Perfect Game Top 25 | Perfect Game College Baseball on SiriusXM College Sports | Video Vault
Friday Recap: Potential 1st rounders on display
Saturday Recap: Gold, Jackets stun Hurricanes
Sunday Recap: Hurricanes storm back in Game 2
Here is a Soundcloud snippet of Perfect Game's College Baseball program on Monday night on SiriusXM College Sports (channel 84):
Draft Watch
Here is how the players currently ranked among the top 50 of Perfect Game’s updated top 100 draft-eligible prospects have fared to this point of the season.
Hitters
| Rk. |
Player |
Pos. |
School |
Statistics |
| 3 |
Corey Ray |
OF |
Louisville |
.322/.391/.595, 15 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 35 SB |
| 6 |
Nick Senzel |
3B |
Tennessee |
.339/.440/.593, 19 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 21 SB |
| 7 |
Kyle Lewis |
OF |
Mercer |
.432/.561/.801, 10 2B, 2 3B, 17 HR, 6 SB |
| 13 |
Buddy Reed |
OF |
Florida |
.284/.380/.443, 7 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 22 SB |
| 25 |
Zack Collins |
C/1B |
Miami |
.392/.559/.662, 8 2B, 9 HR, 52 BB |
| 28 |
Bryan Reynolds |
OF |
Vanderbilt |
.328/.457/.603, 14 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 4 SB |
| 37 |
Matthew Thaiss |
C/1B |
Virginia |
.366/.468/.557, 10 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR |
| 39 |
Anfernee Grier |
OF |
Auburn |
.390/.470/.590, 8 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 17 SB |
| 40 |
Jake Fraley |
OF |
Louisiana State |
.330/.417/.440, 8 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 22 SB |
| 44 |
Will Craig |
1B/3B |
Wake Forest |
.422/.557/.836, 14 2B, 13 HR, 56 RBI |
| 45 |
Chris Okey |
C |
Clemson |
.337/.459/.562, 9 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 2 SB |
| 46 |
Nick Banks |
OF |
Texas A&M |
.273/.355/.473, 9 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 4 SB |
| 48 |
Ryan Boldt |
OF |
Nebraska |
.299/.349/.445, 12 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 16 SB |
| 49 |
Lucas Erceg |
3B |
Menlo (NAIA) |
.311/.348/.623, 15 2B, 17 HR, 3 SB |
Pitchers
| Rk. |
Player |
Pos. |
School |
Statistics |
| 5 |
A.J. Puk |
LHP |
Florida |
3.04 ERA, 50.1 IP, 36 H, 71 K, 25 BB |
| 10 |
Dakota Hudson |
RHP |
Mississippi State |
2.80 ERA, 80.1 IP, 75 H, 85 K, 26 BB |
| 14 |
Connor Jones |
RHP |
Virginia |
1.95 ERA, 78.1 IP, 60 H, 55 K, 27 BB |
| 17 |
Daulton Jefferies |
RHP |
California |
1.29 ERA, 42 IP, 33 H, 47 K, 6 BB |
| 18 |
Cal Quantrill |
RHP |
Stanford |
Has not pitched this season |
| 21 |
Logan Shore |
RHP |
Florida |
2.32 ERA, 73.2 IP, 60 H, 70 K, 12 BB |
| 22 |
Robert Tyler |
RHP |
Georgia |
3.98 ERA, 63.1 IP, 44 H, 78 K, 38 BB |
| 26 |
Jordan Sheffield |
RHP |
Vanderbilt |
2.09 ERA, 77.2 IP, 61 H, 92 K, 26 BB |
| 30 |
Zack Burdi |
RHP |
Louisville |
2.75 ERA, 19.2 IP, 11 H, 33 K, 7 BB 6 SV |
| 31 |
Zach Jackson |
RHP |
Arkansas |
4.88 ERA, 48 IP, 40 H, 59 K, 35 BB, 4 SV |
| 32 |
Alec Hansen |
RHP |
Oklahoma |
5.06 ERA, 37.1 IP, 32 H, 55 K, 29 BB |
| 33 |
Corbin Burnes |
RHP |
St. Mary's |
1.57 ERA, 80.1 IP, 53 H, 86 K, 28 BB |
| 34 |
Matt Krook |
LHP |
Oregon |
5.11 ERA, 44 IP, 30 H, 56 K, 41 BB |
| 36 |
Eric Lauer |
LHP |
Kent State |
0.90 ERA, 80.1 IP, 44 H, 96 K, 25 BB |
| 38 |
Cody Sedlock |
RHP |
Illinois |
2.82 ERA, 83 IP, 70 H, 97 K 25 BB |
| 42 |
Anthony Kay |
LHP |
Connecticut |
2.48 ERA, 83.1 IP, 65 H, 84 K, 26 BB |
Sean Murphy, C, Wright State
Murphy, the catcher for Wright State, has been generating serious draft buzz this season following his performance in the Cape Cod League last summer. While the offensive profile isn't overwhelming from a statistical standpoint (.258/.391/.472 in 2016), his defensive prowess and future potential with the bat are indeed alluring from a draft perspective.
He's a well-built prospect, especially in his lower half, and could probably tack on a few more pounds in his upper body as he goes forward. The profile here is one of quality, athletic defensive skill behind the plate highlighted by very good lateral agility and plus raw arm strength. Without even really airing it out, Murphy was popping sub-2.00 second times down to second base in between innings, as Oakland University clearly read their scouting report and didn't try to run on him. He's very fast out of his crouch into his throwing mechanics, gaining ground quickly and releasing extremely well. Too often we use the phrase "light on his feet" to describe a player who moves well, but that's absolutely the correct way to describe Murphy's defensive actions. He's very light to both sides, into his throw downs and just in general back there. He's undoubtedly one of the best defensive catchers in the college ranks at least, and whichever team drafts him will undoubtedly be buying high on his defense in the hopes that the bat can play up a bit.
The offensive profile is a bit limited, more than likely relegating him to the traditional archetype of a glove-first backup catcher, but those players are exceedingly valuable in baseball. He drifts a bit onto his front side and the bat speed is fringy, in addition to the barrel not staying in the hitting zone very long. He's a strong guy who has average raw pop, showing the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark at times, but the game swing itself is not entirely conducive to game power. The path gets linear pretty often, and while the overall contact skills are good (he's only struck out 13 times this season), he's very content to just throw the barrel out and slap a ground ball somewhere. The discipline is fine – he doesn't expand the zone or reach for – but it seems that he's also not overly willing to wait for a pitch that he can drive.
Catcher defense is always a highly sought after commodity in the draft, leading to teams seemingly "over drafting" for the sake of getting quality defensive catchers into their systems and hoping that player development can unlock their hitting tools. Murphy certainly fits the mold of a glove-first backup catcher, and while that's not a sexy profile, that's a profile that plays for a long time in the major leagues. With that being said, I think Murphy falls somewhere in rounds 3-5 of the draft on the back of his defensive skill and raw pop.
National Notes
• Corey Ray had a huge day at the plate on Sunday as part of Louisville’s 10-6 win over North Carolina. Ray went 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and three driven in. After a sizzling start to the season Ray has somewhat leveled off, as he’s been hitting right around .320-.330 for the majority of the year. The Cardinals’ offense can beat opposing teams in a variety of ways, and are once again especially dangerous with Nick Solak back in the lineup. However, it has been Ray setting the tone at the top of the order all season long as he continues to prove why he’s in the discussion for the first five overall picks in this year’s draft with a dynamic set of tools.
• Speaking of notable draft prospects, this year hasn’t gone Alec Hansen’s way, that is up until Sunday’s encouraging performance as Oklahoma took the series from Kansas State with a 12-0 win. Hansen picked up his first win of the season (1-4) while allowing just two hits and one walk over six innings, striking out nine thanks to his 95-98 mph fastball and slider that flashes plus. It was Hansen’s first start in over a month who had been moved to the bullpen after a shaky start to the season. Keeping his walk totals down while exhibiting improved command will be key for Hansen the rest of the way as his size and arm strength are still valuable commodities and could still help him to be selected in the first round of the draft despite the level of his performances. How he performs this weekend in the Sooners’ annual Bedlam Series against in-state rival Oklahoma State could provide a huge boost to his draft stock.
• Another high-powered arm with lofty draft aspirations, TCU's Mitchell Traver, took to the mound for the first time this season on Sunday at Penn State with promising results. With a pitch count around 30 entering the game (he threw 37), Traver sat in the low- to mid-90s during his two-inning stint, understandably throwing more pitches than usually needed to navigate through two frames, allowing just one base hit and a walk while hitting a batter and striking out three of the nine batters he faced. Getting Traver back, assuming he can continue to build up his arm strength, is a huge gain for the Horned Frogs as the postseason approaches, especially considering that star freshman Luken Baker has been shut down from throwing.
• After Jon Duplantier and Blake Fox twirled brilliant games against Florida International on Friday and Saturday (both games were shutouts for the Owls), the Rice bats came alive on Sunday in a 12-1 win to secure the series sweep. Ricardo Salinas provided five shutout innings of his own to move to 7-1 on the year while the team’s Nos. 3-5 hitters – Ford Proctor, Dominic DiCaprio and Tristan Gray – went a combined 10-for-15 with six runs scored and five driven in. Rice, who is currently tied with Southern Miss for the C-USA lead, returns home this coming weekend to host FAU (who is one game behind Southern Miss and Rice in the standings) in yet another key conference series.
• Coastal Carolina got back to their high-scoring ways, and then some, in their sweep of Big South rival Liberty. The Chanticleers out-scored the Flames 43-12, scoring double-digits in each of the three games. They hit seven more home runs in the series, including four in Saturday’s game and one each from Zach Remillard and Connor Owings on Sunday, who are tied for the team lead with 13 homers each. G.K. Young (12) and Michael Paez (10) also are in double digits for round trippers as Coastal Carolina has hit 67 as a team, second in the nation to Mercer (76).
• Clemson re-entered the rankings this week after their series win over ACC rival NC State. The series win was Clemson’s second in a row after taking down Florida State the weekend before. It marked their third series in a row at home as part of a 13-game homestand that includes a pair of games against College of Charleston this week. They finish the season playing six of their remaining seven games on the road, starting with an out-of-conference series against Georgia Southern and their final ACC tilt against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., before the ACC Tournament. Clemson’s success this season is notable, and somewhat interesting, as they have the ninth-best RPI and the fourth-best strength of schedule, but they have been swept, on the road, by both Miami and Louisville and have also lost series to Duke and Georgia Tech.