low-80s slider has improved and misses a fair amount of bats, and he’s been more committed to throwing his upper-80s changeup that can be a swing-and-miss pitch and get ground ball outs.

Rosario’s command in and out of the zone is spotty at best, and his walk rate went up in 2023, as he tends to let things snowball, leading to big innings. He had a brief but very successful stint in the Cape Cod League last summer and teams that think they can help him unlock that kind of performance more consistently will be interested in taking his pure stuff at some point on Day 2."

I should have redacted the word "stuff" because we're all suffering from "Rosario's Stuff" fatigue.

 

[BP Joe]

These rankings came out May 29, but their June 1 mock has Yoyo going 32nd to the Mets

Levenson will probably sign but he'd improve his stock by coming back and hit for avg and to the opposite field like Yoyo did when needed, and stop trying to go yard every AB.