Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks stayed up the middle of the field with three projectable high schoolers and one data-darling college bat. At 5-foot-8, Slade Caldwell joins the ranks of D-backs outfielders who might need a step ladder to reach the top shelf of their lockers. He’s incredibly strong for his size and can really run. Ryan Waldschmidt’s fall surprised me. I have concerns about his current swing (his lower body isn’t doing anything and his head is flying all over the place) but thought I was low on him relative to where he was going to be picked. JD Dix and Ivan Luciano are projects, with Luciano needing more work on defense and Dix needing more work on his bat.
Atlanta Braves
It sounds like the Braves picked the Padres’ pocket right behind them. Cam Caminiti met with teams up and down the pick no. 8-18 range and I expected him to go somewhere in there. Instead, things got pretty weird in that pick range and he slid. This is the second draft in a row where the Braves gobbled up someone who slid unexpectedly (Hurston Waldrep last year). Carter Holton is an interesting buy-low whose velo and health slipped in 2024. He is a Braves’ type: slightly undersized but really athletic, with vertical fastball ride.
Baltimore Orioles
Here’s another team staying up the middle of the diamond and mostly prioritizing contact skills. We are going to find out just how good the Orioles are at improving swings and plate discipline because Vance Honeycutt needs a ton of help in that area. Griff O’Ferrall is almost the exact opposite player: He does nothing but hit. Can he get stronger and pull the ball more as a pro? Ethan Anderson’s arm is currently worse than what is typical at catcher but he can hit from both sides of the plate, which isn’t true for many backstops, even if they’re only potential ones.
Boston Red Sox
Braden Montgomery’s fall was shocking if you look at the mock draft but not at the rankings. There were rumors Boston would cut an under-slot deal at 12, but instead a really good prospect simply fell to them. Already under Craig Breslow the Red Sox have effected change on several of their pitching prospects, with a lot of it evident in changes made to the pitchers’ stride direction or arm angle in a way that makes them funkier. Payton Tolle is already in that funky phylum as a cross-bodied low-slot guy who generates huge extension. He looks like a reliever from an athletic standpoint and doesn’t throw especially hard, but Boston’s has made older arms better lately.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs love their Cape Cod performers and got two more last night. Cam Smith was great value at pick no. 7 and, aside from being more filled out, shares a lot of similarities with Alec Bohm when he was drafted (big league body, power isn’t actualized yet, needs to work to stay/improve at third base). Cole Mathis I am not on quite as much. He’s a righty-hitting first baseman and I’m skeptical about his plate discipline even though some of the data suggests it’s great. He only swung at 56% of pitches down the middle in 2024; the college average was 73%. This guy is just standing there a lot of the time. But he is pretty athletic for a first baseman (he was announced at third), runs wells, and was a two-way player until 2024, so there might be some late-arriving offensive skill here.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have prioritized advanced pitching in their transactions (mostly trades) since Chris Getz has taken the wheel and here they got one of the draft’s most likely fast-movers in Hagen Smith. I had Caleb Bonemer a full round behind where he was picked because his frame is maxed and I think his athleticism is a better fit at third base than where he was announced. He’s a prospect and performed in a showcase setting, he’s just more a third rounder for me. Similarly, I had Blake Larson ranked in a spot you’d associate more with an upper-six-figures deal. He has big stuff, but his command is super raw.
Cincinnati Reds
Chase Burns, not Charlie Condon, huh? I think you can make an argument for the Reds drafting for need (and that need being pitching) as much as you can for any team because they have the position player core to tussle with just about anyone but need to buttress their starting rotation from both a depth and ceiling standpoint. Burns and Luke Holman should be in position to do both pretty quickly. Tyson Lewis balances the class nicely and adds a long-term up-the-middle project to their lower minors. It was a nice first day for the Reds.
Cleveland Guardians
I was right about the JJ Wetherholt bait-and-switch in my final mock. Travis Bazzana is great. You should read my full scouting report over on The Board, but he’s absolutely a worthy first overall selection and nobody should be worried that Cleveland has a ton of middle infielders; most good teams have middle infield athletes playing all over the diamond.
