The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first overall pick in the July 2023 MLB draft. Our draft preview looked at the top prospects for the pick.
Every Monday, we’ll recap notable performances from around the prep and college ranks, with video to give you an early look at who could be available to the Pirates. This is our tenth weekly recap of the weekend action for the top college draft prospects.
If you missed it from this week, we had a look at a new mock draft. We also took a look at the strengths and weaknesses of this draft class, followed by a look at the clear cut top five in this draft class. As a reminder, the Pirates have the highest draft bonus pool this year.
Dylan Crews was our first draft prospect profile. The LSU outfielder went 0-for-2 with a walk against Northwestern State in the mid-week game. His team played Mississippi State over the weekend. He went 0-for-4 with an RBI and a walk on Friday. He went 0-for-3 with two walks on Saturday. He went 3-for-4 with three singles, two walks and a stolen base on Sunday.
Crews is now hitting .445/.600/.757 through 51 games, with 13 doubles, 13 homers, 56 walks, 11 hit-by-pitches and 28 strikeouts in 234 plate appearances.
LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes is a top five draft prospect, with almost all sources now ranking him second. He was our fourth prospect profile. He tossed a complete game against Mississippi State, in a one-sided match that ended with a ten-run rule decision in the seventh. Skenes had 13 strikeouts in the game, while allowing one run on three hits and a walk. His pitch count was a manageable 95 for the night.
He is now 10-1, 1.69 in 13 starts, with 152 strikeouts and a .162 BAA in 79.2 innings.
Here’s one strikeout that was getting passed around Twitter
For context, Paul Skenes has 151 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched this year. He’s walked 13 batters and allowed 14 runs. Skenes is playing the game on easy. pic.twitter.com/Prkgwo1p3a
— Brett Gibbons (@roadtocfb) May 13, 2023
Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford has a chance to go #1. He was our sixth draft prospect profile. He has been rated near the top all year, with some giving him the tools advantage over Crews. Langford went 1-for-3 on Friday against Vanderbilt, with a double, RBI, two walks and a stolen base. He went 1-for-5 with a two-run double in Saturday’s win. He went 3-for-4 with two homers and a double on Sunday.
He’s now hitting .400/.535/.813 in 45 games, with 18 doubles, 14 homers and 44 walks.
Here’s a two-run double from Saturday
Here’s Sunday’s first homer
WYATT LANGFORD ABSOLUTELY CRUSHES ONE!!!#Gators waste no time scoring first! pic.twitter.com/hGcAWpLUnc
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) May 14, 2023
Here’s Sunday’s second homer
WYATT LANGFORD BOMB #14 OF THE YEAR!!!#Gators regain slam-proof status! pic.twitter.com/LldGww3A22
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) May 14, 2023
Walker Jenkins was our third player profile article. His stats have been hard to come by, but I’ve been adding updates where I can. He has been walked a ton this year, so the video highlights are few and far between. He played his final regular season home game last Thursday, but he still had some games this week. This highlight tells the story of most of his games. Two walks and then he picks up a hit when he finally sees a good pitch.
After being intentionally walked twice, Walker Jenkins gets to first here in the 4th pic.twitter.com/cHP0yPw4aR
— StarNewsVarsity – Michael Cuneo (@StarNewsVarsity) May 12, 2023
Prep outfielder Max Clark was profiled here in our fifth article for the series. He walked A LOT during his regular season, so we have seen very few actual highlights. However, we have some from this past week, including a game in which he got on base in all five trips to the plate.
Loud knocks tonight from ‘23 OF Max Clark (@maxxclarkk13)
Continues his stellar senior season for @FCHS___Baseball
2 for 3 on the night.#MLBDraft @ShooterHunt | @prepbaseball pic.twitter.com/rQSaLcyxnj
— PBR Indiana (@PBRIndiana) May 13, 2023
AND
‘23 @VandyBoys recruit – Max Clark (@maxxclarkk13) continues to tear the cover off the baseball in his senior campaign.
Clark was on-base in all 5 trips to the plate tonight, including a 2B & a HR. @ShooterHunt || @prepbaseball #MLBDraft
AND
#1 Ranked High School prospect Max Clark (@maxxclarkk13) goes oppo for this Go-Ahead HR to put Franklin Community up 6-5 in the bottom of the 5th.
The players above are the five players to follow now, as they have pulled away from the pack. I still included the other three players who we have covered all year, just in case you were following along with them. These three could make up the 6-8 picks of the draft.
Jacob Wilson from Grand Canyon University had a long shot at being the #1 going into the year, but he’s still a top ten prospect. The son of former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson went up against UT Rio Grande Valley this weekend. An injury caused him to miss a few games before returning as a DH on Friday to go 2-for-5 with a steal and a run. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base on Sunday. Saturday’s game was canceled due to rain.
Wilson is hitting .428/.476/.669 in 43 games, with 26 extra-base hits and five strikeouts in 189 plate appearances.
Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez from Ole Miss has been ranked recently somewhere between five and ten for everyone in this draft class. He hasn’t hit enough to move up the draft charts, but he isn’t dropping either. He played Auburn in a Friday doubleheader. He went 0-for-3 with a walk in the opener, then 0-for-3 with an RBI in game two. He went 3-for-5 with three singles in the series finale on Saturday.
Gonzalez is hitting .326/.440/.563 in 51 games, with 18 doubles, nine homers and 35 walks.
Chase Dollander is considered by many to still be the second best pitcher in the class right now behind Skenes. We took a closer look at him in our second prospect profile. The University of Tennessee right-hander went up against Kentucky on Saturday. He went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Two of those runs scored in the sixth inning before he was removed with no outs.
He now has a 6-5, 4.35 record in 68.1 innings, with a .240 BAA and a 94:25 SO/BB ratio.
Here’s a bonus one because he’s related to a Pirates prospect. Maxton Martin, brother of Mason Martin, has been getting a lot of attention lately in his area. He hit a game-winning homer not long ago off of a light tower. We will see if he moves on to the prospect lists as the draft gets closer, but the scouts are checking him out. Here’s a highlight video recently shared:
‘23 OF Maxton Martin (Southridge) has significant helium right now @OregonBaseball commit is an athletic combination of + raw power & speed. Explosive bat speed. Check the acceleration after 4th swing@ShooterHunt @prepbaseball @maxton237 #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/nqmQjvThZf
— PBR Washington (@PBR_Washington) May 1, 2023
