KATOH’s Top Undrafted College Players

On Friday, I published a post projecting the players taken on day one of the draft. On Saturday, I did the same for the players taken on day two. And yesterday, I did the same for those players selected on day three. Over 1,200 players were drafted across 40 rounds in this year’s draft. But KATOH still managed to find a few mildly interesting players who weren’t selected. Below, you’ll find the seven draft-eligible but undrafted players with the best projections. As a reminder, this analysis covers the following conferences: AAC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big West, Pac 12 and SEC. I expect a few of these guys will sign as undrafted free agents in the coming weeks.

*****

Anthony Papio, RSr., OF, Maryland

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 1.0

Papio had a solid season as a redshirt senior. I should note that his projection is partly due to a quirk with my model. The Big 10 model includes a variable that makes it slightly less harsh on older players. But since Papio’s the rare 23-year-old college player, it perhaps credits him a bit more than it should. Still, an .800 OPS with some speed in the Big 10 ain’t bad.

*****

Tom Marcinczyk, Jr., OF, Rutgers

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.5

Marinczyc’s an undersized outfielder who laced a bunch of doubles and triples against Big 10 pitching. He also did some damage with his legs by stealing 18 bags.

*****

Levi MaVorhis, Sr., RHP, Kansas State

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.3

MaVorhis allowed just 15 walks in 84 innings in Kansas State’s rotation. His 4.20 ERA is due to inflated home-run and BABIP figures, while his strikeout and walk numbers were on point. Not a bad performance against Big 12 hitters.

*****

Jake Placzek, Sr, IF, Nebraska

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.3

Placzek walked up a storm at Nebraska, while also hitting a fair amount of doubles. He’s still 21, making him younger than most college seniors.

*****

Zach Reks, Jr., OF, Kentucky

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.2

Reks walked more than he struck out against SEC pitchers, and also popped seven homers in 53 games.

*****

Parker Rigler, Jr., LHP, Kansas State

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.2

Like his teammate MaVorhis, Rigler posted solid strikeout and walk numbers, but was undone by the long ball.

*****

Elijah Sutherland, Sr., SS, North Carolina

Proj. WAR thru age-27: 0.2

Although he was a college senior, Sutherland doesn’t turn 21 until October according to The Baseball Cube. Considering he’s aged like a sophomore, his .232/.358/.378 showing in the SEC was somewhat encouraging. Of course, it’s also possible that Sutherland’s birthday is misreported. In which case, the projections would be different.