Draft prospects to watch in Super Regionals
And then there were 16.
The NCAA postseason field has been whittled down by the exciting Regional action that wrapped up earlier this week. Super Regionals begin on Friday, with 16 teams fighting for the chance to be one of eight teams to head to Omaha for the College World Series.
With the Draft still four weeks away, teams will continue to scout these events heavily and there’s talent aplenty still competing. There are a total of 28 players on our current Top 200 prospects list, led by Jack Leiter, No. 3 on that list. Vanderbilt leads all schools with five players on the Top 200, followed by North Carolina State, Arizona, Mississippi State and Virginia, all with three.
FAYETTEVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
No. 1 national seed Arkansas
Christian Franklin, OF (No. 46) -- The top 2021 prospect on college baseball’s top-ranked team, Franklin has four solid-to-plus tools in his power, speed, arm and center-field defense, and he has reached double figures in homers (13) and steals (10).
Patrick Wicklander, LHP -- Wicklander misses a lot of bats with his low-90s fastball, keeps hitters honest with his slider and throws plenty of strikes, a combination that has produced the best ERA (2.17) among starters in the rugged Southeastern Conference.
North Carolina State
Evan Justice, LHP -- Justice has a 93-95 mph fastball that reaches 98 and a sharp low-80s slider, though he's purely a reliever and sometimes battles the strike zone.
AUSTIN SUPER REGIONAL
No. 2 national seed Texas
Ty Madden, RHP (No. 9) -- The Big 12 Conference pitcher of the year and a lock first-rounder, Madden owns a pair of plus pitches in his mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider, and he throws plenty of strikes.
Ivan Melendez, OF -- A transfer from Odessa (Texas) JC, Melendez possesses well-above-average power and has been the Longhorns' best hitter (.330/.447/.631, 12 homers), though he's positionally challenged.
South Florida
Brad Lord, RHP -- He’s big and physical with a fastball up to 93 mph and a slider that points to a potential future as a middle reliever.
Roberto Peña, OF -- Peña began his college career at Florida, moved to College of Central Florida in 2020 and then to USF this year, where he’s shown off his raw power (12 homers), albeit with an all-or-nothing approach.
KNOXVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
No. 3 national seed Tennessee
Max Ferguson, 2B -- A versatile athlete with plus speed, Ferguson entered the year billed as the Volunteers’ best hitter since 2016 No. 2 overall pick Nick Senzel but has confounded scouts by batting .264/.387/.485, albeit with 12 homers and 15 steals.
Chad Dallas, RHP -- Though he lacks a classic build at 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, Dallas competes with a low-90s fastball and a hard curveball and cutter, and he has gone 18-1 in three seasons with Panola (Texas) JC and Tennessee.
Louisiana State
Gavin Dugas, OF -- The Most Outstanding Player of the Eugene Regional after homering three times in four games, Dugas is a power-hitting left fielder who's batting .302/.415/.660 with 19 homers and an SEC-best 66 RBIs.
NASHVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
No. 4 national seed Vanderbilt
Isaiah Thomas, OF (No. 95) -- A cousin of basketball Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, Thomas combines solid power (13 homers) and speed (12 steals) and has the tools to play anywhere in the outfield.
No. 13 national seed East Carolina
Gavin Williams, RHP (No. 42) -- Williams hit 100 mph with his fastball as a freshman in 2018 but leveled off afterward until this spring, when he showed an improved breaking ball, control and durability while winning American Athletic Conference pitcher of the year honors and going 10-0 with a 1.82 ERA (ninth in NCAA Division I) and a 117/19 K/BB ratio in 74 innings.
Connor Norby, 2B (No. 84) -- The AAC player of the year, Norby is one of the best pure hitters in the college ranks. He has reached base in 58 of 59 games this season, batting .418/.487/.669 with 15 homers and 18 steals. His raw power and speed are average, but he's one of just four D-I players to pull off the 15-15 double this spring.
TUCSON SUPER REGIONAL
No. 5 national seed Arizona
Ryan Holgate, OF (No. 97) -- Holgate has an intriguing left-handed bat with considerable raw power he’s still learning to tap into, though he has slugged .567 and has hit .353 this year.
Chase Silseth, RHP (No. 146) -- It’s been an up-and-down year for the Wildcats’ Friday starter, as he carries a 5.53 ERA into the Super Regional. He does have a starter’s repertoire, headlined by a fastball that touches 96 mph and has struck out 9.7 per nine this year.
No. 12 national seed Mississippi
Doug Nikhazy, LHP (No. 67) -- Nikhazy capably has replaced injured Gunnar Hoglund (No. 23) as the Rebels' top starter and tied a school record with 16 strikeouts in a regional win against Florida State. A four-pitch lefty with good feel for his curveball and slider, he owns a 9-2 record with a 2.18 ERA, .179 opponent average and 114/27 K/BB ratio in 78 1/3 innings.
Kevin Graham, OF -- The grandson of former big league catcher Cal Neeman, Graham is limited to left field but has a polished approach and quick hands that have translated into a .344/.421/.572 line with 14 homers.
STARKVILLE SUPER REGIONAL
No. 7 national seed Mississippi State
Will Bednar, RHP (No. 36) -- The younger brother of Pirates reliever David Bednar, Will is making a push for the first round with one of the best combinations of stuff (mid-90s fastball, quality slider and curveball) and control (109/18 K/BB in 71 innings) in the college ranks.
Tanner Allen, OF (No. 149) -- Though he's a 23-year-old fourth-year junior, Allen is a polished hitter who leads the SEC with a .395 average and has worked hard to improve his speed and athleticism.
No. 10 national seed Notre Dame
Niko Kavadas, 1B (No. 139) -- Kavadas’ lone better-than-average tool is his plus-plus raw pop, but it plays -- he led the Cape Cod League with nine homers in 2019 and the Atlantic Coast Conference with seven last spring before setting a school record with 21 and counting this spring. He powered the Fighting Irish to their first Super Regional appearance since 2002, going 6-for-10 with five homers, 13 RBIs and six walks in three games while earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the South Bend Regional.
Tanner Kohlhepp, RHP -- After spending his first two college seasons at Tennessee and Iowa Western CC, Kohlhepp has been integral to Notre Dame's success this year, with his resilient arm producing a 92-96 mph fastball that tops out at 99 to go with a high-spin breaking ball.
LUBBOCK SUPER REGIONAL
No. 8 national seed Texas Tech
Cal Conley, SS (No. 161) -- Conley spent a semester at Miami but never played for the Hurricanes before transferring to Texas Tech, where he has been a two-year starter at shortstop with average tools across the board.
Ryan Sublette, RHP -- With right-hander Brandon Birdsell sidelined with a rotator-cuff injury, the Red Raiders' best mound prospect for this year's Draft is Sublette, a fourth-year reliever who produces 92-95 mph fastballs and mid-80s sliders from a deceptive arm slot.
No. 9 national seed Stanford
Brendan Beck, RHP (No. 163) -- The younger brother of Giants prospect Tristan Beck, Brendan has excelled as Stanford’s ace this year, throwing four pitches for strikes and posting a K/BB ratio of 115/22.
Tim Tawa, 2B/OF -- The senior has 10 homers and 13 steals on the year and is coming off being named the Most Outstanding Player in the Regional Stanford hosted, hitting .526 (10-for-19) with seven runs scored, two doubles, three homers and eight RBIs over four games.
COLUMBIA SUPER REGIONAL
Dallas Baptist
Dominic Hamel, RHP (No. 91) -- Analytically minded clubs love Hamel, who leads D-I with 13 victories and has gone 15-2 for the Patriots since transferring from Yavapai (Ariz.) JC, because he features high spin rates on his fastball, curveball and slider.
Jackson Glenn, 2B -- A fifth-year senior who started his career at Grayson (Texas) CC, Glenn improved his quickness and athleticism before his final season and it has paid off with a Missouri Valley Conference player of the year honors, a league-leading 19 homers and a .364/.435/.716 slash line.
Virginia
Andrew Abbott, LHP (No. 71) -- Once thought to be a sure-fire reliever in the future, Abbott has given teams reason to at least offer him the chance to start by anchoring Virginia’s rotation and posting an eye-popping 144/29 K/BB ratio in 95 2/3 innings.
Zack Gelof, 3B (No. 136) -- It’s been a bit of an inconsistent year for Gelof, who many thought could be a first-rounder entering the year, but he does have some offensive tools, most notably his raw power. He did go 7-for-10 over Virginia’s first two Regional games and he is hitting .300 with eight homers and 11 steals on the year.