2023 MLB Draft Report: First Wave of Mock Drafts and a look at Yohandy Morales

I’m sorry for the delay in this week’s 2023 MLB Draft Report. I got caught in a whirlwind of activity with the World Baseball Classic and Spring Training. I’ve always thought there could never be too much baseball, but sometimes there is too much baseball to keep up.

We start this week’s draft report with the latest Baseball America Mock Draft. It’s an interesting format, as Carlos Collazo conducted the mock with an anonymous MLB scout. There’s good insight from a source of what at least one MLB team is looking at when evaluating the current talent pool. I recommend reading through each pick and taking some notes.

Baseball America picked prep RHP Noble Meyer out of Oregon for the Chicago White Sox. Meyer was on my first Draft Watch Board for the Chicago White Sox and would follow the theme from last year’s draft theme of pinpointing pitchers with high spin rates. Not much has changed for Meyer’s draft stock, but it will always be noted that prep pitchers are volatile.

Take the first mock drafts with a grain of salt, but assessing and reviewing where this draft class is trending after the first month of college baseball season is good. LSU’s Dylan Crews should still be the number-one overall prospect, but there’s been some shuffling with college starting pitcher ranks. Next week’s Draft Report will feature an updated Top 50, and then we’ll have our first mock draft the following week (March 29th).

Player Review: Miami (FL) 3B Yohandy Morales

I'm having a see-saw type of luck when focusing on a draft prospect. Two weeks ago, I watched Maryland's shortstop Matt Shaw only to watch him struggle against Ole Miss. A week later, I saw Virginia catcher Kyle Teel have a very productive weekend at the plate against Rhode Island.

This week, we are falling back to the ground looking at Miami (FL) University's third baseman, Yohandy Morales. In the weekend series against an undefeated red-hot NC State team, I was hoping Morales could provide the type of highlights I saw of him against Florida.

Thanks to his excellent bat speed, Morales was putting up video game numbers before NC State. Instead, I've seen Morales at his worst, as he's been ice-cold the past four games. Against NC State, Morales went 1-for-12 with five strikeouts and two RBI and followed that performance by going 0-for-5 against Florida International in the midweek game.

Hitting

Offensively, Morales has a closed stance that reminds me of Giancarlo Stanton at setup, but there's a stride with the swing. Stanton has almost no stride, and his swing feels like it's all upper body. Morales's closed stance helps him make good contact on fastballs on the outside corner but could be challenged on the third inner heat as his eyes are set on locating for pitches on the outer half. NC State mostly stayed away from Morales in the series.

Against fastballs, Morales does a good job of identifying the velocity early and attacks those pitches with confidence. With offspeed and breaking stuff, Morales sometimes shows good discipline to lay off those pitches early in the count. However, there were curveballs thrown in the strike zone that I saw Morales whiff frequently against. I've noted this tendency and will be looking to see how Morales does against breaking stuff in future film sessions.

Fielding

Morales is an above-average defender at the hot corner if you are stuck with scouting based on short videos or highlights. What I saw through the three games of opportunities is an inconsistent fielder.

Morales displayed good range and quick reactions at times. He moved to his left, cutting off a slow grounder from the shortstop and making a solid throw to prevent an infield single. Or a hard-hit liner down the third base line where Morales made an impressive diving catch. Those plays are in his highlight video.

Then there is the throwing error on a routine grounder. I think Morales’s footwork got a bit choppy. It was almost like Morales’s feet were too close and not in a good position throwing position. The result was a throwing error that spiked in front of first base resulting in a run scoring and the batter moving up to second base. There was also another line drive that Morales was slow to react to and barely made it past his glove after taking a half step to his left.

Again, there are moments where Morales is impressive defensively, and then an inning later gets sloppy. Based on the good plays, Morales can stick at third base but will need more focus in his professional development to be consistent.

Overall

I need to watch more of Morales because I saw him at his worst. Yes, there’s potential for a 45-grade contact /55-60 grade power hitter profile and a 50-grade defender. That should put Morales in the mid-first round to early-second round territory. Is he the best college third baseman in this class? That’s debatable, and I need to watch more of Morales and Wake Forest’s Brock Wilken.

NCBWA Top 25 (Week of March 13, 2023)

Games I’m Watching this Weekend: 

Conference play begins across the country which makes SEC Network a must have Friday night’s. 

#22 Alabama at #3 Florida

#8 Vanderbilt at #2 Ole Miss

#1 LSU at #15 Texas A&M

Notre Dame at #5 Wake Forest

It’s time to get better acquainted with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, especially starting pitcher Rhett Lowder and third baseman Brock Wilken.