Freshmen mashing. Big-hype college arms answering the call and overlooked hurlers raising eyebrows. Star transfers being cleared to compete. And then there’s me, sitting in a ballpark seat taking it all in, chomping on some Trolli sour gummy worms, and trying to digest college baseball as it stands in the year 2023. Things look a little different with the enforcement of the pitch clock and rules regulating pitchers’ abilities to throw to bases (or in some cases, forcing them to throw to bases). But the talent pool is still elite and so is the product. If you haven’t tuned in yet, I highly recommend that you do. There’s a whole other world of baseball out there waiting to be consumed, with a seemingly endless group of tomorrow’s MLB stars waiting in the wings. We’ll go over a handful of those players in this week’s Collegiate Corner.
First, be sure to catch up on the top 15 college prospects for the 2023 MLB Draft! I will continue to build off this list and provide updates via the Collegiate Corner throughout the spring.
Ike Irish, C, Auburn – Auburn’s freshman catcher is off to a ridiculous start to his career, currently ranking second in the NCAA with a .586 average and fourth in hits (17). It’s a small sample size as we’re only two weeks into the campaign, but Irish is hitting .586/.636/.793 with four strikeouts and zero walks. And the Tigers have played relatively strong competition: Indiana, North Alabama, and USC. He hasn’t left the yard yet and won’t be draft-eligible for another two years, but the former No. 3 overall catching in the 2022 recruiting cycle is a player to keep an eye on.
Paul Skenes, LHP, LSU – Sometimes, it doesn’t take very long to know you were wrong about something. More often than not, it takes even longer to admit such. Well, I’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for in life, and although we’re only two weeks of non-con action in, Skenes looks far more polished as a pitching prospect than I anticipated. Skenes has thrown 12.0 innings with one run allowed against Western Michigan and Kansas State, allowing just five total hits and three walks. By striking out 12 and 11 batters in those outings, respectively, his 23 strikeouts rank second in the country. The stuff is electric and the delivery is crisper than Coco in an A’s jersey. Skenes is currently positioned at No. 9 on my collegiate big board, but expect him to rise significantly.
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Up to 1??0??0??? this weekend: “Skenes looks primed to go somewhere in the top half of the first round”
Full Report here: https://t.co/VQDldi6Czvpic.twitter.com/Tgn85gL7kC
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) February 28, 2023
Dylan Crews, OF, LSU – Crews is playing up to the 1-1 hype in the early going, the same way I did in my star performance as Tommy the Turkey in our second-grade play with the same name. Oh, what a Thanksgiving it was! But yes, come draft day, Crews will be gobbled up within the first five picks at worst. Picking up SEC Co-Player of the Week honors on Monday following his performance at the Round Rock Classic, Crews is slashing .565/.688/.826 with one homer, three doubles, one steal, a 9.4 K%, and an 18.8 BB%. Personally, I still find Crews to be overhyped and think he should be mentioned more in the same breath as Wyatt Langford, Brayden Taylor, and Jacob Wilson. Although he’s an excellent prospect, I won’t be sticking out my Crews neck to snag him in first-year player drafts.
Brayden Taylor, INF, TCU – I might be the high man on Taylor, as I ranked him at No. 4 overall in the 2023 college draft class. Having already faced the likes of Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida State, and Dallas Baptist, Taylor owns a robust .429/.556/.679 slash line featuring two homers and one double. That does come with a startling 25.0 K%, but we’re only seven games in, leaving Taylor with plenty of time to adjust and bring that closer to his career mark of 15.8%. Plus, he’s still walking at a 22.2% clip. Don’t be shocked if this kid ends up developing into the top college bat in the class.
TCU 3B Brayden Taylor is off to one hell of a hot start. pic.twitter.com/KHJH8ur7iC
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) February 25, 2023
Maui Ahuna, INF, Tennessee – Ruled ineligible the first two weeks as the NCAA investigated recruiting infractions related to his transfer process from Kansas, Ahuna finally made his debut in Tuesday’s midweek contest against Charleston Southern. There isn’t much to report other than he’s now on the playing field and serving as the Vols’ primary shortstop. He went 1-for-4 with one strikeout in his 2023 debut and is currently positioned at No. 15 on my college board and No. 22 overall on MLB Pipeline’s top 100.
Liam Sullivan, LHP, Georgia – A draft-eligible sophomore due to age, Sullivan is coming off arguably the best outing of his career. On Feb. 25 vs. Princeton, Sullivan tossed seven shutout, no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts and two walks. That performance earned him SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors alongside Noah Hall, who I’ll get to in a moment. He works in the low-90s and can touch mid while sitting mid-80s with his change paired with a 77-80 curve. The stuff doesn’t blow you away like Billy Hamilton in a sandstorm, but he has pitchability and could surprise the draft pundits this year.
Liam Sullivan (‘23 elig) backdoors the SL here for a K. FB lived low-90s, bumped 93. Sells CH in mid-80s. #PGDraft @BaseballUGA pic.twitter.com/3QtAxpYLoI
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) October 28, 2022
Noah Hall, RHP, South Carolina – Picking up SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors with Sullivan, pitching eight shutout innings with three hits allowed and 12 strikeouts against Penn over the weekend. In fact, Hall has now collected SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors three times across the last two seasons, so the stuff is certainly there. Take a look at his collegiate progression to this point across three-plus seasons at Appalachian State and South Carolina:
2020 (App State): 2-0, 20.0 IP, 1.80 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 4.5 BB/9
2021 (App State): 5-1, 49.2 IP, 3.99 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 4.2 BB/9
2022 (South Carolina): 3-5, 76.2 IP, 4.34 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9
2023 (South Carolina): 2-0, 13.1 IP, 0.68 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 0.7 BB/9
Hall has transitioned into being primarily a starter at South Carolina and his control has improved each step along the way. Some of the narrative doesn’t add up, but that’s baseball. Hall won’t be a high pick this year due to his age, but he is certainly a name on the rise in the early going.
Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida – There isn’t a ton to add on Waldrep, other than the electric, swing-and-miss stuff that was on display on Thursday against Cincinnati. over six innings of two-run ball, the right-hander struck out 13 and walked three while surrendering just three hits. Wadlrep now has a 3.27 ERA and 19 strikeouts across 11 innings to begin the year and is firmly positioned as a top-20 overall pick for the 2023 MLB Draft.
Broack Wilken, INF, Wake Forest – Tied with Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone (2024 eligible) for the NCAA lead in home runs, Wilken has swatted seven long balls in ten games. He should also remain in the conversation for the first round and be selected moderately highly in FYPDs. Wilken is hitting .342/.469/.947 with 10 strikeouts and walks apiece through 49 plate appearances.
.@WakeBaseball Brock Wilken hit 2 HRs yesterday, bringing his season total to 5 and his career mark to 43.
That's tied for 1st in D-I among active players with Georgia Southern's Noah Ledford & FGCU's Joe Kinker … but Wilken's played 66 fewer games.pic.twitter.com/enGKzQuODz
— Friday Starters (@fridaystarters) February 25, 2023
That’s all for this week, Razzball fam! As always, I’m happy to take this conversation into the comments section or on Twitter, where you can find me @WorldOfHobbs.
