2022 MLB Draft - Gameday Thread

[Channel22]

He's high upside, low floor but nothing about this kid is a reach. Every mock had him in the 1st round with many mocks in the top 15.

[bkox]

Former MLB scout:

I think his speed is a game-changer. I see lots of his dad in Crawford. Very solid pick. I think he'll succeed at the big league level. Speed causes the defense to make mistakes. And he can chase down balls in the outfield. His bat will come. I watch tape on him. Very solid. https://t.co/Ysccwtki3W

— Bernie Pleskoff ( @BerniePleskoff ) July 18, 2022

[gmwannabe]

his bat will come?? just great,. the little birdy was crowing about if porter or Prielipp were there they would be the one. they settle for a slap hitter were his bat might come? they passed a supreme lefty that would have been great. I will hedge on my final analysis because this might have money involved. if that is what they had to settle for than so be it,Damn, that is dissapointing sp? we'll see what happens in 3-10. man oh man.
gm

[Squire]

Lots of off the board picks in the last 10. I'm always glad when we get a guy ranked where we pick

[allentown]

Yes. From the BA analysis:

" Crawford showed solid bat-to-ball skills last summer over the showcase circuit, with a slappy approach in games, but sneaky raw power in batting practice given his strength at the time" I think history has shown batting practice power to be the least valuable and predictive 'skill'.

Our guys were just recently all excited about 'the drone' as our future CF. That seems to be going south.

[bkox]

Rays picked a guy ranked #113. Xavier Isaac. The reports say he has grade 80 raw power but no positional upside

[bkox]

If MLB is trying to promote the draft so much.. WTH is it still going after midnight EST.

[zambonir]

MLB After Dark baby!

(I'm out west and didn't even realize, especially with no Phillies pick. But still - I'm sure the fans of seven MLB teams - eight if you include Colorado - are awake).

[bkox]

Kumar Rocker is agreeing with the Rangers at $5.2M which is under slot for the No. 3 pick but still $460,100 more than the Mets slot at No. 10 last year. Mets passed on signing due to medical evaluation.

— Jon Heyman ( @JonHeyman ) July 18, 2022

[gmwannabe]

after doing some reading, I now see what it wasn't porter. it was the bonus demand. not sure he will sign with anyone.
gm

[jimbomill]

What was that Scout's take on Moniak's bat? I've read too many scouting reports saying Crawford is a "slap" hitter.

[bkox]

Well I dunno. You are welcome to go back through 6 years of his tweets to find out.

[allentown]

Mickey Moniak: Prospect Profile for No. 1 Pick of 2016 MLB Draft by Phillies

This article talks about pre-draft scouting reports on Moniak.

A very vocal booster, pre- and post-draft, was Pat Gillick, who described Moniak as having among the very best contact swings he had ever seen in a draft candidate. It was a level swing, which stayed in the strike-zone a long time, according to Gillick.

Moniak was expected to hit for average, with a ton of doubles.

The Phillies development staff tried mightily to increase his HR production. Very possible this ruined him.

I never saw a scouting report which described the pre-draft Moniak as a slap-hitter. That's how Quinn was described.

[andyb]

Not sure how valuable it is for a swing to stay in the strike zone a long time if you are swinging at pitches outside the strike zone.

[Squire]

FYI....the Tracker seems to be a couple picks ahead of the audio

[Aquapong]

Ichiro and Victorino were slap hitters too. They did alright.

[jimbomill]

My thought was that if that same scout thought Moniak already had a good hit tool, then his thinking Crawford COULD develop one would leave me worried.

[julio]

Gabriel Rincones has some of the best top-end exit velocities in the class. Massive power, but a solid foundation of pure hitting as well. #Phillies #MLBDraft

— Carlos Collazo ( @CarlosACollazo ) July 18, 2022

Excerpt from MLB's writeup:

It’s Rincones’ left-handed bat that has scouts interested. He’s always been able to hit with an advanced approach at the plate, something that continued with high walk and low strikeout rates after the move to Division I baseball. The power started really showing up this season, especially to his pull side, but he can drive the ball to all fields. He punishes fastballs with pitchers only finding success in getting him out with offspeed stuff. Rincones is going to have to hit to become a big leaguer because he is limited defensively. He has a below-average arm and doesn’t run well, meaning he’s likely either a left fielder or a first baseman.

[andyb]

I think Crawford is seen as having a pretty good hit tool. He probably does not have JP's strike zone judgement yet but that is rare. And the swing is built for gaps now rather than power. Plenty of time to fix that and I do think he starts out with decent BB/K rates for such a toolsy player. Big question is whether he fills out and becomes a 30/30 threat rather than just a 10-15 HR guy.

[jimbomill]

True. One had a legendary career in Japan before making his way state side while the other did not consume the 17th pick in the first round.

If Crawford turns into Ichiro, we all win. I'm just not seeing that inference in any scouting report. All I'm seeing is that we drafted a really fast guy who's Dad was a good player. Nobody gave him hitting prowess attributes like those for Druw Jones, Johnson or Collier and others.