College Team USA Loaded with Draft Talent as Usual

As dependably as Earth orbits the sun, so too does USA Baseball stack its Collegiate National Team with premium talents that later find themselves atop teams’ draft boards. Each summer, Team USA plays a few tune-up games against various teams from the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League before embarking on a multi-week schedule competing against Chinese Taipei, Cuba and other international squads. For major-league clubs, this summer tour and the Cape Cod League are the top destinations to scout the best college talent available in next year’s draft.

I’m going to compile a ranking of the top prospects on Team USA once its season is over, but having seen the first three games and the preceding batting practices/infields, I have enough notes to share in advance of a more comprehensive and penultimate post. Let’s do three hitters, three pitchers and a bonus round of 2017 guys. All of these players appeared in Kiley’s 2016/2017 draft rankings.

Corey Ray, CF, Louisville

Ray has been the most impressive position player over Team USA’s first three days, and if I was forced to rank all these guys now, he would slot in as my top hitting prospect and No. 2 overall behind Georgia RHP Robert Tyler. The quick-twitch center fielder has taken loud batting practices with a fluid, lefthanded stroke that produces above-average raw power and has shown a deliberate approach in games, using plus speed to set the Team USA single-game steals record with five in the first contest against the Holly Springs Salamanders of the CPL. He’s still developing instincts for his position, but his range, solid average arm and controlled aggression fit the center-field profile.

Bobby Dalbec, 3B, Arizona

Dalbec sticks out like a sore thumb on this team, as he stands 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and wears the jersey as well as you can ask anyone to. Plus raw power with ample backspin carry comes easily in batting practice, to which I bore further witness in the first game when he smashed a helpless high-80s fastball from a Salamanders pitcher about 380 feet for an opposite-field homer to right-center. The flashpoint this spring will be whether he can play third base adequately with below-average range. That said, the arm strength is plus, the transfer and release are faster than you expect them to be, and I think the glove is just soft enough to keep him there.

Chris Okey, C, Clemson

Okey has been an iron man behind the plate for Clemson in his first two seasons, and he’ll be expected to shoulder most of the catching load for Team USA, as well. One of the best defensive backstops available in the 2016 draft class, he’s an athletic, instinctual defender with a plus arm, nabbing three runners stealing against the CPL’s Peninsula Pilots while blocking the majority of the wormburners he could reasonably be expected to. He has also looked comfortable hitting with wood, coupling a mature approach with at least average raw power.

Robert Tyler, RHP, Georgia

Tyler looks all the way back from the arm soreness that cost him a few months in the spring. In a scoreless three-inning start against the Salamanders, he sat 92-96, hit 97 and mixed in a tumbling mid-80s changeup that showed above-average to plus potential while whiffing four, walking two and allowing a singular hit. The biggest dings against him right now are mediocre fastball command and a fringy curveball, but if both of those things come together in the spring, he becomes a strong 1-1 candidate.

Matt Crohan, LHP, Winthrop

As Kiley noted in the aforementioned ridiculously early edition of his 2016/2017 draft rankings, Crohan hasn’t been seen by the majority of area scouts in the Carolinas yet, but he got himself noticed in a three-inning start against Chinese Taipei. Strong and sturdy at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, he sat 92-94 mph with solid command to his arm side. Although he demonstrates a feel for his 86-88 mph changeup, it’s often too firm, and his mid-80s slider is really more of a cut-changeup than a true slider. Still, the lefthanded velocity, athleticism and nascent pitchability are an interesting package – one that could land him inside the top 15 picks with polished secondaries and good performance.

Zack Burdi, RHP, Louisville

Burdi, brother of Twins righty and 2014 second-rounder Nick Burdi, has the most electric arm on the team and seems like one of the three candidates – along with Arkansas righty Zach Jackson and Houston lefty Seth Romero – to close games for Team USA. He has made two one-inning appearances thus far, running his fastball up to 98 mph with a consistent velocity band of 95-97. His 86-87 mph slider features little movement, and 30-grade command in his second outing got him touched up a bit, but I saw him locate better in the spring and it will be up to the pros to bring out the high-leverage power reliever in him.

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BONUS ROUND
Here are two high-follow 2017 draft prospects to keep an eye out for.

Tanner Houck, RHP, Missouri

Houck was fun to watch in a three-inning relief effort against the Pilots, sitting 92-94 mph with harsh sink that played up thanks to low-slot deception from his quick, rubbery arm action. He also showed the makings of an above-average changeup and slider with good command, throwing 26 of his 38 pitches for strikes. At 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, he’s reminiscent of a right-handed Chris Sale – though not quite as gangly – with a similar delivery and three above-average pitches that sink. I was told that he has “1-1” tattooed on one of his wrists, leaving no doubt as to what his ambitions are.

K.J. Harrison, 1B/C, Oregon State

Harrison is the youngest player on the team but may be the best hitter. He showed above-average raw power in batting practice and demonstrated exceptional control of a wooden barrel in games, at one point notching three opposite-field hits over a 14-inning stretch. I need to see more before I put a plus hit grade on him, but it’s looking like he has enough bat to play first base, which is where he’ll wind up if he doesn’t make significant defensive strides as a catcher.