Baseball America updated their top 300 draft prospect rankings on Wednesday afternoon and there was some movement at the top of the list. Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker remained in the top spot, but he is joined at the top by his teammate and fellow starting pitcher Jack Leiter, who moves up from the fifth spot. We had the latest update here on Monday from their outstanding weekend against a top-ranked team.
After the Vanderbilt teammates, Dallas Jesuit HS shortstop Jordan Lawlar dropped down to the #3 spot. I think that’s more of a case of Leiter making a huge move, rather than anything bad on the part of Lawlar, who has a commitment to Vanderbilt that he will likely pass on.
Another high school shortstop, Marcelo Mayer, remained in the #4 spot, while Miami catcher Adrian Del Castillo moved down to fifth. He was originally ranked third behind Lawlar.
The biggest moves at the top are in the #6 and #7 spots. Boston College outfielder Sal Frelick moved up 11 spots to sixth overall, going from a mid-first round pick to someone who could now go in the top five. Right behind him in the #7 spot is Louisville catcher Henry Davis, who was 19th in the last draft ranking. Jaden Hill, a right-handed pitcher from LSU who has been mentioned in the past as a possible #1, has moved down to the eighth spot from sixth in the last update. He had one rocky outing and some poor scouting reports about his slider.
One other big mover of note is Gunnar Hoglund, who the Pirates couldn’t sign in 2018 as the 36th overall pick. He moved up from #23 prior to the tenth spot. He’s a right-handed pitcher for Mississippi.
With the draft being moved back to All-Star weekend this year, there is still plenty of time for movement in the rankings.
