Article: Brewer Fanatic 2022 Draft Coverage, June 16

[Jeremy Nygaard]

With a little over a month left until the 2022 MLB Draft kicks off, things seem to have started to settle down. And by “settle down,” I mean “players have stopped getting hurt so frequently.” (Immediately knocks on wood.)

In this update, we’re going to focus on three names.

The first name is one you’ve probably heard, but definitely haven’t seen pitch this year (up until his debut over the weekend) and that’s Carson Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt, a left-handed pitcher from East Carolina was suspended for the season after a failed drug test. He claims that test came as a result of taking a supplement from a nationwide nutrition store. At any rate, Whisenhunt was not allowed to pitch all year.

Obviously missing a full season of college ball didn’t give teams 15 or so opportunities to watch Whisenhunt pitch, but his absence may not necessarily all be bad in the long run. He made ito June healthy and is now able to showcase his skills in the Cape Cod League.

Whisenhunt made his debut on Sunday night. Though it was of the shorter variety (only three innings), Whisenhunt struck out five and walked one. He allowed three earned runs on two hits and a walk. His stuff wasn’t bad. Topping out at 95 mph, his fastball sat a few clicks lower. He threw his change-up and curveball as well. As you can expect after the long layoff, he showed some rust. He will make a few more starts before the draft, but expect Whisenhunt’s pitching ability to put him back in the first round conversation.

How teams view Whisenhunt’s suspension and explanation about his suspension is another story.

Across from Whisenhunt on Sunday was 3B Cam Collier. Collier’s path to the Cape is a unique one. He reclassified, instead heading to junior college to make himself draft-eligible quicker. And now he’s in the wood-bat league as one of the league’s youngest players ever. Through three games (as of Wednesday), Collier is batting 3-for-9 with three singles, three walks and three strikeouts. He’s been caught stealing in his only attempt. While playing two games at third base, he’s been perfect on the six balls he’s fielded. Collier continues to trend upward, where he may eventually settle in the top 5. 

Lastly, let’s talk some more about Kumar Rocker. As you probably know by now, Rocker was a potential #1 overall pick who fell to the Mets at #10 and agreed to an overslot deal before the Mets pulled out due to some arm concerns. Instead of going back to Vanderbilt for his senior season, Rocker instead joined the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League.

Rocker made his second start on Friday night and reviews are mixed. On the surface, going backwards in pitches and max velocity from his first start to this start don’t seem promising. In his first inning of work on Friday, he walked a batter before hitting two batters to load the bases.

But he worked his way out of the trouble and was able to throw three scoreless, two-hit innings that included five strikeouts. 

You can read a very thorough review of his second start here. 

If the draft were today, I’d have a hard time believing that Rocker makes it out of the first round. In a draft that lacks high-end pitching, someone is going to believe that the Kumar Rocker we watched pitch for Vanderbilt for three years still exists. 

 

JEREMY’S TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1.) Druw Jones, OF, Georgia prep (Vanderbilt commit)

2.) Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly (previously: 4)

3.) Elijah Green, OF, Florida prep (Miami commit) (Baseball America breaks down his game.)

4.) Jackson Holliday, SS, Oklahoma prep (Oklahoma State commit) (previously: 6)

5.) Termarr Johnson, 2B, Georgia prep (previously: 2)

6.) Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola JC (previously: 7)

7.) Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech (previously: 5) 

8.) Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama

9.) Jacob Berry, Hitter, LSU (previously: unranked)

10.) Jace Jung, 3B, Texas Tech 

 

MOCK DRAFTS / PROSPECT BOARDS

• Baseball America - v4.0 (5/26/22) the draft changed but the link stayed the same / v2.0 (4/1/22) /  v1.0 (2/10/22) / Top 300 (4/27/22) / Staff Draft v.1.0 (4/20/22)
• MLB.com - Mayo Mock Draft (6/1/22) / Callis Mock Draft (5/25/22) / Mayo Mock Draft (5/18/22) / Callis Mock Draft (5/11/22) /  Mock Draft (4/27/22) / Callis - Top 10 (12/15/21), Mayo - Top 20 (7/20/21) / Top 150 (4/25/22)
• The Athletic - Bowden Top 10 ( 6/1/22) / Law Mock Draft (5/19/22) /  Law Top 100 (5/5/22) / Law Top 30 (3/10/22)
• ESPN - McDaniel Mock Draft (6/1/22) / Early Draft Rankings (7/26/21) ($$$ - ESPN+) / McDaniel’s Draft Rankings (2/24/22) / Draft Rankings 2.0 (4/27/22)
• Fangraphs - The Board / 2022 MLB Draft Rankings and Offseason List Primer (11/30/21) 
• Prospects Live - v3.0 (6/6/22) / v2.0 (4/21/22) / v1.0 (1/4/22) 

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