We’re a month into the faculty season, and whereas it’s too early to make definitive statements about gamers, sufficient time has handed for just a few to start setting themselves aside from their friends. As we head into convention play, I wished to spotlight just a few guys who weren’t listed on The Board after we launched our preliminary rankings throughout Prospect Week, however who’ve stood out within the early going. One has been added to The Board, whereas the others would possibly discover their means there earlier than Day One rolls round.
Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee
Weekend Line: 5.2 IP, 13 Ok, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA vs. St. Bonaventure
Liam Doyle stormed onto the scene to begin the yr and is wanting like one of many prime pitching prospects in your entire class. He’s had a nomadic profession to this point, spending his freshman yr at Coastal Carolina earlier than transferring Ole Miss as a sophomore. Now the Friday night time man at Tennessee, he’s made 4 begins, posting a 0.44 ERA with a 61.8% Ok-BB%, highest amongst certified D-I pitchers.
What makes Doyle particular is his fastball, which sits within the mid-90s, tops out at 99 mph, and boasts a novel motion profile. He routinely will get over 20 inches of vertical break on it to go along with 13 inches of horizontal break, and he generates a shallow strategy angle that helps it play up much more. For quite a lot of causes, school pitch metrics are inclined to overstate the quantity of motion a pitch may have as soon as a participant will get into affiliated ball, however it’s among the finest fastballs in school baseball.
Doyle makes use of his heater round 70% of the time, however he does have a slider and a changeup. The slider has extra lateral break with laborious chunk, and he rips off a pleasant changeup with late fade. Each pitches are fascinating however inconsistent, with the changeup the marginally higher pitch regardless of Doyle throwing it much less typically.
The primary factor I’ll be watching the remainder of the yr is how Doyle’s velocity holds up over the course of the season. His fastball offers a robust basis, and I’d anticipate that the workforce that drafts him will tinker together with his offspeed choices to see if they’ll coax out a greater breaking ball form. Doyle has backend starter potential with a good quantity of reduction danger because of his fringe common command. He has been added to The Board.
Korbyn Dickerson, CF, Indiana College
Weekend Line: 12 AB, .333 BA, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 SO, 4 BB at Penn State
I used to be in a position to see Korbyn Dickerson a pair occasions this fall, and at occasions I got here away pondering that he would possibly find yourself being the very best draft prospect on the workforce, even contemplating the presence of Devin Taylor. Taylor has an amazing begin to the season, so I’m not fairly able to say one is best than the opposite, however Dickerson has had a formidable begin as properly. A twentieth spherical choose by the Twins in 2022, Dickerson went unsigned and arrived at Louisville, the place he barely performed. He transferred to Indiana after the 2024 season and has burst onto the scene, hitting .380/.482/.761 with eight homers and a 14-to-11 BB/Ok ratio.
As a excessive schooler, Dickerson was a tooled-up athlete with an extended swing, which led to main whiff points that damage his draft inventory. Since then, he has remade his swing and there have been noticeable enhancements. He ran a 38% whiff charge throughout the highschool showcase circuit, however is right down to an 18% whiff charge to this point this yr. That is just like what he confirmed in his restricted time at Louisville, so I’m shopping for the advance. The toolsiness that he confirmed as a excessive schooler can be nonetheless current. He runs properly, has an above-average arm in heart, and boasts above-average energy. It’s uncommon for somebody who can really hit to have this type of talent set, and to this point, Dickerson has proven that he can hit. If he continues to carry out properly, he’s a possible first spherical choose.
Brody Donay, C, Florida
Weekend Line: 8 AB, .625 BA, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 BB vs. Florida
Brody Donay has titanic uncooked energy, however his profile has been undermined by main bat-to-ball and chase points. Final season at Florida, he ran a 40% strikeout charge, with whiff charges above 40% and a chase charge within the mid-30s. It was the same story on the Cape this previous summer time, with a 37% strikeout charge, and whiff and chase charges that had been about what he confirmed at Florida.
This yr, Donay’s strikeout charge is a extra palatable 19%, with whiff and chase charges which have come right down to round 30%. A part of that’s the weaker competitors Florida has confronted to this point, and he’s nonetheless struggling towards massive league velocity, however it’s a step in the precise path. The ability remains to be there, too. He has seven homers, a 1.038 SLG, and is within the prime 10 within the SEC by wRC+.
Defensively, Donay has break up time behind the plate with Luke Heyman, largely serving as a DH when not catching. He has additionally performed some first base and proper subject, however for this profile to work, catcher must be his major place. At 6-foot-5, it’s a troublesome ask for him to crouch down the best way a catcher must, and he’s gradual to get out of his stance when throwing. Nonetheless, he has above-average arm energy, and is a good blocker and receiver.
Florida’s first convention sequence is towards Tennessee this coming weekend, and a Donay/Liam Doyle matchup goes to be enjoyable to look at. I’m not completely satisfied that he’s figured it out on the plate, however together with his plus energy and serviceable defensive abilities, there’s a place for him as a part-time catcher within the majors if Donay can maintain a 30-grade hit device.
Mason Neville, CF, Oregon
Weekend Line: 12 AB, .333 BA, 2 HR, 4 SO, 2 BB, 1 SB at USC
Mason Neville entered the season as one in every of this class’ extra well-known prospects within the Huge 10. An 18th spherical choose in 2022 by the Cincinnati Reds, Neville spent a yr at Arkansas earlier than transferring to Oregon. His floor stats seemed good final yr (127 wRC+, 1.033 OPS), however there was a regarding quantity of whiff in his profile that wasn’t precisely squashed throughout his time on the Cape (13 video games, 54% whiff). He’s right down to a 23% whiff charge to begin the yr, with a 166 wRC+ and a 1.332 OPS in 62 PA. Much like Donay, Neville hasn’t gone up towards sturdy competitors, going through Toledo, Rhode Island, Columbia and Utah Tech, however he’s performing properly when he must.
Neville’s core competencies are nonetheless there. He’s hitting for energy and lifting the ball, with 9 homers on the yr to this point. Neville is a mean runner, although at 6-foot-3 and 200 kilos, he’s greater than your conventional heart fielder and can seemingly transfer to a nook. He has the ability essential to profile there, however it all comes right down to the whiff charge. If he retains it within the 20-25% vary, he’s a third-round sort, but when it stays round 30%, I’d anticipate him to fall down into the seventh to tenth spherical vary.
Emilio Barreras, SS, Grand Canyon College
Weekend Line: 13 AB, .308 BA, 2 2B, 1 SO, 1 BB, 1 SB vs. Texas Tech
Emilio Barreras’s profession trajectory has been enjoyable to look at, as he has gotten higher yearly. He performed 45 video games as a freshman, largely at third base, the place he had a 59 wRC+. The next yr, he was promoted to be the beginning shortstop after Jacob Wilson acquired drafted, and he stuffed his footwear admirably, posting a 99 wRC+ with plus bat-to-ball abilities and serviceable protection. This yr, Barreras is hitting above .400 with a 187 wRC+ and a 7% whiff charge. There isn’t a ton of energy right here — he hit only one residence run in his first two years at GCU and has one homer to this point this season — however his really feel for making contact stands out. The defensive piece is difficult, nevertheless. Barreras is a mean school shortstop, however I don’t suppose he’s a lock to stay there in professional ball and sure wants to maneuver to second. Most likely a Day Three choose, Barreras initiatives as a bench bat sort who offers worth together with his plus contact abilities as a lefty and his capability to play up the center.
