Top 200 Draft Prospects: High school hurlers galore
Prep pitchers Groome, Pint remain atop list, followed by college outfielder Lewis
A little over a month ago, MLBPipeline.com expanded its Top 50 Draft Prospects list to 100. A week before the Phillies announce who they are taking with the No. 1 overall pick, the deck is being reshuffled and 100 more cards are being added.
That effort results in the new and improved Draft list just launched: The Top 200 list.
For those keeping track at home, 200 picks stretches into the start of the seventh round, so this should keep fans busy.
Complete 2016 Draft coverage
The Draft will take place from Thursday through Saturday, beginning with the Draft preview show on MLB Network and MLB.com on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. Live Draft coverage from MLB Network's Studio 42 begins at 7 p.m., with the top 77 picks being streamed on MLB.com and broadcast on MLB Network. MLB.com's exclusive coverage of Day 2 begins with a live Draft show at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, with exclusive coverage of Day 3 beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
There have been many changes up and down the list in addition to the 101-200 set, but things have stayed the same at the top. The top three -- New Jersey high school lefty Jason Groome, Kansas prep right-hander Riley Pint and Mercer University outfielder Kyle Lewis -- remain the same.
There is a chance that none of those three will be the No. 1 pick in the Draft by the Phillies. Groome and Lewis are still in the mix, though the scouting industry believes it will come down to Florida lefty A.J. Puk (No. 4) or California high school outfielder Mickey Moniak (No. 5). The Phils continue to do their due diligence on that quartet of players, along with Louisville outfielder Corey Ray (No. 6) and Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel (No. 7), as they try to find the right balance between talent and money.
• New mock Draft from Jim Callis
Along with the names of that top group staying the same, there is another theme that has stayed the same since the Top 100 list came out a month ago: The strength of the class is high school pitching. On the new Top 200, seven of the top 16 are prep pitchers, which brings the ultimate in high risk/high reward.
In the past month, performances and injuries have helped reshape the rankings, with several players making large jumps and others sliding, both within and outside the top 100. Here's a look at the top risers and fallers.
Biggest risers
No. 58 -- Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Louisville (+43)
Taken No. 35 overall by the Dodgers a year ago, Funkhouser chose to return for his senior season. A member of the fall Top 50, he dropped off the Top 100 because of a poor start to the 2016 season, but he has pitched as well lately, if not better than he did last year, to climb all the way to No. 58.
No. 49 -- Cole Ragans, LHP, North Florida Christian HS (Tallahassee, Fla.) (+25)
The biggest leaper within the Top 100, Ragans really improved his stock with a big performance against J.C. Flowers (No. 165), then kept on pitching well for the rest of the spring.
No. 47 -- Cole Stobbe, 3B, Millard West (Neb.) HS (+22)
A shortstop in high school, Stobbe will likely move to third or second, with the chance to be have an impact with the bat in either spot. A huge spring for the Team USA standout upped his Draft value and earned him state Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
Biggest fallers
No. 97 -- Ryan Zeferjahn, RHP, Seaman (Kan.) HS (-34)
Zeferjahn lit up radar guns over the summer, but a heavy workload led to his stuff leveling off. He's a very good athlete -- he was a basketball standout in high school as well -- with some projection.
No. 96 -- Skylar Szynski, RHP Penn (Ind.) HS (-34)
It's not so much that Szynski's stuff backed up over the course of the spring, but more that he didn't take the step forward some envisioned. A season of evaluation has led scouts to see him more as a third-round talent.
No. 84 -- Sean Murphy, C, Wright State (-34)
Murphy swung the bat very well out of the gate, homering four times in his first eight games, but couldn't get going after he broke the hamate in his left hand. That just added to the existing concerns about his ability to hit enough to tap into his raw power.