The 2021 MLB Draft is tomorrow and we have reached the end of these previews. I covered the high school bats, high school arms, college bats, and now today I am going to dig into another one of my favorite groups: the college pitchers. When it comes down to it, I think the likeliest scenarios for the Cubs’ first round pick would be for them to go the route of a high school hitter like Colson Motgomery or one of these college arms I am about to rattle off. Those two categories are the strength of this year’s draft and might dominate the first round selections. Let’s get right into the guys I have my eye on.
Lucky To See at 21
Sam Bachman was the first draft prospect that caught my eye this year. I went to a MAC school (Ball State) and now live in Ohio so the Miami Redhawks product already gets an added boost to his resume in my eyes. But my biases aren’t playing tricks on me here. Bachman is a huge guy, standing 6-1 and 235 pounds are reminding me a bit of Brandon Woodruff in his presence on the mound. His fastball regularly hits triple-digits on the gun and his slider is arguably the best offspeed pitch in the draft. The changeup is still coming along but he recently displayed the pitch on social media and it had plenty of tumbling action with arm-side run. He seems to be sliding down boards a bit, but if Bachman is available at #21, the Cubs have to select him.
When Bryan Smith of Bleacher Nation and Greg Zumach of Ivy Futures participated in Prospects Live’s mock draft show, they were able to snag Will Bednar in the first round. Since then, Bednar put together one of the best College World Series performances in recent memory and, in the process, probably earned himself a ride up the board at least five picks or so. He has put up some terrific numbers while at Mississippi State in the best conference in the country and he has the makings of a real 2021 type of pitcher. The fastball in the mid-90s gets plenty of ride up in the zone and he has a wipeout slider to go along with a decent little changeup. Really the high heat and two-plane slider are good enough to be maybe the best 1-2 punch in the draft.
Good Fits at 21
Drafting a guy that is coming off Tommy John surgery has become far less taboo than it once was. The odds of a pitcher recovering and getting back to his normal self, or even better, are high. Because of that, drafting guys like Gunnar Hoglund and Jaden Hill based on their talent could pay off big-time. Hoglund put together a really good track record at Ole Miss and teams should feel pretty confident in getting on of the best SEC pitchers of the last few years. Hill has the best changeup in the draft but the his fastball and slider still need some work. With these two guys, I’d say you dream a little bit more on what Hill could potentially be while playing it a little safer with Hoglund based on what he is already.
Ryan Cusick out of Wake Forest is a bit of a thrower, not a pitcher. But he is a damn good thrower. He has a fastball that sits mid-90s and flashes into triple-digits. He has a slider that can be very good at times. He has a big starter’s body at 6-6 and 225 pounds. Unfortunately he struggles to find the zone and even when he does, it is not commanded very well. Wake Forest is known for having a very advanced and modern pitching infrastructure so that could go a long way to him transitioning really smoothly into pro ball. With some cleaned up mechanics, Cusick could be a steal at 21.
Michael McGreevy is a no-doubt starter. He has the size (6-4, 200), the control (10 walks in 95.2 innings), then repertoire (four-seam, two-seam, curveball, changeup, slider), and the ability to locate pitches wherever he likes. There are rumors that his advanced metrics on his pitches are not as sexy as you’d like, but there is too much to like from McGreevy here. He passes both the eye test and the stats exam.
In my eyes, there are a lot of similarities between McGreevy and Gavin Williams out of ECU. The command might not be quite as impressive, but Williams did cut down on his walk rate significantly this past season and features a quartet of pro-ready pitches. His hook is probably the best offspeed offering and it pairs well with a fastball that touches 100 mph up in the zone. There wasn’t much to write home about for Williams prior to this year in the stats department, but the stuff has always been good and maybe it is just now starting to produce big-time results.
Other Guys I Like
Alright, we are out of the first round and now it is finally time to talk about MY GUY McCade Brown. Probably my favorite player in the entire draft, Brown is a starter at Indiana University and originally from Normal, Illinois. Coming into this season, he had only logged 6.2 innings in his college career which always makes me think of the possibilities on how fresh his arm is. He was able to receive great college coaching (and coaching the Cubs front office is familiar with) while also bringing an arm to the pro ranks that hasn’t used many bullets. During his work over the summer in 2020 he was able to get into more action, and he generated 50 of his 67 total outs record via the strikeout. Those numbers are just absurd. Flash forward to this year as a draft-eligible sophomore at IU and he ordered up 97 strikeouts in just 67 innings of work. Against Penn State on March 13th, he threw seven no-hit innings with a whopping 16 strikeouts. Stuff wise, you are looking at a fastball that touches 97 with 2500 rpm, a plus curveball that spins at 2900 rpm, and another plus spin rate pitch in his slider (2800 rpm). He has really fluid movements on the mound in his 6-6 frame. Who would have thought my longest write-up would be about a potential third round pick?
Something about relievers out of junior colleges gets me hype. Antonio Knowles is committed to Florida out of Florida Southwestern State Junior College, a JuCo that the Cubs selected (and didn’t sign) Marc Davis out of in 2019. Knowles is definitely a reliever only, standing 6-1 and 180 pounds and featuring a significant amount of effort in his delivery, but the results were terrific this year. He compiled a 1.35 ERA while striking out 72 batters and walking only five in 40 innings of work. Knowles was a NJCAA All-American and arguably the best reliever at that level. Keep an eye out for him between rounds three and five.
Riley Thompson, Michael McAvene, Glenn Albanese? The Louisville product could be the next in line for the U of L to Chicago pipeline and he is somewhat of a peculiar story. Big 6-6, 220 Albanese has thrown only 35 innings in college due to injury. He was held out from his freshman year due to Tommy John surgery and then after showing flashes of dominance in the fall, he made just a few appearances this year because of bone chips in his elbow after first testing positive for COVID. The health is an obvious concern with him moving forward, but the stuff can play. He is mainly a two-pitch guy with a mid-90s fastball and a really good curveball that features high spin rates. There is just something really intriguing about taking Albanese sometime after the fifth round.
Jimmy Nelligan, my co-host at the Growing Cubs Podcast has a favorite in this draft, too. His name is Braden Olthoff and he is glorious. He became somewhat internet famous when he dominated eventual College World Series champion Mississippi State early in the year and was accused of using sticky stuff because he was so damn good. He wasn’t using, it fired him up, and he went on to throw eight innings in the start. He doesn’t use any legs in his delivery whatsoever but it is actually also somehow a fairly low-effort arm action. He has a plus changeup, a slider and fastball that move every which way, and put up absurd stats in his 2020 COVID shortened year for Tulane: 28 IP, 0.32 ERA, 47 strikeouts, 3 walks. Oh, and he has terrific hair.
To polish this off, I want to give quick shouts to two more guys: Chayce McDermott and Kevin Kopps. Much different pitchers, but I also don’t have much on them besides the fact that I really dig them. McDermott is from my alma mater, a school that has had Drey Jameson and Kyle Nicolas drafted early on in the last two drafts. McDermott has a mid-90s fastball, a decent changeup, and a good and true 12-6 curveball.
Kopps is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award along with two guys named Leiter and Rocker. He basically throws one dominant pitch: a slutter in the mid-80s. It is the best pitch in all of college baseball. He is the oldest player in this year’s draft and won’t be drafted in the first few rounds, but he could also be the fastest riser to the big leagues because of his age and ability.
Going Back to the Well
61. Steven Hajjar – LHP, Michigan
65. Tommy Mace – RHP, Florida
67. Andrew Abbott – LHP, Virginia
81. Brendan Beck – RHP, Stanford
104. Landon Marceaux – RHP, LSU
110. Thomas Farr – RHP, South Carolina
116. Mike Vasil – RHP, Virginia
151. Jordan Marks – RHP, USC Upstate
153. Dominic Hamel – RHP, Dallas Baptist
186. Dylan Dodd – LHP, Southeast Missouri State
188. Brannon Jordan – RHP, South Carolina
195. Julian Bosnic – LHP, South Carolina
205. Jake Miller – RHP, San Diego
211. Jack Leftwich – RHP, Florida
221. Nick Nastrini – RHP, UCLA
233. Jackson Wolf – LHP, West Virginia
239. Jack Carey – RHP, Duke
252. Hunter Stanley – RHP, Southern Miss
253. Zack Messinger – RHP, Virginia
260. Mack Anglin – RHP, Clemson
275. Patrick Wicklander – LHP, Arkansas
276. Michael Kirian – LHP, Louisville
288. Sean Mullen – RHP, UCLA
294. Jesse Bergin – RHP, UCLA
302. Cole Quintanilla – RHP, Texas
305. Franco Aleman – RHP, Florida
311. Griff McGarry – RHP, Virginia
333. Carter Raffield – RHP, Clemson
337. Cameron Weston – RHP, Michigan
339. Pete Hansen – LHP, Texas
364. Tyler Mattison – RHP, Bryant
373. Owen Sharts – RHP, Nevada
374. Tyson Guerrero – LHP, Washington
376. Zach Pettway – RHP, UCLA
396. Andrew Baker – RHP, Chipola
413. Mason Erla – RHP, Michigan State
414. Kolby Kubichek – RHP, Texas
435. Ryan Bergert – RHP, West Virginia
454. Gabe Sherpard – RHP, Southern Miss
463. Andrew Peters – RHP, South Carolina
464. Willie Weiss – RHP, Michigan
475. Andrew Hoffman – RHP, Illinois
476. Alex Williams – RHP, Stanford
482. Ben Specht – RHP, Florida
485. Connor Noland – RHP, Arkansas
486. Will Dion – LHP, McNeese State
That’s all she wrote, folks. 37 names in four days. You now have my comprehensive list of names I’m tuning in to watch over the course of the next few days during the draft. A reminder of the draft times:
Sunday @ 7:00 pm ET – Round 1
Monday @ 1:00 pm ET – Rounds 2-10
Tuesday @ 12:00 pm ET – Rounds 11-20
And be sure to tune in for The Rant Live: MLB Draft Special on Sunday night! It’s gonna be a blast!
Out of the Vines 