Like the weather recently, early amateur baseball season performances and even some rankings in the first week and a half of play have proven quite ephemeral. At this early juncture in a hugely important draft cycle for the Mets, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel gave us a fresh release of his rankings for the 2022 class.
His rankings begin in fairly predictable fashion, headlined by the trio of stud prep bats, leading with Druw Jones as his top ranked overall player in the class, trailed by Termarr Johnson and Elijah Green. Of note, Green opened his spring with a noticeably toned down leg kick and load in an attempt to cut down on some swing and miss. If the results follow as intended, there goes any fantasy of the generational package of amateur tools falling to the Mets first pick at 11th overall.
McDaniel is also latching early concern onto the opening weekend struggles of James Madison’s Chase DeLauter against some of the best college left-handed pitching in the country in Florida State’s Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart. McDaniel notes not only the rough statistical start to Delauter’s infantile season, but some potential swing mechanics that he would like to see remedied in quick order. McDaniel kept the toolsy outfielder as his 9th best overall draft talent, but implied a further fall if he struggles against mid-major pitching.
With the Mets picking twice in the first 15 picks due to failing to sign Kumar Rocker last summer, taking a close look at this array of the draft as McDaniel sees it today provides some names to keep an eye on.
Matt Holiday’s son, Jackson Holliday is seen as a potentially tough sign away from an Oklahoma State commitment, but he is still drawing big reviews from scouts, leading McDaniel to rank him 12th overall as the top prep shortstop in the class. Cam Collier is another prep infielder ranked nearly as high at 16th overall. Both could appeal to the Mets as a part of a demographic they’ve had great success in drafting early in recent years.
Finally, the one early name to burst into first round discussion is a prep right-hander in a particularly strong field of them, Cole Phillips. The young Texas product newly boasts high 90’s heat, touching 99 mph and flashes plus feel to spin a breaking ball. It’s the most risk-laden demographic and one the Mets have stayed away from in the first round, but have gone to often with their next pick(s) immediately thereafter.
Expect names to continue to rise and fall in the public rankings as play continues. We’ll be keeping a close eye out here for names that figure to pop up on the Mets radar as we get closer to the draft.
Be sure to check out my draft primer and my article on one of the first mock drafts for 2022.
