Jamie Cameron

Over the next two weeks, we're going to be providing you with profiles of 10 players the Brewers could take with the 18th pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Who is He? Enrique Bradfield Jr. is a left-handed center fielder out of Vanderbilt. His underlying speed (he is possibly the fastest player in this draft) gives him a solid floor as an elite defensive center fielder at the pro level. Bradfield currently sits at eleventh on the Consensus Board, with rankings ranking from 8-17. He has been in a similar spot since the beginning of the pre-draft process and initial spring rankings were released in February, which speaks to the value of his athletic trait tools. Why the Brewers Will Draft HimIt might be easy to assume that Bradfield’s value might be limited to speed and defense, instead, it’s added to by an average to above average hit tool. Bradfield has a swing characterized by a flat bat path, leading to plenty of line drives and ground balls that allow him to leverage his speed. He accompanies this with an excellent approach at the plate, with a 16 BB% in 2023. Bradfield has typically struck out at a rate close to his walk rate in his three seasons at Vanderbilt, with that strong on base skill set allowing him to steal 130 bases in 191 games. While Bradfield has a below average arm in centerfield, his range more than makes up for it. His speed and route efficiency allow him to cover huge amounts of ground in the outfield. His floor is buoyed by speed and defense, how much he hits will determine his ceiling. Why the Brewers Won’t Draft HimBradfield doesn’t offer much in the way of power and is not a profile that lines up with a typical first round college outfield selection. In three seasons at Vanderbilt, he hit just 15 home runs, and 31 doubles. There’s not much reason to suspect there’s more in the tank here, but MLB’s rule changes to favor stolen bases and aggressive base running ought to increase his value as a base stealer. I think it remains more likely that the Brewers draft a college infielder at 18 (if Troy or Shaw are available). While Bradfield isn’t a typical profile, it’s likely some folks will undervalue him not digging into the speed/defense assets thoroughly enough. What do you think of Enrique Bradfield Jr as a prospect? How would you feel about him being the Brewers pick at 18 overall? Join the discussion in the comments.

Over the next two weeks, we're going to be providing you with profiles of 10 players the Brewers could take with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Who is He? Tommy Troy is a 21 year old infielder out of Stanford University. His exceptional 2023 campaign for the Cardinal helped propel them to a College World Series berth. Currently sitting at 12th overall on the Consensus Board, Troy has continued to take steps forward in 2023. His well-rounded skill set, combined with consistently outstanding performances on the Cape, make him one of the higher-floored college bats in a class loaded with them. Why the Brewers Will Draft HimTroy doesn’t necessarily have a carrying tool, because they are all pretty good. He has a short, right-handed swing and makes consistent hard contact, particularly on fastballs, where his contact percentage is north of 90%. Troy has power to all fields, particularly the pull side, in addition to a patient approach at the plate. He’s improved every year at Stanford. In 2023, he managed a .398/.481/.707 line with 17 home runs and 17 stolen bases. He lowered his strikeouts from 20 K% in 2022, to 16 K% in 2023, increasing his walks to 14 BB% in 2023, a career high. Why the Brewers Won’t Draft Him At the plate, Troy has consistently punished fastballs, but had more challenges handling spin on off-speed pitches, hardly unique for an amateur hitter, but something to monitor as he turns pro. Defensively, Troy has enough to play on the dirt. At Stanford, he’s split time between second and third base with at least average defensive actions and at least an average arm. The defense isn’t what you're buying, though. Troy profiles to offer defensive infield versatility, hit somewhere in the .260-.280 range, with 20 home run power. That’s a skillset that will serve a drafting major league team well for the long term. What do you think of Tommy Troy as a prospect? How would you feel about him being the Brewers pick at 18 overall? Join the discussion in the comments.

Over the next two weeks, we're going to be providing you with profiles of 10 players the Brewers could take with the number 18 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Who is He? Brock Wilken is a power hitting third baseman whose stellar offensive 2023 season helped propel Wake Forest to a College World Series berth in 2023. Currently sitting at 23rd on the Consensus Board, Wilken was a top 500 prospect coming out of high school and has continued to cement his status as a top 30 prospect in a deep 2023 class. Wilken has taken significant steps forward offensively this season, in what was already an exceptional profile. Why the Brewers Will Draft Him Power is the carrying tool in Wilken’s offensive profile. In his first two seasons at Wake, he mashed 40 home runs in 437 at bats. In 2023, he’s at 30 and counting at the time of writing. Wilken has adjusted to a more selective approach at the plate this season, lowering his strikeouts from 28 K% to 22 K%. He’s also increased his walk rate from 13 BB% to 29 BB%. There’s an argument that he can be a little passive at the plate, but it's hard to argue with a .357/.517/.835 line in the ACC. Wilken has improved his contact in 2023 and the power is legitimate. He has easy plus power, both raw and in game, to all fields. He has good bat speed and his 90th percentile exit velocity sits north of 108 mph. Why the Brewers Won’t Draft Him Defensively, Wilken is a mixed bag. He has an incredibly strong arm at third base and good enough defensive actions to stick at the position. Slow foot speed and acceleration will limit his range, though, and it's possible he moves to first base eventually, lowering his overall ceiling. He should at least begin his pro career at the hot corner. Wilken’s increased patience at the plate has allowed pitchers to go after him with their better secondary offerings. This could be an area of his game that better pitching exposes. Ultimately, the hit tool will govern the ceiling. It’s going to be fringy at best, but easy 30 home run power is likely to make him an effective contributor, regardless of his offensive position What do you think of Brock Wilken as a prospect? How would you feel about him being the Brewers pick at 18 overall? Join the discussion in the comments.

The Brewers are in a strong position entering the 2023 MLB Draft. In addition to having the 12th-largest bonus pool, north of $10.95 million, they have four top-100 picks, and three in the top 55. The 2023 Draft class is loaded with talent, one of the strongest in years. In the run-up to the Draft, we're going to share some names to watch at particular spots that give an indication of the caliber of talent that might be available for a particular pick. Today, we'll dig into the Brewers pick at 33 overall. Sammy Stafura Position: SS, Age: 18, School: Walter Panas HS, Height: 6’0, Weight: 185, B/T: R/R, Rank: 51 Stafura was a sudden arrival on the Consensus Board in May, going from unranked to the 50s, and he’s been climbing on Draft boards all spring. It’s easy to see why, a cold-weather bat that doesn’t get a lot of visibility in early spring, but Stafura has a great, well-rounded profile. In the box, it's a quiet operation with a smooth, timely load and good bat speed. He has a good approach, doesn’t whiff much in zone and shows good power to all fields. There will be more there as he fills out. Stafura is a really good athlete. He’s already a plus runner and has a solid arm. Defensively, he’s one of the better defensive prep shortstops. He has good footwork and good defensive actions. He should be able to stick at shortstop as a pro comfortably. Stafura is a Clemson commit, but he has an appealing all round profile that could see him go in the top 40 selections in July. Hunter Owen Position: LHP, Age: 21, School: Vanderbilt, Height: 6’6, Weight: 260, B/T: R/L, Rank: 54 6’6 left handed college pitchers with a strong track record in the SEC are going to be a coveted group. Owen fits that description. Originally an intriguing prep prospect out of Maine, Owen elected to make good on his commitment to Vanderbilt and it has paid off. He’s improved significantly every year for the Commodores. This is particularly evidenced by his control. He walked 15 hitters in 16.2 innings as a reliever in his first season, and 17 in 64 innings in 2023 as a starter, despite being limited by injuries in the second half of the season. Aside from throwing more strikes, Owen has a solid arsenal to work with. His fastball is average, a 93-95 mph offering without any remarkable shape. He has a pair of breakers, a curveball that he seems to prefer, with good depth, and a slider which evaluators prefer. He also has a changeup with good fade. Owen struck out 76 hitters in 64 innings in 2023 while putting up respectable run prevention in a season in which many pitchers struggled to do so. The consistent improvement over three seasons, his handedness, and an established four pitch mix that he commands give Owen an enticing profile. LuJames Groover Position: 3B, Age: 21, School: North Carolina State, Height: 6’2, Weight: 200, B/T: R/R, Rank: 55 Groover is an intriguing prospect with a wide range of rankings. As of early June, he ranked anywhere from the 40s to the low 100s on inputs into the Consensus Board, indicating a split of evaluators in how he is perceived as a prospect. Promoters of Groover will cite his ability to hit the ball hard (a max EV north of 113 mph), good barrel control, and excellent bat to ball skills. In 2023, Groover put together a .332/.430/.546 line with 13 home runs. Some of Groover’s best contact is on the ground, and adding more consistent loft to batted balls could take his home run totals into the 20-25 range as a professional. Detractors of Groover will cite an uncertain defensive home. After initially playing first base at North Carolina State he moved to third base in 2023. He’s limited defensively, with solid enough defensive actions but limited range and a fringy arm. He’s also played at second base and in the outfield. The offensive profile is exciting, but a drafting team will have to figure out where he fits defensively long term. Alonzo Tredwell Position: RHP, Age: 21, School: UCLA, Height: 6’8, Weight: 230, B/T: L/R, Rank: 57 Tredwell had TJ surgery during the 2020 season and has had his 2023 significantly impacted by injuries. That’s probably expected when you’re a 6’8 pitcher, but it is a cause for concern with his profile. After filling the role of closer for UCLA in 2022 he moved into the rotation, with encouraging results. In 45.1 innings in 2023, Tredwell struck out 51 hitters and walked just 12, putting up good production in the PAC 12. Tredwell has good command for his size and has a four pitch mix. His fastball velocity has increased significantly in the last two seasons, up from 91 mph to the 94-96 mph range. His best secondary offering is a slider that misses a lot of bats. HIs changeup is above average too and his curveball is more average. Tredwell has a repeatable, compact delivery. A high release point and excellent extension are additional positives in an intriguing starting pitcher profile. Who are your favorite prospects mentioned? What are other names that intrigue you with this pick? Join our draft speculation in the comments below.

The Brewers are in a strong position entering the 2023 MLB Draft. In addition to having the 12th-largest bonus pool, north of $10.95 million, they have four top-100 picks, and three in the top 55. The 2023 Draft class is loaded with talent, one of the strongest in years. In the run-up to the Draft, we're going to share some names to watch at particular spots that give an indication of the caliber of talent that might be available for a particular pick. Today, we'll dig into the Brewers pick at 33 overall. Yohandy Morales Position: 3B, Age: 21, School: Miami, Height: 6’4, Weight: 210, B/T: R/R, Rank: 27 ‘Yoyo’ Morales is a third baseman who was on the map as a prep prospect in 2020 (when a shortened draft significantly cut into the number of prep prospects taken). He’s a former shortstop who has already outgrown the position and made the transition to third base, where his solid defensive actions and rocket of a right arm should allow him to at least be average defensively. Morales’s offensive profile is high-risk, high-reward. Power is the carrying tool offensively. He’s put up plenty of exit velocities over 110 mph, and has easy plus power in game. He has 45 home runs in his first 670 or so college at-bats, with an improved 14-percent walk rate and a too-high 23-percent strikeout rate. If Morales can refine his approach further as a pro, he has a chance to be a dangerous and productive hitter; the power is legit. Colton Ledbetter Position: OF, Age: 21, School: Mississippi State, Height: 6’2, Weight: 205, B/T: L/R, Rank: 32 Ledbetter is a transfer from Samford and an analytical darling who has a pretty wide variance on draft boards. He checks a ton of boxes offensively for a model-heavy team, led by an elite approach. He has an in-zone whiff rate of around 11 percent, combined with great EVs. At the plate, it’s a compact, very selective operation (he’ll need to be more aggressive at times as a pro), but there’s no glaring weakness on any portion of the plate or against a particular type of pitch. Defensively, Ledbetter has solid outfield range and is at least an average runner. A fringy arm likely moves him to left field when he turns professional. Any questions about how he’d perform in the SEC have been put to bed. Ledbetter ran a 24 BB% throughout the season, along with an 18 K% and 12 home runs. It’s hit over power, but it’s still above-average power. Anyone who lands Ledbetter after pick 30 should be pleased with the value in a strong, well-rounded offensive profile. Roch Cholowsky Position: SS, Age: 18, School: Hamilton HS, AZ, Height: 6’1, Weight: 185, B/T: R/R, Rank: 33 Cholowsky is a member of an impressive class of prep shortstops, whose profile currently favors strong defense and a good hit tool. Cholowsky is the son of a former minor leaguer and current scout. He’s currently committed to UCLA, and previously announced his intention to play both baseball and football there. (He plays quarterback.) Unsurprisingly, his defensive profile benefits significantly from quarterback play. Excellent defensive actions and elite footwork, underpinned by a strong arm, make for a strong defensive profile that should stick at the position. Cholowsky has turned in plus run times, adding further defensive value in addition to that on the base paths. Offensively, it’s a solid, hit-over-power profile, although there’s projectability to drive the ball more as he fills out. Cholowsky can be overly aggressive with swing decisions, but the speed, defense, and strong hit tool provide an intriguing floor for anyone who can pry him away from a two-sport commitment. Juaron Watts Brown Position: RHP, Age: 21, School: Oklahoma State, Height: 6’2, Weight: 180, B/T: R/R, Rank: 35 Watts Brown transferred to Oklahoma State after initially playing at Long Beach State. The headline? There’s great clay to mold. Watts Brown is a good athlete (standout everything in high school). His delivery is compact, with good repeatability. His arsenal is a four-pitch mix. He has a fastball that typically sits between 92-95 mph and plays well up in the zone, with good ride. His slider is his best secondary offering, with good downward tilt and the ability to land it for called strikes. It’s already a plus pitch. Watts Brown also throws a curveball that's more average, and a changeup with good fade that he doesn’t use much. Watts Brown struck out an impressive 117 batters in 78 innings of regular-season work in 2023, although he walked 47 and had a significant blip in April where he lost control altogether. Still, he has four pitches with solid shapes as a platform. Any kind of added velocity to his fastball and refinement to his control could make him a really exciting pitching prospect. Adrian Santana Position: SS, Age: 18, School: Doral Academy, FL, Height: 5’11, Weight: 160, B/T: S/R, Rank: 37 Santana is a defense- and run-first prep shortstop prospect who will stick at the position as a professional. Defensively, he has smooth actions, good hands, and a quick first step. This combines well with (at least) plus speed, to give him excellent range. A plus arm ties a bow on the package. There are some question marks about what his offensive impact will be. He’s diminutive, at 5’11 and weighing 160 pounds, and while he has a good approach and smooth moves at the plate, setting him up to have an average to above average hit tool. He has some raw home run power from both sides of the plate, but this hasn’t manifested much in games yet, where it’s line drive power at best. If the hit tool continues to develop, Santana’s defense and speed will make him a valuable, versatile prospect. Who are your favorite prospects mentioned? What are other names that intrigue you with this pick? Join our draft speculation in the comments below.

Chase Dollander Position: RHP, Age: 21, School: Tennessee, Height: 6’3, Weight: 195, B/T: R/R, Rank: 7 Dollander was a consensus top-three pick for the early part of the season. His fall down the rankings is due as much to the rise and dominance of Paul Skenes as it is to his own uneven performance in 2023. So what does Dollander offer, and what type of emphasis should we place on his 2023 performance? While Dollander’s production and stuff have taken a step back in 2023, he’s still an excellent prospect with a diverse, high-quality arsenal of pitches. His fastball sits 94-96 mph, although it’s hit 99 mph. It's thrown from a low release in his three-quarters slot. It’s not an elite pitch, but serves to set up his breaking pitches exceptionally well. Dollander has a curveball which is above-average and has an excellent chase rate (and a pitch he can land for strikes). His best pitch is probably his slider, a nasty sweeper with a ton of horizontal movement that’s death on hitters. He also has a changeup which has a ton of fade and could be another plus pitch for him. The foundation of four pitches, three of which could be plus, is still incredibly exciting. Two challenges have plagued Dollander in 2023. He’s lost some control, walking almost double the number of hitters that he did in 2022 at the time of writing. Additionally, his slider metrics have ticked back, resulting in him throwing the pitch less often, and having to rely more heavily on his fastball. There have been a number of smart baseball folks suggesting Dollander’s challenges in 2023 are more mechanical than anything else. There’s a front-of-the-rotation arm in there, who's already proved it over the course of the 2022 season. Hurston Waldrep Position: RHP, Age: 21, School: Florida, Height: 6’2, Weight: 205, B/T: R/R, Rank: 13 Waldrep has an argument for the best series of secondary pitches in the entire draft. Originally a relief pitcher for Southern Miss, he transferred to Florida after breaking out as a starter in 2022, amassing 140 strikeouts in just over 90 innings of work. His pitching arsenal is led by a fastball that sits 95-97 mph and has good carry to it, which helps it play up in the zone. The command of the fastball has been inconsistent, and he’s been made to throw it far too much for the Gators. Waldrep has a great sweeping slider, which is a 70-grade pitch and a whiff machine already. That’s paired with a curveball that has more 12-6 action to it. Finally, he throws a devastating split changeup that he’s been able to land for strikes at the bottom of the zone, and which has a whiff rate north of 60%. Waldrep’s control has been shaky (42 walks in 72.2 innings at the time of writing in 2023). He has a drop-and-drive approach on the mound and great arm speed but a noisy delivery. He might be the best argument there is for ignoring performance outcomes in college baseball. He has one of the most complete repertoires of any starter in the draft and a chance for three secondary pitches that are at least plus. I think he has the second-most upside of a pitcher in the draft outside of Skenes. Noble Meyer Position: RHP, Age: 18, School: Jesuit HS, OR, Height: 6’5, Weight: 200, B/T: R/R, Rank: 14 Meyer has established himself as the top prep arm in the 2023 draft. Hailing from Jesuit High School in Oregon (which recently produced Mick Abel), Meyer has big projectability that will have organizations excited about what his future holds. Meyer broke out in the summer of 2022 on the showcase circuit, featuring a fastball that sat 95-97 mph, thrown from a slightly deceptive slot that gives hitters fits. He’s been up to triple digits with the pitch this year in shorter starts. He pairs it with a great slider that is generating a ton of swing-and-miss--one over which he has impressive command for a prep arm. Meyer also has a changeup that is more of a work in progress. His pitching motion is athletic and repeatable. There’s still a ton of projectability left for Meyer as he fills out more and adds strength. He has a great starter profile, and teams with a track record of developing high school pitching should be incredibly excited about Meyer’s long-term upside. Rhett Lowder Position: RHP, Age: 21, School: Wake Forest, Height: 6’2, Weight: 200, B/T: R/R, Rank: 15 Lowder qualifies as the highest-floor, lowest-ceiling member of the top four college pitchers available in July. There’s still plenty to like about Lowder’s profile, however, and he shined at Wake Forest in 2023, one of the college programs most noted for an analytical approach to player development. Lowder has 3 pitches he uses regularly. His fastball is a sinker, typically thrown in the 92-95 mph range, although he has reached back for 97 mph. He gets a ton of ground balls with it. He’s also thrown a more typical four-seam fastball at the top of the zone, in order to give hitters a different look. For secondary pitches, he throws a slider, with more downward break than sweep. His best pitch is a changeup which has a ton of fade, and is one of the better examples in the whole class. Lowder caps his profile off with good control and command of all of his pitches. In 2023, he's walked just 17 in around 90 innings of work, with 108 strikeouts at the time of writing. Lowder has a polished, middle-of-the-rotation profile and is likely open to an analytically-minded approach. Thomas White Position: LHP, Age: 18, School: Phillips Academy, MA, Height: 6’5, Weight: 210, B/T: L/L, Rank: 24 White is the one name to make the list who appears a little further down the consensus board. There’s a real lack of quality left-handed pitching options in the 2023 draft, with the distinct possibility that a left-handed college pitcher won’t be taken in the first round for the first time in over 30 years. On the prep side, White is the best available. White has been on the prospect map forever. He has a tall but wiry frame at present and will likely have a jump in velocity as he adds more weight. His fastball sits 93-95 mph currently, thrown from a low angle, combined with great extension, making it very tough for hitters to pick up. White has experimented with both a slider and curveball, often mixing the two. The curveball is already an above average pitch and his ability to spin the baseball suggests White should be able to develop at least one of those into a really effective offering. White has also shown propensity for a changeup, although he’s used it less than his breaking pitches and it’s average at the moment. White is more of a ‘projection pick’ that a ‘current talent’ pick, but he has all the ingredients to develop into a really effective starting pitcher. He’s currently committed to Vanderbilt. Which of the players profiled do you like best as a fit for your team? Is there anyone you’ve read about or watched who you think is missing? Draft speculation is the best speculation, so join the discussion in the comments.

We’ll start by profiling some hitters, before looking at pitchers next week. For each installment, we’ll use the positions of players on the Consensus Board as a proxy for who they might take, as opposed to trying to predict what each team will actually do. The goal is to give a flavor of the kind of talent and options that might be around when that pick hits, as we all know trying to predict the draft is perilous at best. Matt Shaw Position: SS, Age: 21, School: Maryland, Height: 5’11, Weight: 185, B/T: R/R, Rank: 15 Shaw has been floating around the teens of most draft boards throughout the pre-draft process, currently owning a tight cluster of rankings between 15th and 20th overall. Shaw is a solid-floored prospect due to the fact that he does a little bit of everything well. At the plate, it’s a slightly unconventional swing with a big leg kick to start out but it has a track record of results. Shaw has a track record of hitting in college and on the Cape, using all fields and possessing in-game power to all fields. He’s improved his approach in 2023, increasing his BB% and decreasing his K%. Defensively, he’s not a shortstop, although he has an above average arm and solid defensive actions. Given his solid all-round offensive profile, he’d provide the most value for a team at second base although he could stick at third also. In 2023 Shaw has put together a .359/.457/.743 line with 23 home runs and 17 stolen bases. He’s a legitimate offensive threat. Aidan Miller Position: 3B, Age: 19, School: Mitchell HS, FL, Height: 6’2, Weight: 210, B/T: R/R, Rank: 16 Miller is the younger brother of Jackson Miller, a catching prospect drafted by the Reds in 2020. Miller is one of the most physical prep bats in the class, generating exceptional bat speed with a steep swing that generates plus raw power, although it hasn’t shown up a ton in games yet. Miller’s operation at the plate is quite noisy, a hand hitch and big leg kick are both present in his swing, but he has a sound approach and generates frequent hard contact. Defensively, Miller is very athletic and is already well filled-out for a 19 year old at 220lbs. If he maintains his athleticism, it’ll be a solid third base profile with the perfect offensive profile to match. If it he doesn’t, he could move to a corner outfield spot and still put up the offensive numbers to carry the position. Evaluators haven’t seen as much of Miller at the front end of this season as he had a broken hamate bone which caused him to miss time. As a result, Miller’s evaluations have a bit more range to them than some other prospects in this area of the draft board. All that said, he’s one of the best prep bats in the class and should go in the 12-25 range. Miller is committed to Arkansas. Bryce Eldridge Position: RHP/1B , Age: 18, School: Madison HS, VA, Height: 6’7, Weight: 230, B/T: L/R, Rank: 18 Eldridge has been making moves up draft boards all spring and is a uniquely projectable, two-way prep prospect out of Virginia. The appeal is easy to see. On the mound, Eldridge has added to an already good fastball this spring which now sits 94-97 mph but can grab 98 mph with good run. He throws two breaking pitches, the slider the better of them currently looking like it might develop into a legitimate weapon and out pitch. Eldridge has also shown a propensity towards his changeup, which has some fade and good separation from his fastball. Offensively, Eldridge has some massive raw power to dip into, similar to Spencer Jones. Perhaps surprisingly, he has a relatively short, compact swing although he does have some swing and miss and it's definitely a power over hit profile offensively. Teams interested in Eldridge will have to decide whether to keep him a two way player or help him hone one of his prodigious skill sets. The University of Alabama commit has some helium right now. Braden Taylor Position: 3B, Age: 21, School: TCU, Height: 6’1, Weight: 180, B/T: L/R, Rank: 20 Taylor has fallen significantly on the consensus board since pre and beginning of season lists were formed. Let’s start with the positive. Taylor has an incredibly sweet swing and it might be the highlight of one of the best hit tools in the entire draft class. Taylor has a tremendous eye, rarely chases, and has exceptional in zone contact rates. Combine this with his ability to take a walk and you have a player who is going to get on base a lot. The power is average, maybe a tick above, and that’s where some of the concerns come in. Taylor makes plenty of flush contact but his 90th percentile and max EVs are towards the lower end of where you’d want to see them for a top hitting prospect (and haven’t taken much of a step forwards). Despite the fact that he’s hit double digit home runs every year in college, some wonder if that will transfer to the pro game. Defensively, Taylor is a solid third baseman. He could handily man left field if he struggles defensively as the hot corner. At the time of writing, Taylor had put together a .297./.422/.623 line with 19 home runs on the year. Taylor had a strong second half of the season. Colin Houck Position: SS , Age: 18, School: Parkview HS, GA, Height: 6’1, Weight: 190, B/T: R/R, Rank: 21 Houck is one of the best prep athletes in the draft, showing ability to stick defensively in the infield with a good arm, good speed, and a well rounded offensive approach. At the plate, Houck doesn’t chase much and a combination of a compact swing, quiet operation, and upwards trajectory in his bat path should allow him to access more than the gap to gap power he’s shown in high school. Defensively, Houck shows great athleticism and solid defensive actions to go with an above average arm. As he fills out, he may outgrow shortstop. If that’s the case, he’ll be a plus defensive third baseman and should have the offensive output to match the position. A Mississippi St baseball commit, Houck has multiple D1 offers to play quarterback. He might profile as an over slot prep depending on where he’s drafted. Also considered: Kevin Magonigle, SS (18), Blake Mitchell, C (19), Brock Wilken, 3B (23) Which of the players profiled do you like best as a fit for the Brewers? Is there anyone you’ve read about or watched who you think is missing? Draft speculation is the best speculation, so join the discussion in the comments.

How to Use This Tool This is hopefully easy to navigate. For a full explainer on the what, why, and how, here’s the explainer for V1. For each ranked player, you’ll see position, age, ranking, school, first name, last name, height, weight, handedness (S=switch), future value (not yet), and writeup. Every top 100 player has a writeup, if you hover over the report icon for that player, it’ll give you notes on players tools, strengths, areas of growth, and recent performance. What’s New for V2? Here’s some brief notes about V2 of the Consensus Board: The rankings are based on a consensus from 10 draft boards that provide a range of evaluations from well-known industry standard boards, to more data-driven boards. I DID NOT update writeups for the players who remained in the top 100 from the beginning of May. I’ll update them a final time on a rolling basis between June and July. I added ten more writeups for prospects who moved into the consensus top 100 since the beginning of May. If you see a prospect outside the top 100 with a writeup, it means they’ve fallen out (I’m not adding new reports outside the top 100). Finally, I color coded the top 75 players to track risers and fallers between V1 and V2. Specifically: Light green - moved up 5-9 spots Dark green - moved up 10+ spots Light red - moved down 5-9 spots Dark red - moved down 10+ spots What’s Next? The Consensus Board will get one more big update, to be published at the beginning of July. Additionally, there will be updates to the notes of the most significant prospects, accounting for their end of season performance (particularly for college players), in addition to future value grades added for prospects in the final version of the board. The final rankings will also be published as articles at all three sites. I recognize that some folks may prefer to consume rankings as an article, so I’ll publish them with write ups as part of a 2 or 3 part series in the final week leading up to the draft, working to get players highlights added to those pieces. If you have questions or feedback about the process or generation of the board, please use the comments. I want readers at all three sites to feel well-informed and excited about the draft and the influx of talent to their favorite teams. Whether it's an idea to make the rankings better, catching a mistake (I’m sure there are some), or a comment on who you want your team to draft, we’d love to hear from you. Jeremy Nygaard and I will be working to provide y’all with comprehensive draft coverage as July gets closer, so let’s chop it up! 2023 Consensus MLB Draft Board V2

As a reminder, here’s a link to the board that was published at the end of April. 2023 Consensus MLB Draft Board V1 A Consensus Top Five I’ve been tracking the draft boards since an initial Top 30 in February. With recent updates, it’s clear that there’s currently a consensus top five players, split into tiers. Dylan Crews is in a world by himself. He’s ranked number one by every board that I use for the Consensus Board. Wyatt Langford and Paul Skenes are two and three (although I think Skenes may go number two overall), followed by outfielders Walker Jenkins and Max Clark. Long the top prep player in the draft, Clark has recently been surpassed by Jenkins, with most outlets weighing a higher hit/power ceiling in Jenkins’ favor. College Bats on the Rise I’ve written for a while that this draft is well stocked with excellent college bats. That’s become more evident in the last month, with several surging up the Consensus Board. Here are some notes on a few favorites. Tommy Troy (2B Stanford) is up from 20th in February all the way to 13th currently. Troy is putting up a .669 SLG with an improved 13 BB% in the PAC 12. Kyle Teel (C, Virginia) was 22nd in March and is up to 12th overall, aided by a lack of top-end catching talent. Colton Ledbetter (OF Mississippi State) was 52nd overall in March and is now 29th. I think he’s firmly a first round talent and he has the analytical profile to match. Jack Hurley (OF, Virginia Tech) is up from 38th in March to 25th currently one of the most aggressive hitters in the draft. He’s putting up a .781 SLG in the ACC. Chase Davis (OF, Arizona) is perhaps the most improved hitter in college baseball in 2023. He has moved up from 49th in March to 34th currently. He’s cut his strikeouts from 28 K% to 16 K% with matching contact rate improvements and is crushing the ball. I think he'll continue to rise quickly up the rankings through May and June. I think he’ll go no later than the teens if he has a strong end to the season. College Pitchers Stock Falling College starting pitching has been disappointing and a lot of it has fallen pretty sharply on the board. My current working board for June has 214 prospects on it. Outside the top handful of top college arms (Skenes, Hurston Waldrep, Rhett Lowder, Chase Dollander), there are five more college arms in the current Top 50. All but one have fallen in the past two months, mostly due to uneven production or uncertainties around health. There’s still plenty of college arm talent available though, particularly for teams picking between 35 and 50 overall. Juaron Watts-Brown (RHP, Oklahoma State), Cade Kuehler (RHP, Campbell), Tanner Witt (RHP, Texas), Hunter Owen (LHP, Vanderbilt), and Will Sanders (RHP, South Carolina) are all in or around that range, with massive UCLA righty Alonzo Treadwell lurking just outside. Depth in the Top 50 There’s a great variety of prospects and prospect depth in the Top 50 this season. There’s something to fit your profile or flavor, pretty much regardless of what that might be. With the exception of catching, which is a position of weakness at the top end, you can land great talent throughout. Which prospects are you interested in your team targeting with their first round pick? In the top 50? Join the discussion in the comments below.

Last year, I published the first ever ‘Consensus Draft Board’, at Twins Daily. I also wrote, after the fact, about some commitments to making it better for 2023, and I think I’m delivering on those. So what is a Consensus Board? What’s new for 2023? What? I love drafts in sports, always have, likely always will. As data, information, and the availability of information to the public has transformed so has our understanding of the draft process. Nowhere is this more true than the NFL. While I’d argue that MLB leads all sports in its use of data to inform player development and performance, there is so much less data publicly available for the draft and amateur prospects, in addition to less draft-related content. The MLB Draft is always inherently unpredictable, with wildly discrepant rankings depending on what evaluators value. The Consensus Board (inspired by Arif Hasan’s NFL Consensus Board), takes as many inputs as I have available to me, and creates a consensus ranking for prospects. Last year, I took rankings from BA, Prospects Live, MLB, The Athletic, and ESPN and created a consensus top 56 players for the 2022 MLB Draft. They were published at Twins Daily in two articles. You can find part one of that series here, and part two here. The results were encouraging. After day 1 in 2022 (through 80 picks), 63 of our top 70 players had been drafted, with 3 more heading to college. Not bad. How to Use This Tool You’ll find the Consensus Board linked at the bottom of this page. Hopefully it’s easy to navigate. For each ranked player, you’ll see position, age, ranking, school, first name, last name, height, weight, handedness (S=switch), future value (not yet), and writeup. Every top 100 player has a writeup, if you hover over the report icon for that player, it’ll give you notes on players tools, strengths, areas of growth, and recent performance. What are the Strengths and Flaws of This Approach? There’s inherently some value in consensus. The MLB Draft is so much more complicated than other sports. Combining rankings into a consensus can eliminate some of the noise and outliers from different evaluators models and processes. In year one, there were two major challenges: Consensus rankings with a relatively small number of inputs can lead to missing a great evaluation of a prospect that someone else has noticed or caught onto. The rankings lag significantly behind current performance. Because major outlets (like MLB dot com) only update their rankings twice or three times from December to July, there’s often a disagreement in early versions of the board between consensus ranking and production (i.e. some players are higher than they should be, and some lower). I’d offer that the final version (July) of the board has the most value and will (hopefully) offer the most accuracy. What Next? The chances are, unless you’re a draft junkie, this version of the board won’t be that relevant to you. However, as we get closer to the draft, it will become more so. The Consensus Board will get two further updates, to be published at the beginning of June, and the beginning of July. Readers will be able to see all three sets of rankings side by side to notice how prospects have moved up and down in the rankings as we approach the draft. Additionally, there will be updates to the notes of the most significant prospects, accounting for their end of season performance (particularly for college players), in addition to future value grades added for prospects in the final version of the board. Finally, the final rankings will also be published as articles at all three sites. I recognize that some folks may prefer to consume rankings as an article, so I’ll publish them with write ups as part of a 2 or 3 part series in the final week leading up to the draft, working to get players highlights added to those pieces. If you have questions or feedback about the process or generation of the board, please use the comments. I want readers at all three sites to feel well-informed and excited about the draft and the influx of talent to their favorite teams. Whether it's an idea to make the rankings better, catching a mistake (I’m sure there are some), or a comment on who you want your team to draft, we’d love to hear from you. Jeremy Nygaard and I will be working to provide y’all with comprehensive draft coverage as July gets closer, so let’s chop it up! The TD.BF.NSB Consensus Draft Board V1: May Edition