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Draft  | Rankings  | 4/19/2018

2018 MLB Draft: Top 350 Prospects

David Rawnsley     
Photo: Nick Madrigal (Scobel Wiggins)

The rankings as shown below are a combination of Perfect Game's personal observations and opinions combined with those from the scouting community. To view Perfect Game's player rankings for the high school class of 2018, please visit this link.


2018 MLB Draft: Top 250 Prospects (May 23 update)

The draft is about six weeks away and aside from the unfortunate high school prospects in the northern tier states who are still battling to play in frigid conditions, players are starting to slot themselves as they are seen over and over again by scouts.

Interestingly, one player whose stock seems to have risen has hardly played at all. Oregon State infielder Nick Madrigal is mentioned frequently as a top five pick despite having missed most of the season with a broken wrist. Madrigal did take batting practice prior to last weekend's games and could return to the lineup at any time.

Two other college standouts who have played both very well and very consistently who seem to have solidified themselves as top five picks are Auburn righthander Casey Mize and Wichita State third baseman Alec Bohm. Interestingly, of those three college standouts potentially at the top of the draft, only Madrigal was selected out of high school and that wasn't until the 17th round by the Indians. Bohm, who was ranked 137th in the PG 2015 high school rankings, and Mize, who checked in at 351st, will be hearing their names for the first time on June 4.

One area where there doesn't seem to be much of a consensus is with the very deep and talented high school pitching crop, where there are probably at least a dozen hurlers that have been evaluated as potential first round picks without there being a clear top prospect. Georgia righthander Ethan Hankins, the consensus preseason top high school pitching prospect, has been solid since his return from early season shoulder tenderness but hasn't matched his stuff from last summer.

Despite the constant talk of caution and risk with high school pitchers, the number selected in the top 30 picks over the last nine years has been extremely consistent, with between five and seven high school pitchers being selected in the 1-30 range between 2009 and 2017. It's certainly possible that there could be more than seven in 2018, though.

Two northern tier high school arms who have definitely put their names into the first round mix despite the lingering winter weather are Massachusetts righthander Mike Vasil and New York righthander Lenny Torres. Vasil has picked up where he left off last summer with a plus fastball and outstanding command, while Torres, who is one of the younger top prospects in the class, has been up to 98 mph in early action.


Top 10 Prospects, 2018 MLB Draft

Rk. Player POS. School Rk. Player Pos. School
1 Casey Mize RHP Auburn 6 Carter Stewart RHP Eau Gaille
2 Matthew Liberatore LHP Mountain Ridge 7 Shane McClanahan LHP South Florida
3 Nick Madrigal 2B Oregon State 8 Travis Swaggerty OF South Alabama
4 Jarred Kelenic OF Waukesha West 9 Ethan Hankins RHP Forsyth Central
5 Alec Bohm 3B Wichita State 10 Ryan Rolison LHP Ole Miss


Top 350 Prospects, 2018 MLB Draft

Column L = Level (C = College; H = High School; J = Junior College)


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