NL East 2018 Draft Summary

In conjunction with the MLB Draft Deep Dive series that I've been rolling out this week (see links below), the following is a down and dirty summary of the early 2018 draft results for the NL East.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
MIA: 20 Signed | 20 C | 18 RHP | 2 LHP
ATL: 18 Signed | 13 C | 4 JC/CC | 1 HS | 12 RHP | 6 LHP
NYM: 16 Signed | 11 C | 5 HS | 13 RHP | 3 LHP
PHI: 16 Signed | 8 C | 4 JC/CC | 4 HS | 13 RHP | 3 LHP
WAS: 16 Signed | 15 C | 1 HS | 11 RHP | 5 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
NYM: 2.81 ERA | 1.295 WHIP | 246.1 IP | 15 Active Pitchers
PHI: 3.05 ERA | 1.221 WHIP | 298 IP | 15 Active Pitchers
MIA: 3.92 ERA | 1.352 WHIP | 328.1 IP | 17 Active Pitchers
ATL: 4.00 ERA | 1.439 WHIP | 346.2 IP | 17 Active Pitchers
WAS: 4.43 ERA | 1.318 WHIP | 374 IP | 15 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
PHI: 16 Signed | 12 C | 1 JC/CC | 3 HS | 2 1B | 3 3B | 3 SS | 4 OF | 4 C
ATL: 15 Signed | 14 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 1B | 2B | 3 3B | SS | 5 OF | 3 C
NYM: 15 Signed | 13 C | 2 HS | 1B | 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 4 OF | 4 C
MIA: 14 Signed | 7 C | 2 JC/CC | 5 HS | 1B | 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 5 OF | 4 C
WAS: 13 Signed | 12 C | 1 JC/CC | 1B | 2 2B | 2 3B | SS | 5 OF | 2 C

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
WAS: .274/.355/.382/.736 | 13 Active Players
ATL: .273/.359/.384/.742 | 15 Active Players
PHI: .271/.352/.393/.745 | 16 Active Players
MIA: .260/.343/.353/.696 | 13 Active Players
NYM: .252/.338/.375/.713 | 15 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
WAS: 5 Total (HS RHP*, C LHP*, 2 C RHP, C OF*)
MIA: 4 Total (HS OF*, HS C*, HS SS, C OF)
PHI: 3 Total (C RHP, HS RHP, C 3B*)
ATL: 3 Total (C RHP, JC/CC RHP, C OF)
NYM: 1 Total (HS RHP, plus 2 traded players are on Top 30 lists for the teams to which they were traded - HS OF Jarred Kelenic and C OF Ross Adolph)

*Top 10

NL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

Among the NL East teams, the Nationals have the most ranked pitching prospects, but the early results didn't necessarily back that up. And the Mets have the best numbers, but those numbers represent far fewer innings than the other teams (and they have since traded their 4th round pick, RHP Adam Hill). None of Miami's 2018 Draft pitchers have broken on to the MLB Pipeline list and, frankly, their 2018 class had very mixed results. Atlanta's top pitching prospects combined to toss only 13.2 innings and the rest of the field wasn't very deep, results-wise. I would definitely give the Phillies the highest mark for their 2018 Draft pitchers. Not only were their cumulative pitching numbers good, there was good depth, including a couple of mid-draft picks who performed very well at a higher level.

NL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS

Miami boasts the most ranked position player prospects in this league and, despite three of the four ranked prospects being high school drafted players, the Marlins were very aggressive in challenging that trio to Full Season A during their first season. Overall, the Marlins were the most aggressive organization in promoting their position players, a fact which makes their cumulative numbers look more favorable. With a couple of notable exceptions, the Mets college-heavy draft group didn't perform as well as might be expected as only two were challenged to the higher levels. (In addition, it should be noted that the Mets traded two of their better performers during the offseason.) The Nationals and the Phillies generally performed as expected given the make up of the groups and the levels played. Atlanta, however, promoted seven of their college players to full season teams and all but one of those players responded very nicely. For early results, I like the Braves group best but the Marlins group of younger prospects has more long-term potential albeit high risk/high reward potential.

Atlanta Braves Draft Review
Miami Marlins Draft Review
New York Mets Draft Review
Philadelphia Phillies Draft Review
Washington Nationals Draft Review