While I was in Toronto trying to enjoy my bachelor party, the ESPN app was occasionally fired up on my phone watching NCAA Super Regionals. The only big surprise that caught my attention is Oral Roberts continuing to play the Cinderella role and making their way to Omaha. They are a great story, and the Golden Eagles shouldn’t be taken lightly. Other than that miss, I went 7-1 in my Super Regionals pick, which is much better than my Regional selections.
What makes this College World Series special is how many top prospects we’ll see in action. With MLB.com and The Athletic releasing new MLB Draft Rankings, there’s an update to the Sox Machine/FutureSox Top 100 Average Rankings.
Sox Machine/FutureSox 2023 MLB Draft Top 100
| Rank | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Crews | OF | LSU |
| 2 | Paul Skenes | RHP | LSU |
| 3 | Wyatt Langford | OF | Florida |
| 4 | Walker Jenkins | OF | South Brunswick (NC) |
| 5 | Max Clark | OF | Franklin (IN) |
| 6 | Chase Dollander | RHP | Tennessee |
| 7 | Jacob Wilson | SS | Grand Canyon |
| 8 | Rhett Lowder | RHP | Wake Forest |
| 9 | Arjun Nimmala | SS | Strawberry Crest (FL) |
| 10 | Jacob Gonzalez | SS | Ole Miss |
| 11 | Enrique Bradfield | OF | Vanderbilt |
| 12 | Kyle Teel | C | Virginia |
| 13 | Noble Meyer | RHP | Jesuit (OR) |
| 14 | Hurston Waldrep | RHP | Florida |
| 15 | Aidan Miller | 3B | Mitchell (FL) |
| 16 | Tommy Troy | SS | Stanford |
| 17 | Matt Shaw | SS | Maryland |
| 18 | Colin Houck | SS | Parkview (GA) |
| 19 | Brayden Taylor | 3B | TCU |
| 20 | Blake Mitchell | C | Sinton (TX) |
| 21 | Kevin McGonigle | SS | Monsignor Bonner (PA) |
| 22 | Bryce Eldridge | 1B/RHP | Madison (VA) |
| 23 | Brock Wilken | 3B | Wake Forest |
| 24 | Yohandy Morales | 3B | Miami |
| 25 | Charlee Soto | RHP | Reborn Christian (FL) |
| 26 | Thomas White | LHP | Phillips Academy (MA) |
| 27 | Colt Emerson | SS | Glenn (OH) |
| 28 | Nolan Schanuel | OF | Florida Atlantic |
| 29 | Dillon Head | OF | Homewood-Flossmoor (IL) |
| 30 | Roch Cholowsky | SS | Hamilton (AZ) |
| 31 | Walker Martin | SS | Eaton (CO) |
| 32 | Ralphy Velazquez | C | Huntington Beach HS (CA) |
| 33 | Jack Hurley | OF | Virginia Tech |
| 34 | Jake Gelof | 3B | Virginia |
| 35 | Juaron Watts-Brown | RHP | Oklahoma State |
| 36 | George Lombard Jr. | SS | Gulliver Prep (FL) |
| 37 | Chase Davis | OF | Arizona |
| 38 | Tanner Witt | RHP | Texas |
| 39 | Colton Ledbetter | OF | Mississippi State |
| 40 | Cooper Pratt | SS | Magnolia Heights (MS) |
| 41 | Jonny Farmelo | OF | Westfield (VA) |
| 42 | Travis Honeyman | OF | Boston College |
| 43 | Travis Sykora | RHP | Round Rock (TX) |
| 44 | Alexander Clemmey | LHP | Bishop Hendricken HS (RI) |
| 45 | Adrian Santana | SS | Doral Academy (FL) |
| 46 | Cole Carrigg | C | San Diego State |
| 47 | Mitch Jebb | SS | Michigan State |
| 48 | Cade Kuehler | RHP | Campbell |
| 49 | Cameron Johnson | LHP | IMG Academy (FL) |
| 50 | Brandon Sproat | RHP | Florida |
| 51 | Maui Ahuna | SS | Tennessee |
| 52 | Hunter Owen | LHP | Vanderbilt |
| 53 | Eric Bitonti | SS | Aquinas (CA) |
| 54 | Sammy Stafura | SS | Walter Panas (HS) |
| 55 | LuJames Groover III | 3B | North Carolina State |
| 56 | Cole Schoenwetter | RHP | San Marcos (CA) |
| 57 | Brice Matthews | 2B | Nebraska |
| 58 | Alonzo Tredwell | RHP | UCLA |
| 59 | Will Sanders | RHP | South Carolina |
| 60 | Trent Caraway | 3B | JSerra (CA) |
| 61 | Grayson Hitt | LHP | Alabama |
| 62 | Mike Boeve | 3B | Nebraska-Omaha |
| 63 | Ryan Lasko | OF | Rutgers |
| 64 | Nazzan Zanetello | SS | Christian Brothers (MO) |
| 65 | Luke Keaschall | 2B | Arizona State |
| 66 | Liam Peterson | RHP | Calvary Christian (FL) |
| 67 | Antonio Anderson | SS | North Atlanta HS (GA) |
| 68 | Kiefer Lord | RHP | Washington |
| 69 | Kemp Alderman | OF | Ole Miss |
| 70 | Adam Hachman | LHP | Timberland (MO) |
| 71 | Will Gasparino | OF | Harvard-Westlake (CA) |
| 72 | Blake Wolters | RHP | Mahomet-Seymour HS (IL) |
| 73 | Landen Maroudis | RHP | Calvary Christian (FL) |
| 74 | Josh Knoth | RHP | Patchogue-Medford HS (NY) |
| 75 | Joey Volchko | RHP | Redwood HS (CA) |
| 76 | Ty Floyd | RHP | Louisiana State |
| 77 | Michael Carico | C | Davidson |
| 78 | Max Anderson | 3B | Nebraska |
| 79 | Zander Mueth | RHP | Belleville East (IL) |
| 80 | Paul Wilson | LHP | Lakeridge (OR) |
| 81 | Mac Horvath | 3B | North Carolina |
| 82 | Kyle Karros | 3B | UCLA |
| 83 | Grant Taylor | RHP | LSU |
| 84 | Myles Naylor | 3B | St. Joan of Arc (ON) |
| 85 | Jackson Baumeister | RHP | Florida State |
| 86 | Jace Bohrofen | OF | Arkansas |
| 87 | Roman Martin | SS | Servite (CA) |
| 88 | Alex Mooney | SS | Duke |
| 89 | Tai Peete | SS | Trinity Christian HS (GA) |
| 90 | Tre' Morgan | 1B | LSU |
| 91 | Teddy McGraw | RHP | Wake Forest |
| 92 | Ethan McElvain | LHP | Nolensville HS |
| 93 | Sean Sullivan | LHP | Wake Forest |
| 94 | Kendall George | OF | Atascocita HS |
| 95 | Dylan Cupp | SS | Cedartown (GA) |
| 96 | Levi Wells | RHP | Texas State |
| 97 | Drew Burress | OF | Houston County (GA) |
| 98 | Christian Knapczyk | SS | Louisville |
| 99 | Caden Sorrell | OF | Marcus HS (TX) |
| 100 | Tanner Hall | RHP | Southern Mississippi |
Breakdown of how many Top 100 Prospects each College World Series school has:
Wake Forest (4): #8 Rhett Lowder, #23 Brock Wilken, #91 Teddy McGraw, #93 Sean Sullivan
LSU Tigers (4): #1 Dylan Crews, #2 Paul Skenes, #83 Grant Taylor (Injured), #90 Tre’ Morgan
Florida Gators (3): #3 Wyatt Langford, #14 Hurston Waldrep, #50 Brandon Sproat
Virginia Cavaliers (2): #12 Kyle Teel, #34 Jake Gelof
Tennessee Volunteers (2): #6 Chase Dollander, #51 Maui Ahuna
Stanford Cardinal (1): #16 Tommy Troy
TCU Horned Frogs (1): #19 Brayden Taylor
Incredibly, 10 of the Top 25 MLB Draft Prospects will play in Omaha over 13 days. That’s significant exposure to a national audience; for some, they will be watching these players for the first time.
College World Series Picks
Bracket 1: Florida
It’s funny how the longshots Oral Roberts and TCU will start the festivities. I like the Horned Frogs in that game, with Brayden Taylor poised to have a big weekend. Now Florida vs. Virginia is a juicy matchup. While the Gators will have the pitching advantage, it’ll be interesting to see who they hand the ball off first. It could be LHP Jac Caglianone, who last pitched on June 2nd against Florida A&M. If Caglianone can pitch a gem keeping Kyle Teel and Jake Gelof at bay, the Gators will have their top two pitchers (Hurston Waldrep and Brandon Sproat) ready for Game 2 and 3. That’s a good game plan for making the Championship round.
But if Virginia pulls off the mini upset, it puts Florida into the losers bracket having to need Waldrep and Sproat to be excellent to reach the semifinals. Then it’ll be a bullpen game for the Gators for a chance to play in the Championship round.
Bracket 2: Wake Forest
Going chalk is usually a bad idea for the College World Series, as we saw last year with Ole Miss and Oklahoma in the final, but I have a hard time imagining anyone stopping Wake Forest in this bracket.
LSU has the star power, and that offense can mash, but Tennessee has the quality of pitching to counter. These two schools last played in late March/early April when the Tigers won two out of three against the Volunteers. That was a long time ago, and Tennessee has been playing with a big chip on their shoulders this postseason. They are on the warpath to redeem themselves after last year’s Super Regionals exist.
But I also would love to see an offensive slobber knocker between Wake Forest and LSU.
College World Series Winner: Florida
The Gators were my preseason pick to win it all, and I’ll stick with them. While most baseball fans will get to know Wyatt Langford, Waldrep, and Sproat for the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft, I think Caglianone will garner the most attention. Big performance in Omaha will have the hype train rolling for the preseason 2024 MLB Draft rankings.
New 2023 MLB Draft Mock Simulator from Prospects Live
Before the NFL Draft, I was constantly playing with the simulators to see the rounds would unfold from Pro Football Network and PFF. Even though I'm a San Francisco 49ers fan, it was fun to act as the Chicago Bears GM to see what type of offers would be accepted for the first overall pick.
Over at Prospects Live, they have built an MLB version on their site thanks to Tyson Tucker. It doesn't work precisely as the NFL counterparts, but this is the first time we've had something like this with MLB Draft. How it works is when you click on Mock Draft in the top bar, you can make every pick for teams or simulate a selection.
If you want to make picks for the Chicago White Sox, click on simulate pick for each team until it's the White Sox's turn. Then make your selection, and continue simulating for up to five rounds. I found some simulations chaotic, but that's usually how the MLB Draft works. It makes for a great practice tool to play out specific scenarios.
Josh's Five Round MLB Draft Simulation
- I think getting Kyle Teel at pick 15 would be a steal. There’s a lot of chatter about Teel going in the top 10 picks because of how shallow the catching pool is for this class.
- White Sox need more starting pitchers in the farm system, as we will see a lot of shuffling with the major league club. Adding Juaron Watts-Brown and Keifer Lord starts building up a pool of college starters within the White Sox farm system after selecting Peyton Pallette and Jonathan Cannon last year.
- I’m a big fan of Mac Horvath’s style of play, and he could be a super-utility player.
- LHP Hunter Dietz is a big kid at 6’6” and 230 lbs that hit 94 mph during the Perfect Game summer showcase circuit. Dietz would be an over-slot signing, as he’s committed to Arkansas.
