Dylan Crews and the Top 10 MLB Draft Prospects at the 2023 College World Series

The 2023 College World Series is formally underway.

This yr’s self-discipline of groups is made up of Florida, LSU, Oral Roberts, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Virginia and Wake Woodland. There’s diverse future educated talent scattered across those eight rosters.

Ahead, now we maintain offered a rundown of the tip 10 possibilities for the 2023 MLB draft who will be in action at this yr’s College World Series.

Let’s commence with some honorable mentions, before diving into 10 players who all maintain the attainable to be high-10 picks when the draft kicks off July 9 throughout MLB’s All-Megastar festivities in Seattle.

Camouflage: The “BA Ranking” for every player refers to where they currently drop on Baseball The United States’s total checklist of the tip possibilities for the 2023 draft.

3B Jake Gelof, Virginia (BA Ranking: 41)

The younger brother of Oakland Athletics prospect Zack Gelof has been with out a doubt among the nation’s easiest energy hitters this spring. After a 21-homer sophomore season, he is hitting .331/.435/.731 with 23 doubles, 23 dwelling runs and 89 RBI, although he does maintain some swing-and-pass over concerns and an lifelike-at-easiest glove.

SS Josh Rivera, Florida (BA Ranking: 68)

A .259 hitter with 16 dwelling runs in 134 video games throughout his first three years on campus, Rivera is taking part in a breakout senior yr. The 22-yr-vulnerable is hitting .362/.465/.633 with 17 dwelling runs, 68 RBI and more walks (44) than strikeouts (26) in 64 video games while continuing to order an on a usual foundation glove at shortstop. He will be an appealing underneath-slot plot as a senior trace.

SS Maui Ahuna (BA Ranking: 71)

Ahuna transferred to Tennessee last offseason following an huge sophomore yr at the College of Kansas, but his OPS has dropped more than 150 aspects with the step up in opponents. He quiet hit .302/.423/.537 while ranking as with out a doubt among the very best defensive infielders in college baseball, but his 73 strikeouts in 50 video games will possible be enough to knock him out of first-spherical consideration.

1B/OF Tre’ Morgan, LSU (BA Ranking: 76)

A staple in the LSU lineup the previous three seasons, Morgan has hit .332/.427/.497 in 877 plate appearances throughout his time on campus. He is an elite defender at the birth imperfect with the athleticism to take care of a corner outfield set up, but he lacks the flexibility to be a desirable match at both of those spots.

RHP Brandon Sproat, Florida (BA Ranking: 47)

A third-spherical decide in the 2022 draft following an up-and-down first season in the Florida rotation, Sproat returned to campus for his senior yr. While his 4.69 ERA and 1.21 WHIP are a clear indication there remains to be work to be carried out, his pure stuff quiet affords him fundamental upside, and he has ragged an upper 90s fastball and a swing-and-pass over slider to rack up 120 strikeouts in 96 innings.

RHP Ty Floyd, LSU (BA Ranking: 67)

With a loyal 6’2″, 200-pound physique and three above-lifelike pitches, Floyd has been on the draft radar since he became in high college, but he went undrafted in 2020 and all once more as a draft-eligible sophomore last yr. He is 7-0 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 78 innings this spring, and he profiles as a attend-live starter at the following stage.

LHP Sean Sullivan, Wake Woodland (BA Ranking: 85)

Sullivan uncared for some time with a triceps ruin in Might maybe, but he returned to rack up 14 strikeouts in 5.2 innings in opposition to George Mason and Alabama in regionals and grand regionals. The 6’4″ southpaw depends more on pitchability than stuff, but with a 2.64 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 64.2 innings, his results this spring maintain boosted his stock significantly.

BA Ranking: 23

Stats: 62 G, 302 PA, .357/.517/.835, 46 XBH (30 HR), 80 RBI

Slugger Brock Wilken showed 60-grade energy attainable last spring when he posted a .964 OPS with 23 dwelling runs and 77 RBI, although his 71-to-34 strikeout-to-stroll ratio became also a clear indication he had work to attain refining his hit tool.

The 6’4″, 225-pound third baseman has trimmed his strikeout charge (24.2 to 16.9 percent), and he has also with regards to doubled his stroll charge (11.6 to 21.5 percent), giving him a more total offensive profile.

Wilken has a loyal throwing arm, but he is a underneath-lifelike athlete with puny vary, which suggests there is a number of distress that he is in general a predominant-imperfect-very best prospect. He also hit factual .229 in 133 plate appearances with wooden bats in the Cape Cod League last summer season.

BA Ranking: 18

Stats: 17 GS, 9-3, 4.15 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, forty eight BB, 142 K, 93.1 IP

After tallying 140 strikeouts in 90 innings as a sophomore at Southern Mississippi and pitching for Group USA last summer season, Hurston Waldrep transferred to the College of Florida for his junior yr.

The 6’2″, 210-pound appropriate-hander has an electrical fastball, a swing-and-pass over splitter and plus slider, although his overall expose remains a work in development as he tallied 4.6 walks per nine innings this spring.

His 142 strikeouts this season unsuitable third in the nation, in the attend of very best LSU ace Paul Skenes (188) and Stanford workhorse Quinn Mathews (152). And while he is more of a challenge than a number of of the diversified high college palms in this class, he has legitimate frontline upside.

BA Ranking: 16

Stats: 63 G, 301 PA, .314/.439/.657, 37 XBH (23 HR), 69 RBI

With a soft left-handed swing and superior bat-to-ball talents, Brayden Taylor is with out a doubt one of basically the most polished college bats in this yr’s draft class.

He factual turned 21 years vulnerable last month and has more remaining projection than most school hitters. While he has performed essentially third imperfect, he has also viewed sporadic action at second imperfect and shortstop where his instincts attend offset an absence of snappy-twitch athleticism.

Taylor’s ceiling can also be 20-25 dwelling runs at the MLB stage, but he is a effectively-rounded player who can also quiet hit for a high lifelike, and he has also tallied 39 steals in 40 makes an try throughout his time on campus at TCU.

BA Ranking: 12

Stats: 56 G, 284 PA, .397/.479/.711, 38 XBH (17 HR), 58 RBI

Tommy Troy boosted his stock vastly last summer season when he hit .310/.386/.531 over 127 plate appearances in the Cape Cod League and became named the circuit’s easiest educated prospect at the live of the season.

The 21-yr-vulnerable is with out a doubt among the upper pure hitters in the class with a polished hit tool that might perhaps perhaps maybe quiet allow him to lag fast thru the minors. While he would not profile as a slugger, he can also quiet provide diverse additional-imperfect pop.

After splitting his time between the 2 heart infield spots throughout his sophomore season, Troy shifted to third imperfect this spring. His easiest match can also be second imperfect where he has the bat to provide diverse price, but his versatility additional provides to his long-term charm.

BA Ranking: 11

Stats: 63 G, 289 PA, .418/.484/.673, 38 XBH (13 HR), 69 RBI

In a yr when there can also very best be two catchers taken within the tip 100 picks, Kyle Teel is the very best backstop in the nation. He might perhaps perhaps maybe well be a slam dunk to head in the tip half of of the first spherical even in a deep yr at the distance.

But every other player who withdrew his name from the 2020 draft, an analogous to LSU standout Dylan Crews, the 21-yr-vulnerable has developed into an incredible all-spherical catcher with a loyal throwing arm, factual receiving talents and standout athleticism for the distance.

Offensively, Teel has a contact-over-energy formula and while a lackluster summer season in the Cape Cod League and with Group USA raised some questions on his offensive profile, he has silenced diverse those concerns with a stellar junior campaign.

BA Ranking: 10

Stats: 17 GS, 15-0, 1.92 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 21 BB, 131 K, 108.0 IP

While LSU ace Paul Skenes lights up the radar gun with a triple-digits fastball, Rhett Lowder has established himself as a certain-fire first-spherical decide and the ace of the Wake Woodland workers on the strength of an elite changeup.

The 6’2″, 200-pound appropriate-hander also throws a heavy mid-90s fastball that generates a ton of groundballs and a slider that has excelled but needs additional refinement. While he has racked up 131 strikeouts in 108 innings, his game is more about inducing outdated contact.

Lowder can also need the very best ground of any pitcher in the 2023 draft class, with a heart-of-the-rotation profile and superior pitchability that might perhaps perhaps maybe quiet allow him to lag fast thru the minors to be with out a doubt among the first players from the class to attain the massive leagues.

BA Ranking: 7

Stats: 16 GS, 7-6, 4.50 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 28 BB, 118 K, 86.0 IP

Scoot Dollander became with out a doubt among the main candidates to head No. 1 overall in the 2023 draft following a sophomore season in which he performed 10-0 with a 2.39 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in seventy nine innings for a stacked Tennessee crew.

The 6’2″, 200-pound appropriate-hander has now not loved that very same stage of success this season, displaying inconsistent expose and fewer life on his pitches.

“Dollander hasn’t been moderately as electric in his draft yr, nonetheless, as his stroll charge doubled from 4.2% to eight% and the form on each his fastball and slider had been a miniature lacking in comparison to his 2022 model. By the usage of pure stuff and velocity, Dollander hasn’t changed unparalleled,” Baseball The United States wrote in his pre-draft profile.

Mild, with a fastball that touches 99 mph, a energy slider that might perhaps perhaps maybe sit down in the low 90s and a curveball/changeup pairing that might perhaps perhaps maybe give him four above-lifelike choices, he quiet has the very best ceiling among college pitchers now not named Paul Skenes.

BA Ranking: 3

Stats: 58 G, 273 PA, .373/.498/.769, 45 XBH (18 HR), forty eight RBI

With LSU teammates Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes anticipated to head 1-2 in the 2023 draft, Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford is section of a miniature crew that also involves prep outfielders Walker Jenkins and Max Clark in the working to be the following player off the board.

After tallying factual four plate appearances as a factual freshman, Langford exploded onto the scene in 2022, tying the College of Florida single-season document with 26 dwelling runs while hitting .356/.447/.719 in 303 plate appearances.

With a 60-hit/65-energy offensive profile and confirmed manufacturing in the very best conference in the nation, the 21-yr-vulnerable has an especially high ground. He has performed essentially left self-discipline in college and has a factual arm and solid trip that might perhaps perhaps maybe quiet allow him to provide price defensively and on the imperfect paths.

Langford flashed his elite energy attainable last spring and has confirmed a more sophisticated formula, elevating his stroll charge from 11.9 to 18.7 percent to unsuitable second among SEC players with a .498 on-imperfect percentage.

BA Ranking: 2

Stats: 17 GS, 12-2, 1.77 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 188 K, 107.0 IP

LSU appropriate-hander Paul Skenes has on a wierd foundation been known as the very best college pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg this spring.

Anyone who followed college baseball attend in 2009, when Strasburg became lighting up radar guns at San Diego Assert while going 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings, knows that’s high reward.

The 6’6″, 235-pound Skenes has touched 102 mph along with his 80-grade fastball, and he backs it with a pointy-biting 70-grade slider that can loyal now became with out a doubt among the very best breaking pitches in minor league baseball.

The 21-yr-vulnerable also hit .314/.412/.634 with 10 doubles, 13 dwelling runs and 38 RBI in 182 plate appearances last season as a predominant baseman at Air Power, which speaks to his elite athleticism on the mound, especially for a player his size.

In almost any diversified draft class, Skenes might perhaps perhaps maybe well be the No. 1 overall decide.

BA Ranking: 1

Stats: 63 G, 304 PA, .434/.576/.735, 33 XBH (17 HR), 67 RBI

Outfielder Dylan Crews became viewed as a doable first-spherical decide in the 2020 draft before swing-and-pass over concerns throughout his senior yr of high college triggered his stock to hasten.

Indirectly, he eradicated his name from the 2020 draft to honor his dedication to LSU and leer to rebuild his stock.

Mission performed.

He hit .362/.453/.663 with 18 dwelling runs as a factual freshman two years ago, and he has set up together a junior yr for the ages this spring.

The 21-yr-vulnerable ranks third in the nation in batting lifelike (.434) and second in on-imperfect percentage (.576), and he has carried out it playing in the very best conference in the nation and as a focal level of his crew’s lineup.

It can maybe well be a predominant upset if anybody else went No. 1 overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates subsequent month. Crews is, arguably, the very best draft prospect since Adley Rutschman came out of Oregon Assert in 2019.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.