NL West 2018 Draft Summary

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

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
SFG: 19 Signed | 14 C | 5 JC/CC | 16 RHP | 3 LHP
ARI: 18 Signed | 17 C | 1 HS | 17 RHP | 1 LHP
COL: 18 Signed | 18 C | 10 RHP | 8 LHP

SDP: 16 Signed | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 5 HS | 9 RHP | 7 LHP

LAD: 13 Signed | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 8 RHP | 5 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
ARI: 3.09 ERA | 1.230 WHIP | 422 IP | 17 Active Pitchers

LAD: 3.65 ERA | 1.306 WHIP | 285.2 IP | 11 Active Pitchers
COL: 3.70 ERA | 1.322 WHIP | 435.2 IP | 16 Active Pitchers

SFG: 4.04 ERA | 1.348 WHIP | 437 IP | 18 Active Pitchers
SDP: 4.09 ERA | 1.345 WHIP | 297.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
LAD: 19 Signed | 15 C | 4 JC/CC | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | SS | 10 OF | 3 C
SFG: 16 Signed | 9 C | 3 JC/CC | 4 HS | 3 3B | 3 SS | 6 OF | 4 C
COL: 15 Signed | 13 C | 1 JC/CC | 1 HS | 1B | 4 2B | 2 3B | SS | 5 OF | 2 C
SDP: 13 Signed | 9 C | 4 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 5 OF | C
ARI: 11 Signed | 9 C | 2 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 2 OF | 2 C

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
COL: .291/.371/.479/.850 | 15 Active Players
ARI: .288/.374/.440/.815 | 11 Active Players

LAD: .275/.367/.433/.800 | 19 Active Players

SDP: .264/.349/.379/.728 | 13 Active Players

SFG: .248/.333/.384/.717 | 16 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
ARI: 6 Total (2 C RHP, HS RHP, HS SS, C OF*, HS OF*)
SDP: 5 Total (C RHP, HS LHP*, C SS, HS SS, C OF)
SFG: 4 Total (C RHP*, C RHP, JC/CC RHP, C C*)
LAD: 3 Total (C RHP, HS RHP, C LHP)
COL: 3 Total (C LHP*, HS 1B*, C SS)

*Top 10

NL WEST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

The Diamondbacks pitching class put up the best numbers of this group which is not surprising given that all but one of these players were college picks. I would be more impressed had the D'Backs challenged any of these top picks to the higher levels (the 18th round pick was the only player to pitch above Short Season A), but they did have a good number of pitchers who saw a lot of action and that should help them get a jump start on their professional development. Similarly, the Colorado's entire class consisted of college players and none of them were promoted to the higher levels. Three of their five top pitching draft picks were not promoted beyond rookie league clubs (and the other two from the top five didn't play at all) which makes their good cumulative numbers a little less impressive. But this group as a whole also made enough appearances to really get their feet wet as professionals. The Giants pitching class was a mix of college and juco. A few of their higher picks had pedestrian starts to their professional career while several mid and lower round picks performed extremely well. San Francisco's 28th, 31st, 35th and 39th round picks were all promoted to High A by the end of the season for limited time with mostly good results. The performance of some of these mid and lower round pitchers could portend some nice depth to this class. Los Angeles drafted the fewest pitchers from this group and of that already smaller class, two pitchers did not appear in 2018 and one was traded in January 2019. However, the Dodgers were fairly aggressive with those who did play, promoting five of them to Full Season A with mostly good results. The Padres were also aggressive with promoting players, including the promotion of their top pick (a high school lefty) to Full Season A. However, three players from this class didn't play in 2018 and, of those who did play, only two pitched more than 30 innings. I'll be interested to see how these pitchers fare when faced with a full workload in 2019. Overall, I would give Arizona the edge on initial results albeit a very slight edge.

NL WEST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS

As to position players, Colorado had the best overall numbers as they probably should have given that the group is very college heavy and no one was promoted beyond Short Season A. Their top prospects, including a high school first baseman, got off to a very good start as well. The Diamondbacks had the smallest group, but it was a very solid group overall including excellent starts from those in the Top 30 prospect group. However, none of the players in this group were promoted to full season clubs. Two of those top prospects were high school players; all remaining players in the class were college picks. Conversely, the Dodgers had the largest class of position players. Their cumulative numbers fall in the middle of the group, but actually play up since Los Angeles was much more aggressive than the other clubs in promoting several of these players to a higher level of competition. This class was made up of 15 college players and four juco players. The Padres position players, a mix of college and high school players, had somewhat lackluster debuts with a few exceptions, most notably two of their Top 30 prospects, both shortstops (one high school and one college). Two players of the group were promoted to full season teams. Aside from their number one overall top prospect (C Joey Bart), I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the initial results from San Francisco's draft class. Yes, almost half of the group are high school and juco players, but a total of 11 players were not promoted beyond rookie level and six players didn't make it over the Mendoza line. Obviously, they can all develop into very good players, but the initial results were not impressive. I will give the Rockies the slightest of edges on initial results, but I like the depth of the Dodgers group and the high risk/high reward potential of the Diamondbacks high school draft picks as well.

Arizona Diamondbacks Draft Review
Colorado Rockies Draft Review
Los Angeles Dodgers Draft Review
San Diego Padres Draft Review
San Francisco Giants Draft Review

NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

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

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
STL: 18 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 14 RHP | 4 LHP
CIN: 17 Signed | 14 C | 3 HS | 15 RHP | 2 LHP
PIT: 16 Signed | 14 C | 2 HS | 13 RHP | 3 LHP
CHC: 15 Signed | 12 C | 2 JC/CC | 1 HS | 12 RHP | 3 LHP
MIL: 13 Signed | 7 C | 2 JC/CC | 4 HS | 9 RHP | 4 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
CHC: 3.34 ERA | 1.282 WHIP | 250.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers
MIL: 3.86 ERA | 1.313 WHIP | 330.2 IP | 12 Active Pitchers
STL: 4.03 ERA | 1.304 WHIP | 618.1 IP | 17 Active Pitchers
PIT: 4.22 ERA | 1.348 WHIP | 474 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
CIN: 4.73 ERA | 1.396 WHIP | 467.2 IP | 16 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
STL: 20 Signed | 17 C | 3 HS | 2 1B | 4 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 5 OF | 4 C
CHC: 17 Signed | 12 C | 1 JC/CC | 4 HS | 1B | 2 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 9 OF
PIT: 17 Signed | 16 C | 1 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 7 OF | 3 C
CIN: 12 Signed | 7 C | 2 JC/CC | 3 HS | 1B | 3B | SS | 5 OF | 4 C
MIL: 9 Signed | 2 C | 1 JC/CC | 6 HS | 2 SS | 4 OF | 3 C

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
STL: .260/.353/.392/.745 | 19 Active Players
CIN: .258/.351/.396/.747 | 12 Active Players
PIT: .255/.354/.389/.743 | 17 Active Players
CHC: .255/.338/.353/.690 | 17 Active Players
MIL: .254/.360/.369/.729 | 9 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
MIL: 5 Total (HS RHP, JC/CC LHP, HS SS*, HS OF*, HS OF)
STL: 4 Total (C RHP*, C LHP, C 1B, HS 3B*)
CIN: 3 Total (HS RHP, C 3B*, HS OF*)
CHC: 3 Total (C SS*, 2 HS OF)
PIT: 2 Total (HS RHP, C OF*)

*Top 10

NL CENTRAL DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

The Cubs pitchers may have the best cumulative pitching stats, but they only had two pitchers exceed 30 innings and none of them were promoted above Short Season A so it's hard to get a good handle on the group. And it's really difficult to get too excited about the Reds pitching class as they not only put up lackluster numbers, but all but one of them put up those numbers for rookie league teams. In addition, the Reds traded one of their best pitching prospects (RHP Josiah Gray) to Los Angeles. The Cardinal's group of pitchers deserves an incomplete for their inaugural season with prospect RHP Griffin Roberts pitching only 9.2 innings (and now serving a 50-game suspension) and LHP Steven Gingery, another highly ranked prospect, sitting out the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Brewers 2018 Draft pitching class skews young and raw, so it will take time to see how the high school and juco players from the class develop, but in the meantime, Milwaukee was fairly aggressive in promoting some of their higher round college players and most responded nicely. There could be a nice payoff from one or two of the college players as they wait for the younger pitchers to mature. On the other side of the coin, the Pirates 2018 pitching class is college-heavy. Although their cumulative stats weren't the best of this division, there were a number of pitchers who outperformed the rest of the group with excellent seasons. I like the depth of this group and think that some of these college pitchers will move quickly through the Pirates system.

NL CENTRAL DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS

The Brewers went young on their position players as well. Of the nine players signed, only two are college players. Those two college players had very good freshman seasons and, as would be expected, the younger players were a mixed bag. This class is very much a high risk/high reward proposition, particularly considering that two of these high school prospects are on the Brewers top 10 prospect list and expectations will be high. The Reds have a good mix of younger and older players and, overall, they performed well. However, all but two of the players did not appear above rookie level so it is going to be hard to judge some of those performances until the players are challenged to a higher level of play. However, the Reds top prospect from this class, college 3B Jonathan India (5th overall pick), did get his feet wet in Full Season A. The Cubs were much more college-heavy with their 2018 picks, but they also had a couple of high round high school picks. The top two picks in the class played well but in a very limited number of games. Overall, the class looks to be top heavy and not terribly deep (but only in terms of early results). The Pirates class only included one high school player way down in the 30th round. Top round picks were challenged to higher levels with mixed results, but the experience should prove to be valuable in their development. As a whole, the class performed as would be expected considering their age and level of play. St. Louis was very aggressive in promoting their players, including the promotion of their top 2018 pick, HS 3B Nolan Gorman. The Cardinals class exhibited a lot of depth with several players outperforming expectations.

Chicago Cubs Draft Review
Cincinnati Reds Draft Review
Milwaukee Brewers Draft Review
Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Review
St. Louis Cardinals Draft Review

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