Pair of Oregon Ducks land inside MLB Draft top-100 rankings
We’re just over a month away from the Major League Baseball Draft. After an up-and-down Oregon season that ended at the Lousiville Regional, a number of key Ducks players are draft-eligible and are projected to hear their names called within the first several rounds in July.
Tanner Smith, Brennan Milone, Anthony Hall, Josh Kasevich, and Drew Cowley were all uber-productive players for Oregon in 2022, and all could potentially be taken within this year’s 20-round draft.
On Thursday, Keith Law of the Athletic released his top-100 big board and it featured one current Oregon player and one high school commit from the class of 2022.
Kasevich, Oregon’s starting shortstop during each of the past two seasons, is tabbed by Law as the No. 78 overall draft-eligible player. Jackson Cox, a right-handed pitcher from Toutle Lake, Wash., is Law’s No. 97 prospect.
Kasevich was one of the top defensive shortstops in the nation last season and saw an uptick in offensive production while garnering first-team all-conference honors.
Here’s Law’s evaluation of Kasevich.
“Kasevich is a true shortstop and one of the hardest hitters in D1 to strike out, with just 16 punchouts in 277 plate appearances. He’s a fringy runner and doesn’t have much power, but has more defensive chops and strength than David Fletcher did as an amateur – and Fletcher actually struck out more.“
Cox is a hard-throwing righty who is one of the gems of Oregon’s 2022 signing class. It’s possible he never sets foot in Eugene, depending on how his draft experience unfolds.
Here’s the rundown from Law on Cox.
“Cox, an Oregon commit, has a simple delivery that’s very online to the plate and a three-pitch mix that features a plus curveball with high spin rates and late two-plane break. He’s got some feel for a changeup already with some fading action to it and an average fastball that’s mostly 92-94 mph. He doesn’t have the pure physical projection of many of the other prep arms ranked above him, with just decent arm speed, but the fact that he has an out pitch now and might get to another above-average to plus weapon with his changeup give him upside of a different sort.“
Law’s top-100 featured no shortage of Pac-12 talent. His list of prospects from the conference includes:
- Stanford OF Brock Jones
- Arizona catcher Daniel Susac
- Oregon State OF Jacob Melton
- Oregon State LHP Cooper Hjerpe
- Cal OF Dylan Beavers
Druw Jones, the son of former MLB All-Star Andruw Jones, is Law’s No. 1 overall prospect. Interestingly, Law’s top-15 prospects are all position players, with high school right-hander Dylan Lesko tabbed as the top pitcher at No. 16.
The MLB Draft begins Sunday, July 17, and concludes on July 19.
