2019 MLB Draft: Players to follow during NCAA Regionals
This upcoming weekend is the last we’ll see players in action before they’re selected in the MLB Draft. At this stage of the process, teams are zeroing in on first round targets and negotiating with “Advisors” (agents) on bonus amounts. How the Regional games could influence decision making is for picks after the second round.
The Regional round is fun to follow as so much is happening at one time it’s a blizzard of baseball activity. For those that are watching to see MLB prospects, my recommended region to follow is the Fayetteville Regional. Number one seed Arkansas has solid talent, but the first game I have circled on my calendar is Cal vs. TCU. It’ll be a Top-10 pick matchup with Andrew Vaughn facing Nick Lodolo (Friday, 6 pm CT ESPN3).
There is someone to follow for each team when it comes to the draft, and below is a compiled list of each school’s best draft prospect.
UCLA Regional:
1) UCLA: 2B Chase Stumpf, Junior, .284/.422/.461 7 HR 38 RBI
2) Baylor: C Shea Langeliers, Junior, .306/.372/.485 7 HR 31 RBI
3) Loyola-Marymount: OF Trevin Esquerra, Junior, .335/.394/.647 16 HR 57 RBI
4) Omaha-Nebraska: SP Payton Kinney, Senior, 109 IP 1.65 ERA 103 K 38 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: UCLA
Vanderbilt Regional:
1) Vanderbilt: OF JJ Bleday, Junior, .357/.467/.752 26 HR 67 RBI
2) Indiana St. RP Tyler Grauer, Junior, 33.1 IP 2.16 ERA 43 K 7 BB 8 SV
3) McNeese: OF Clayton Rasbeary, Junior, .311/.406/.521 10 HR 48 RBI
4) Ohio State: OF Dominic Canzone, Junior, .350/.445/.621 15 HR 42 RBI
Josh’s Pick to Win: Vanderbilt
Georgia Tech Regional:
1) Georgia Tech: C Kyle McCann, Junior, .297/.471/.693 23 HR 66 RBI
2) Auburn: SS Will Holland, Junior, .240/.367/.417 9 HR 28 RBI
3) Coastal Carolina: C Kyle Skeels, Junior, .324/.455/.560 10 HR 52 RBI
4) Florida A&M: SP Kyle Coleman, Junior, 94.0 IP 3.26 ERA 77 K 33 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Georgia Tech
Georgia Regional:
1) Georgia: 3B Aaron Schunk, Junior, .343/.377/.576 11 HR 45 RBI / 2.49 ERA 12 SV
2) Florida Atlantic: C Pedro Pages, Junior, .313/.429/.439 6 HR 43 RBI
3) Florida State: 3B Drew Mendoza, Junior, .309/.481/.597 14 HR 50 RBI
4) Mercer: SP Sawyer Gipson-Long, Junior, 79.0 IP 4.90 ERA 96 K 17 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Georgia
Arkansas Regional:
1) Arkansas: SP Isaiah Campbell, Junior, 95.0 IP 2.37 ERA 100 K 18 BB
2) California: 1B Andrew Vaughn, Junior, .387/.549/.728 15 HR 49 RBI
3) TCU: SP Nick Lodolo, Junior, 98.0 IP 2.48 ERA 125 K 21 BB
4) Central Connecticut State: 1B TT Bowens, Junior, .386/.474/.649 4 HR 21 RBI
Josh’s Pick to Win: Arkansas
Mississippi State Regional:
1) Mississippi State: SP Ethan Small, Junior, 90.0 IP 1.80 ERA 150 K 24 BB
2) Miami: SP Evan McKendry, Junior, 63.1 IP 4.69 ERA 69 K 19 BB
3) Central Michigan: SP Cameron Brown, Junior, 96.0 IP 2.72 ERA 78 K 30 BB
4) Southern: IF Tyler LaPorte, Senior, .381/.426/.570 6 HR 64 RBI 21 SB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Mississippi State
Louisville Regional:
1) Louisville: 1B Logan Wyatt, Junior, .299/.471/.498 9 HR 51 RBI
2) Indiana: OF Matt Gorski, Junior, .274/.377/.502 12 HR 46 RBI
3) Illinois State: SP Brent Headrick, Junior, 90.0 IP 3.50 ERA 101 K 27 BB
4) Illinois-Chicago: OF Scott Ota, Senior, .358/.454/.746 19 HR 62 RBI
Josh’s Pick to Win: Louisville
Texas Tech Regional:
1) Texas Tech: 3B Josh Jung, Junior, .332/.471/.609 11 HR 53 RBI
2) Dallas Baptist: IF Bryce Ball, Junior, .308/.428/.603 17 HR 52 RBI
3) Florida: SS Brady McConnell, Sophomore, .341/.392/.594 15 HR 47 RBI
4) Army: SP Daniel Burggraaf, Senior, 82.0 IP 2.85 ERA 82 K 21 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Texas Tech
Oklahoma State Regional:
1) Oklahoma State: SP Jensen Elliot, Junior, 87.2 IP 3.59 ERA 56 K 32 BB
2) UConn: RP Jacob Wallace, Junior, 37.0 IP 0.73 ERA 56 K 10 BB
3) Nebraska: SP Matt Waldron, Senior, 92.2 IP 3.11 ERA 82 K 7 BB
4) Harvard: Hunter Bigge, Junior, 68.2 IP 4.72 ERA 67 K 36 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Oklahoma State
East Carolina Regional:
1) East Carolina: OF Bryant Packard, Junior, .349/.441/.547 6 HR 35 RBI
2) NC State: SS Will Wilson, Junior, .350/.439/.687 16 HR 57 RBI
3) Campbell: SP Seth Johnson, Junior, 4.72 ERA 77 K 30 BB
4) Quinnipiac: OF Andrew Marrero, Junior, .314/.382/.541 10 HR 46 RBI 19 SB
Josh’s Pick to Win: NC State
Stanford Regional:
1) Stanford: OF Kyle Stowers, Junior, .299/.369/.508 7 HR 33 RBI
2) UC Santa Barbara: SP Ben Brecht, Junior, 88.2 IP 3.76 ERA 101 K 18 BB
3) Fresno State: C Carter Bins, Junior, .269/.375/.403, 5 HR 24 RBI
4) Sacramento State: SP Austin Roberts, Junior, 70.2 IP 3.18 ERA 83 K 29 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: UC Santa Barbara
Ole Miss Regional:
1) Ole Miss: OF Thomas Dillard, Junior, .305/.444/.500 10 HR 51 RBI
2) Illinois: RP Garrett Action, Junior, 2.23 ERA 32.1 IP 33 K 18 BB
3) Clemson: SS Logan Davidson, Junior, .296/.414/.588 15 HR 55 RBI
4) Jacksonville State: SP Garrett Farmer, Junior, 2.24 ERA 100.2 IP 104 K 12 BB
Josh’s Pick to Win: Ole Miss
LSU Regional:
1) LSU : SS Josh Smith, Junior, .343/.429/.513 8 HR 38 RBI
2) Arizona State: OF Hunter Bishop, Junior, .347/.473/.765 22 HR 61 RBI
3) Southern Miss: OF Matt Wallner, Junior, .324/.440/.676 21 HR 55 RBI
4) Stony Brook: OF Michael Wilson, Junior, .345/.392/.637 10 HR 44 RBI
Josh’s Pick to Win: Arizona State
North Carolina Regional:
1) North Carolina: OF Michael Busch, Junior, .294/.447/.569 15 HR 55 RBI
2) Tennessee: SP Zach Linginfelter, Junior, 68.0 IP 5.16 ERA 70 K 25 BB
3) Liberty: SP Andrew McInvale, Junior, 97.0 IP 3.25 ERA 97 K 38 BB
4) UNC Wilmington: SS Greg Jones, Sophomore, .343/.491/.551 5 HR 33 RBI 40 SB
Josh’s Pick to Win: North Carolina
West Virginia Regional:
1) West Virginia: SP Alek Manoah, Junior, 102.1 IP 1.85 ERA 135 K 23 BB
2) Texas A&M: SP John Doxakis, Junior, 97.2 IP 1.84 ERA 106 K 26 BB
3) Duke: OF Kennie Taylor, Senior, .333/.400/.527 6 HR 39 RBI 10 SB
4) Fordham: RP Kyle Martin, Junior, 43.0 IP 2.30 ERA 64 K 10 BB 10 Saves
Josh’s Pick to Win: Texas A&M
Oregon State Regional:
1) Oregon State: C Adley Rutschman, Junior, .419/.580/.765 17 HR 57 RBI
2) Creighton: OF Will Robertson, Junior, .309/.402/.583 13 HR 62 RBI
3) Michigan: SP Tommy Henry, Junior, 92.1 IP 3.61 ERA 104 K 23 BB
4) Cincinnati: RP Korren Thompson, Junior, 30.1 IP 36 K 19 BB 12 Saves
Josh’s Pick to Win: Oregon State
Programming Note: The Sox Machine Draft Show will stream live coverage of the White Sox first round pick on Monday, June 3rd starting at 5:30 pm CT.
Author
Player I will be following
Mike Toglia / UCLA /1st Base /Junior/.316/ .390/ .617/ 13 Home Runs/53 RBI
Michigan- Jordan Brewer.
Late season helium, day 2 pick, with tools and the potential to stick in CF.
Assuming Rutschman is not available, has Langeliers shown enough to be a consideration? He was neck-and neck all last year with AR until he got hurt. Not being mentioned anymore in top 5 mocks, he probably will still go in 1st round…if he’s still there at pick 45, anyone like him?
Keep seeing him in the 15-25 range… nats is a common mock pick for him at 17. But sure he makes it to 45 thats an easy choice.
Langeliers could still go top 10. If we had the Tenth pick, I’d being pulling for him for sure.
I was wondering the same. I think he will end up going in the top 10. He’s shown enough with the bat and no one is questioning that he can stick at catcher. I can’t imagine he’s on the board at 45 but that would be a no-brainer pick if he is.
In my opinion, it would only be worth taking a catcher at 3 if he was Rutschman’s caliber – elite defensively and a bat that can play even if he moves off of catcher. I wouldn’t take Langeliers there, personally.
Callis just put out a new Mock. Sox back to Vaughn. Shea starts being mentioned at 9. Gets taken at 14.
Very interesting Kiley McDaniel article on why we should expect to see a lot of HS bats drafted and signed this year.