Previewing the Prospects in the NCAA Regional Tournaments

Today the NCAA Baseball Tournament begins, which means you can tune in and cram for Monday’s MLB Draft by enjoying our country’s highest level of amateur baseball. While we think the entire tournament is worth checking out just for the baseball, we have compiled pro prospects playing in each regional below for readers to reference while they watch, and included some of our thoughts on those players. We’ve roughly ranked each regional in order of prospectyness. For more on these players, head over to THE BOARD. Seniors are indicated below by an asterisk, ages are on draft day of their draft class.

Horn and Williamson will face each other on Friday, while Lodolo is scheduled to throw Saturday. It sounds like Arkansas is also saving Campbell and Wicklander for later in the weekend, as their opening game is against the fourth seed in the bracket. This postseason could be a coming out party for any of the Razorback underclass hitters (Eric’s pick is Casey Martin) the way last postseason was for Adley Rutschman. We recommend eating at Arsaga’s at the Depot if you’re in town for this regional.

Locey will throw on Friday, which means top five 2020 talents Cole Wilcox and Emerson Hancock will go later in the weekend. Mendoza, Flowers, Cabell, and De Sedas were all ultra-famous high schoolers with swing and miss issues that have continued for them as Seminoles. Flowers is a real two-way prospect as a reliever (up to 97 recently) and center fielder.

This spring, Tommy Henry’s stuff has been up, down, then up again, so teams’ opinions are dependent upon when he was seen and because of that velo fluctuation, this weekend might be important for him. Oregon State shut Gambrell down in early May due to fatigue, so the same principle applies. This will likely be the best collection of pitching seen by Michigan underclass hitters all year, so it’s a good time to evaluate them. Nwogu in particular has huge power, so he could shoot up our board with a strong postseason performance.

LSU has a lot of great underclass pitching, while Arizona State has three potential top 50 picks for the 2020 draft, including 1-1 candidate Spencer Torkelson. Marsh starts Friday against Wallner, who has been scorching hot and has plus-plus power. Marceaux goes Friday for the Tigers.

The double elimination format for regionals often tests teams’ pitching depth, so we should see a large portion of Vanderbilt’s deep, talented pitching staff. They’re going to be loaded for a while as next year’s freshman class, full of tough signs, is quite good. Fellows and Burhenn face off Friday.

Bailey is a candidate to go 1-1 next year and Wilson is a potential pro catcher (despite no prior catching experience) who will go in the first round on Monday, while Edwards is having a breakout year as a senior. The Wolfpack are an exciting club, while Campbell has two legit pro prospects and East Carolina has three lefty power bats and lots of pitching to help them hang around.

The depth of talent at elite programs like Florida and Texas Tech fill this regional with talent, and Dallas Baptist is great at recruiting and developing pitching, including 80-grade-named lefty, Burl Carraway. Tommy Mace and Dallas Baptist senior sign of note, Jordan Martinson, will face one another on Friday. Marusak was one of our top freshman heading into this season but he struggled at the plate and has fallen a bit in our rankings of the 2021 class.

Teams picking in the middle of the first round may want to see more of Langeliers, who missed much of this season with a broken hamate. Mitchell has top 10 pick tools with a power/speed combo, but he still needs some refinement in his approach. Toglia has been hot lately and may sneak into the top 30-40 picks. Kreidler is a target for a pro swing change, as much of the UCLA club have flatter swing planes.

Tennessee has a lot of interesting talent for 2020 and will be a must-see club for the two of us next spring. North Carolina has pitching depth worthy of a shot in pro ball and they also have underclass hitters, like Sabato, whose numbers were very strong and may merit re-evaluation. Baum’s velo has spiked recently and clubs will want to see the 92-96 mph heat continue, rather than the 90-92 mph he’s shown most of his time in Chapel Hill. Greg Jones is one of the most toolsy players in the college class, a likely top 40 pick and a target for offensive adjustments in pro ball.

Doxakis starts Friday for A&M and he has an unusually high swinging strike rate on his slider despite it being just above average-looking. Manoah throws Saturday. Lacy has huge stuff and is ticketed for the first round in 2020, particularly if his delivery and command can improve. Taylor is an acrobatic defender and solid senior sign.

Burns starts Saturday. Chavers had a huge sophomore year with double digit homers and steals while missing being age-eligible for 2019 by days. McCann has big power but doesn’t look like a long-term pro catcher. Julien is one of the younger college prospects in this year’s draft, both by age and developmentally. He’s played third base for less than a year and likely fits in left field, but has big raw power to all fields. Holland is a 70 runner who needs a swing adjustment; Radcliff has 70 raw power.

This regional is loaded with 2020s. Ginn, the Dodgers’ unsigned 2018 first rounder, starts Friday. Chris McMahon starts the opener for Miami. Zamora has been dinged up of late but could be a top half of the first rounder who was a bit of a late bloomer after showing this level of potential as a prep underclassman.

Olenek is an interesting senior sign who has handled two-way duty this year; he has plus bat control and speed along with pro-level potential on the mound at 6-foot-5. Hoglund was Pittsburgh’s comp pick last year. Massey would have a higher FV if he didn’t have back issues diluting his performance this season. Ethridge throws a heavy sinker that gets up to 95 mph while Dillard has 65-grade raw power from both sides of the plate.

Louisville is deep, as always. Saalfrank will go either Saturday or Sunday for Indiana and has a plus hook from the left side. Rave is an interesting small school power/speed prospect. Perkins reminds some scouts of Craig Kimbrel and has a 3000 rpm hook and mid-90s heat. Binelas may be one of the best hitters in his class by the time 2021 comes around. Detmers is a pitchability lefty with solid average stuff.

Jensen will hold upper-90s heat deep into games. Stowers has some Day 1 draft buzz and a loose lefty cut with pop. Miller’s stuff has been down a bit but he can still really pitch. He might not throw until later in the weekend, though. Beck has excellent breaking ball command.

This is the weakest regional in terms of pro prospects, as Oklahoma State is hosting and doesn’t have anyone on THE BOARD, but there are a handful who were close, with 6-foot-6 2019 RHP Jensen Elliott and his three average pitches the closest. In terms of fun to watch, the pro arms are where it’s at: Gomes has been in the mid-90s out of the bullpen as a freshman and kind of looks like former Husker Joba Chamberlain if you squint, Feole has an easy plus curveball, and Wallace works 94-97 with three pitches that dart all over the place.