2025 MLB DRAFT THREAD

[D-train]

I know, doesn't really seem to make much sense unless you are hedging against trading Harry Ford.....

It still doesn't make sense. You don't draft college position players with these offensive numbers this high. Maybe you take a flyer on a guy in the fifth round or something.

Baseball America ranked catcher Luke Stevenson No. 25:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... o-quickly/

In two seasons with North Carolina of the ACC, Stevenson posted a .267/.417/.543/.960 line in 125 games with 33 home runs, 113 RBI, 107 walks and 125 strikeouts.

In three seasons in the ACC, another catcher posted a .282/.394/.492/.887 line in 194 games with 32 home runs, 143 RBI, 132 walks and 128 strikeouts.

Of course the latter catcher was Cal Raleigh, a third-round pick out of Florida State in the 2018 draft.

In their final college seasons Cal hit .326 and Weaver hit .251.

[D-train]

I watched Bautista play in Spokane. That dude is built like a linebacker

Hopefully they'll get rid of the blocking the plate rule. I'd love to see some dudes try to run through Bautista. I really miss that part of the game. Collisions at the plate were awesome to watch

And btw, Cal does a pretty poor job of positioning to make tags at home. Julio had Volpe out by a mile on Thursday night but Cal was so far inside the line that Volpe beat him to the plate with ease. A joke! Get rid of block plate rule and maybe Cal has better position there.

lol better chance the NFL gets rid of the Roughing the Passer rule.

[harmony]

It still doesn't make sense. You don't draft college position players with these offensive numbers this high. Maybe you take a flyer on a guy in the fifth round or something.

Baseball America ranked catcher Luke Stevenson No. 25:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... o-quickly/

In two seasons with North Carolina of the ACC, Stevenson posted a .267/.417/.543/.960 line in 125 games with 33 home runs, 113 RBI, 107 walks and 125 strikeouts.

In three seasons in the ACC, another catcher posted a .282/.394/.492/.887 line in 194 games with 32 home runs, 143 RBI, 132 walks and 128 strikeouts.

Of course the latter catcher was Cal Raleigh, a third-round pick out of Florida State in the 2018 draft.

In their final college seasons Cal hit .326 and Weaver hit .251.

Good morning, Dunning-Kruger!

Anyone can cherry-pick a remote stat from a small sample to support an argument.

Major sources had Luke Stevenson ranked higher than the 35rd pick exercised by the Mariners (although a 35rd pick is no guarantee to become a productive MLB player).

From Keith Law at The Athletic:

Pick 35: Seattle Mariners — Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina

Live blog analysis: Seattle’s strong draft continues with the selection of Stevenson, a first-round talent between his plus power and ability to catch. He slid out of the first round after hitting .251 this spring with 70 punchouts in 290 PA, both of which were steps backwards from his freshman year. He might just be a low-average catcher with power — but that plays.

Keith Law scouting report: Stevenson is a power-hitting catcher who smacked 18 homers this year for the Tar Heels through the Regionals and drew 58 walks, but who hit a disappointing .254/.422/.555 overall with a 24.7 percent strikeout rate, numbers that may knock him out of the first round and would certainly do so if he weren’t a catcher. Everything else about him would seem to indicate that he’s one of the best prospects in the draft: He makes a ton of hard contact, he knows the strike zone and he’s good enough to stick at catcher. His hard-hit rate of 57 percent was one of the best in Division I this year, and he topped out at 114.6 mph, with a strong but simple swing that I don’t think will require much if any adjustment in the future. His main issue is that he has no two-strike approach at all; if anything, he has an anti-approach, as he swings 32 percent of the time before he gets to two strikes and 49 percent in any two-strike count. He chases more and he whiffs more in zone in those counts, so it’s easy to see how he can be a high-strikeout guy with everything else he does well. He’s a good blocker but a below-average receiver, and has a 55 arm that plays up because he’s pretty accurate. He should be an everyday catcher, despite the low batting average this year. He’s a draft-eligible sophomore who’ll turn 21 about 10 days after the draft.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/649024 ... -analysis/

[D-train]

Cal was drafted in 2018. Here are the first 14 rounds of that year.

Where are they now?

fwiw, #2 pick (ahead of Cal, I might add), is 28 and is still playing.....in a Mexican independent league. After the M's, he's toiled in the minors for the Yankees, Rangers and Dodgers, never rising above AA ball.
Anybody here excited when he was drafted? I had hopes...
~
Mariner 2018 Draft.png

Stowers hit .336 his final year at Louisville and never sniffed the Big leagues. Stevenson hit .251 this past season. I just can't believe this pick. Almost as shocking as Kade falling to us but in a bad way.

[D-train]

Baseball America ranked catcher Luke Stevenson No. 25:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... o-quickly/

In two seasons with North Carolina of the ACC, Stevenson posted a .267/.417/.543/.960 line in 125 games with 33 home runs, 113 RBI, 107 walks and 125 strikeouts.

In three seasons in the ACC, another catcher posted a .282/.394/.492/.887 line in 194 games with 32 home runs, 143 RBI, 132 walks and 128 strikeouts.

Of course the latter catcher was Cal Raleigh, a third-round pick out of Florida State in the 2018 draft.

In their final college seasons Cal hit .326 and Weaver hit .251.

Good morning, Dunning-Kruger!

Anyone can cherry-pick a remote stat from a small sample to support an argument.

Major sources had Luke Stevenson ranked higher than the 35rd pick exercised by the Mariners (although a 35rd pick is no guarantee to become a productive MLB player).

From Keith Law at The Athletic:

Pick 35: Seattle Mariners — Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina

Live blog analysis: Seattle’s strong draft continues with the selection of Stevenson, a first-round talent between his plus power and ability to catch. He slid out of the first round after hitting .251 this spring with 70 punchouts in 290 PA, both of which were steps backwards from his freshman year. He might just be a low-average catcher with power — but that plays.

Keith Law scouting report: Stevenson is a power-hitting catcher who smacked 18 homers this year for the Tar Heels through the Regionals and drew 58 walks, but who hit a disappointing .254/.422/.555 overall with a 24.7 percent strikeout rate, numbers that may knock him out of the first round and would certainly do so if he weren’t a catcher. Everything else about him would seem to indicate that he’s one of the best prospects in the draft: He makes a ton of hard contact, he knows the strike zone and he’s good enough to stick at catcher. His hard-hit rate of 57 percent was one of the best in Division I this year, and he topped out at 114.6 mph, with a strong but simple swing that I don’t think will require much if any adjustment in the future. His main issue is that he has no two-strike approach at all; if anything, he has an anti-approach, as he swings 32 percent of the time before he gets to two strikes and 49 percent in any two-strike count. He chases more and he whiffs more in zone in those counts, so it’s easy to see how he can be a high-strikeout guy with everything else he does well. He’s a good blocker but a below-average receiver, and has a 55 arm that plays up because he’s pretty accurate. He should be an everyday catcher, despite the low batting average this year. He’s a draft-eligible sophomore who’ll turn 21 about 10 days after the draft.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/649024 ... -analysis/

BA is a remote start and 290 PAs is a small sample size??? If Keith Law likes him I hate the pic even more.

[Donn Beach]

I don't understand how they are generating all this stuff on college prospects, hard hit rate and all that, they have statcast in college parks now?

[Donn Beach]

He’s a good blocker but a below-average receiver, and has a 55 arm that plays up because he’s pretty accurate.

I read that and I am interpreting "receiver" as catcher, he's a shitty catcher, but what that's actually about is the catching of the ball, framing, he's not a shitty catcher, he's a shitty framer. I posted an article a few days ago about the changing nature of catcher evaluation, and brought it up here. So it occurs to me, that's what the article is about. A catcher with offensive abilities is gold these days, defense, framing and so on is going out the window pretty soon. Sort of like how the SS position has evolved?

Anyway, cut to the chase, i go find the article to give it another look and guess what, it features Luke Stevenson. I was concerned about them going after a catcher with the changing nature of things but turns out he does seem the sort of guy that fits the new model. All this disregarding the batting average debate. I thought it seemed like a Z kind of pick but there are forward thinking aspects to it.

What might not be so obvious, however, is just how much MLB's 2023 rules changes are now influencing how the position is being taught, played, coached and scouted at all levels of the game -- and just how much of a premium is being placed on the offensive abilities of catchers such as Stevenson or Coastal Carolina's Caden Bodine, another likely early draft pick.

From high school and youth ball to college and the minor leagues, a shift has already begun. In fundamental ways, the value of the position itself is being reframed -- and Stevenson is a fitting avatar for catchers joining the professional ranks at a time when their livelihoods are in flux, their success most likely dictated by their capacity to adapt to this new reality.

"I don't want to say it's a dying position, [but] the bar for a being a good catcher offensively is so low," said one MLB director of amateur scouting. "You could be an everyday catcher if you hit .210 with 10 home runs. [But] if you hit .210 with 30 home runs and a Platinum Glove? You're a superstar."

Jim Koerner, USA Baseball's director of player development, said it's still imperative for catchers to wield "middle-infield hands" and a strong arm to be an MLB starter.

"[But] in five years," he said, "once they institute robo umps, I think it's going to be completely an offensive position."

Anyway, here is the article once again, since we have now drafted Stevenson you might want to take a look at it.
https://www.espn.ph/mlb/story/_/id/4569 ... e-catchers

[desbcoach]

They have taken 5 pitchers and a OF so far on day 2, Dickinson from Indiana could be interesting

[Juliooooo]

They have taken 5 pitchers and a OF so far on day 2, Dickinson from Indiana could be interesting

Yeah, most seem like they are money saving picks, but who are they saving the money for? Is Dickerson over slot? Becker is, but can’t be that far over slot, right? They saved 700 K with Anderson is 1.6 million, with Anderson that puts them at 2.3

[D-train]

He’s a good blocker but a below-average receiver, and has a 55 arm that plays up because he’s pretty accurate.

I read that and I am interpreting "receiver" as catcher, he's a shitty catcher, but what that's actually about is the catching of the ball, framing, he's not a shitty catcher, he's a shitty framer. I posted an article a few days ago about the changing nature of catcher evaluation, and brought it up here. So it occurs to me, that's what the article is about. A catcher with offensive abilities is gold these days, defense, framing and so on is going out the window pretty soon. Sort of like how the SS position has evolved?

Anyway, cut to the chase, i go find the article to give it another look and guess what, it features Luke Stevenson. I was concerned about them going after a catcher with the changing nature of things but turns out he does seem the sort of guy that fits the new model. All this disregarding the batting average debate. I thought it seemed like a Z kind of pick but there are forward thinking aspects to it.

What might not be so obvious, however, is just how much MLB's 2023 rules changes are now influencing how the position is being taught, played, coached and scouted at all levels of the game -- and just how much of a premium is being placed on the offensive abilities of catchers such as Stevenson or Coastal Carolina's Caden Bodine, another likely early draft pick.

From high school and youth ball to college and the minor leagues, a shift has already begun. In fundamental ways, the value of the position itself is being reframed -- and Stevenson is a fitting avatar for catchers joining the professional ranks at a time when their livelihoods are in flux, their success most likely dictated by their capacity to adapt to this new reality.

"I don't want to say it's a dying position, [but] the bar for a being a good catcher offensively is so low," said one MLB director of amateur scouting. "You could be an everyday catcher if you hit .210 with 10 home runs. [But] if you hit .210 with 30 home runs and a Platinum Glove? You're a superstar."

Jim Koerner, USA Baseball's director of player development, said it's still imperative for catchers to wield "middle-infield hands" and a strong arm to be an MLB starter.

"[But] in five years," he said, "once they institute robo umps, I think it's going to be completely an offensive position."

Anyway, here is the article once again, since we have now drafted Stevenson you might want to take a look at it.
https://www.espn.ph/mlb/story/_/id/4569 ... e-catchers

Framing isn't going out the window. They are going with challenge and review system not robo umps and the challenges will be limited.