Under-the-Radar Prep Talent in the Just Baseball Top 300 Draft Board
There are plenty of top prep players on the board ahead of this year's MLB Draft. Let's meet some of the top underrated names.
With the MLB Draft just around two weeks away and this year’s combine now complete, we’re beginning to see the top prep prospects place themselves on draft boards. Leading up to the draft, prep players can often be the hardest players to place due to their circumstances, meaning the extended look in the combine was much needed.
With the nature of this year’s class, there are plenty of top prep players on the board. In fact, a lot of this year’s top talents are high school level prospects. While this may make projecting these players harder, the potential for these players to succeed is higher than ever.
With any draft, there are always some sleepers and hidden gems. With the top-heavy nature of this year’s class, this has never been more accurate. Due to the talent in the first few rounds, many players outside of this range have fallen under the radar of both scouts and fans alike.
With NIL playing a bigger role than ever, we may see a lot of these late-round high school draft picks land on their campuses instead of with their MLB teams. It’ll still be exciting to see what happens on draft day, regardless, so let’s meet some of these top talents.
Jacob Parker, OF
Jacob Parker has the chance to be a part of something historic during this year’s MLB Draft with his brother, as they’re both set to be picked this July. Out of the two brothers, Jacob possesses a better power tool than his brother Jojo, which ends up being the one thing that sets them apart.
Parker was one of the standout performers at this year’s MLB Draft Combine, as he immediately caught my eye when watching the players take batting practice. His sweet, left-handed stroke allows for easy power, as he eclipsed triple-digit exit velocities numerous times during his round at the combine.
Parker is unique among other high-end power prospects in the fact that he doesn’t chase often, and he keeps whiffs to a minimum. He’s going to stick in right field defensively, but he’ll do a fine job at the position.
He’s currently ranked as our 72nd-best prospect in this year’s draft, and if he’s picked anywhere around this spot, he’ll be a steal.
Lucas Franco, SS
Similar to Parker, Lucas Franco is another exciting prep shortstop with a fantastic set of tools at a very young age. He was also another name that really stood out to me when watching this year’s combine, as he hit multiple balls with triple-digit exit velocities.
His exit velocities were especially impressive to me, considering the fact that he was often given subpar marks in terms of his power. If he can regularly see his exit velocities climb like they did at the combine, Franco could find himself getting good power projections at the next level.
His swing is one of my personal favorites among prep players in this class, as his quick hands allow him to have one of the sweeter left-handed swings in the draft. Franco has done a decent job at limiting himself to pitches inside the zone, another key trait he’ll certainly take with him into professional baseball.
Whether or not he stays at shortstop is a bit unclear, but what’s certain is that he’ll remain on the left side of the infield in some capacity. We have him ranked as the 68th-best prospect in this year’s class, placing him near the end of the second round.
Nicholas Partida, SS/RHP
Although Nicholas Partida is the first of the high school draft prospects we’ll highlight who ranks outside the top 100, his talents certainly compare to some of the higher-end prep players in this class. Partida is an interesting two-way talent, as he could potentially play both in professional baseball.
Partida’s main ability at the plate is his bat-to-ball skills, as he utilizes his quick hands to connect with the baseball often. He has a really good feel for his barrel, and he’s made a lot of hard contact because of that. While his power hasn’t quite developed just yet, there’s always the chance this improves with age.
On the mound, Partida has sat in the low-90s but possesses the ability to reach pack for more velocity when needed. He’s a true three-pitch pitcher who throws a very good changeup alongside a solid curveball, both being pitches that could induce plenty of whiffs.
While we haven’t seen many teams be willing to actually try to develop two-way prospects over the recent years, there is a chance teams will take the risk with Partida. If they do, he’ll be a prospect to watch as he climbs the minor leagues.
Taitn Gray, C/OF
Out of all of this year’s top performers at the combine, Taitn Gray stood above the rest, as he posted some of the best exit velocity marks of the entire event. The youngster is committed to Oregon and will also be one of the youngest players on draft day, which just adds to his value.
Gray is currently just 17, and he already comes in at a tremendous 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame. As if his profile couldn’t get any more interesting, he’s also a switch-hitter and a legitimate one at that. During the combine, Gray hit several balls over 112 MPH from both sides, with one of his more impressive shots being a 114.4 MPH blast from the left side.
In addition to the elite power he’s showcased, Gray’s contact skills haven’t suffered at all from his pop. As we established earlier with Parker, high-end power prospects often come with a lot of swing-and-miss concerns, so not seeing this in an electric bat like Gray is a great sign for the future.
At the next level, Gray could stick behind the dish, but I see him transitioning to the outfield by the time he reaches MLB. Scouts have pointed to his arm strength as a reason to keep him behind the plate, but it could also be all the reason to stick him in the outfield as well.
Gray is still a very raw prospect overall, but if his combine performance showed us anything, it’s that his tools are amazing. If tamed correctly, he could become one of the best power threats in the entire class when we look back in a few years.
Dax Kilby, SS/3B
When looking at the names inside our top 300, few prep players get me as excited as Dax Kilby does. The title of “most underrated prep bat” is a tight race, but when all is said and done, Kilby might get that title.
Kilby, a shortstop from the state of Georgia, comes in at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, giving him the athletic build needed to succeed in professional baseball. He moves very well and has one of the most polished left-handed swings in the entire class.
Kilby has a fantastic feel for the barrel, as he regularly shoots the ball into gaps without whiffing much. He’s very patient and selective, which allows him to be an on-base threat even if it’s not from hitting the ball directly. His power is decently impressive, although it still has a way to develop. However, he can blast balls into the gaps very hard.
In the field, Kilby does a very good job at shortstop, as his pure athleticism guides him. He has good range, alongside a pretty solid arm, meaning not much gets by him at short. There’s the possibility he eventually moves to third base, but that’s a conversation for the future, as he looks very good at shortstop.
Kilby, a Clemson commit, should be drafted early enough that he signs with a professional team rather than heading to campus. Regardless, whoever lands our 63rd overall prospect will be getting one of the best overall prep players in this year’s class.
Written by
Jay Staph, a huge baseball fan and stat nerd, founded and ran his own baseball writing website, BSBWrites, at just 16-years-old. With focal points around prospects,…