Where South Carolina players appear in MLB Draft prospect rankings

The 2025 MLB Draft is a little over a month and a half away, taking place from July 13-15 in Atlanta as part of All-Star Week festivities. Until then, there’s still the Draft Combine, which will be next month in Arizona, as well as the many mock drafts and prospect rankings.

Many draft prospect lists have been trickling out. As far as South Carolina is concerned, there are a few players who could hear their names called when the draft gets going.

Here’s a look at where some of the top baseball publications feature the Gamecocks in their rankings.

Baseball America

In Baseball America’s recent update to its top 500 players for the draft, Ethan Petry was the first South Carolina player to be included at No. 33 overall. He’s listed as an outfielder with a BA Grade of 50/High. Here’s a look at his scouting grades as well as a bit of what the publication wrote about the junior slugger.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 65 | Run: 40 | Field: 45 | Arm: 55

“Petry uses a modified toe tap that leads into a normal stride, though his hands drop and drift, and his swing can get long at times. While he’s a finished product physically, Petry has 70-grade raw power. He’s a power-over-hit righty bat with a tendency to expand the strike zone, especially against spin. Petry has an above-average arm in right field but seems destined for first base in the long run. Even so, Petry’s bat is loud enough to place him in the first round.”

There’s a lot of separation between Petry and the next-ranked Gamecock on the list, but Nathan Hall came in at No. 279. Petry was the only one to receive scouting grades, but here’s what was written about Hall.

“Hall can be an aggressive hitter who expands the zone a bit too much, but he’s selective enough to take a walk at times and has done a nice job against 92+ mph velocity. He has a super lean, 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame with solid raw power, though most of his hardest hit balls come on the ground. He turns in plus run times out of the box and has a chance to stick in center field with a solid arm.”

Two other current Gamecocks found themselves ranked outside the top 400, with Eli Jerzembeck at No. 419 and Henry Kaczmar at No. 449.

Here’s some of what Baseball America had to say about Jerzembeck: “Jerzembeck was a high profile prep arm out of high school in the 2022 class but made it to campus at South Carolina where he showed swing-and-miss stuff and solid control in 2023, but missed the entire 2024 season because of Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound righthander has shown a fastball up to 96 mph and an above-average, high-spin breaking ball when healthy.”

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Then let’s look at what was written about Kaczmar: “Despite his consistent collegiate hitting track record, Kaczmar has some offensive questions. His swing is noisy with some moving parts, and he tends to expand the strike zone a bit too often, with contact questions against all pitch types, but especially vs. fastball velocity. Kaczmar is a solid defender who gets the ball out of his glove quickly, though his pure arm strength might be a bit light for shortstop.”

Sandwiched in between Jerzembeck and Kaczmar is Grace Christian (NC) right-handed pitcher Luke Roupe, who’s committed to South Carolina for next season. Roupe, listed at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, is ranked as the No. 433 prospect. Here’s a snippet of what Baseball America wrote about him.

“He has a solid delivery with a direct stride to the plate and quick arm speed with a three-quarters slot. Roupe has pitched in the low 90s and run his fastball up to 94 mph at peak velocity, though during the 2025 spring, his fastball power was up-and-down depending on the outing. He has impressive feel for a slider in the upper 70s and low 80s. The pitch has solid spin rates and good movement that should allow it to become an above-average breaking ball with added power and consistency. He has also mixed in a low-to-mid-80s changeup that could round out his arsenal and be a useful pitch against lefties.”

MLB.com

Petry, listed as an outfielder and first baseman, appears in the No. 52 slot in MLB.com’s top 200 prospect rankings. Here’s a look at his scouting grades as well as an interesting bit of what the site wrote about him.

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 55 | Field: 30 | Overall: 50

“With his power-over-hit profile and lack of athleticism, Petry draws comparisons to Pete Alonso (with less bat speed) on the high end and Seth Beer (with less plate discipline) on the low end. He’s a well-below-average runner with extremely limited range in right field, though he does have solid arm strength and was clocked up to 96 mph off the mound as a prepster. He has played a serviceable first base at South Carolina and likely will move there full-time once he turns pro.”

ESPN

Once again, Petry made the cut in another publication’s top prospects list, this time with ESPN as the No. 63-ranked player. He fell into the 40 FV Tier, which means a player is considered to be below average in their overall potential. It doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential to be great at the minor or major league level, but rather they aren’t expected to reach their full potential at a high level.

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