Power pitcher or power hitter? The Rockies desperately need both, which is what makes this week’s major league draft so intriguing.
And the most intriguing player on the board, at least for Colorado, is 6-foot-5, 250-pound Florida first baseman/lefty pitcher Jac Caglianone, of whom Gators head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said, “I had no idea he was going to become a Greek god.”
More on “Jactani” in a moment.
The Rockies have the third overall pick in Sunday night’s first round, the highest they’ve drafted since selecting infielder Brendan Rodgers with the third overall pick in 2015. As I noted recently, Colorado’s success rate with its high-profile draft picks is decidedly mixed.
Case in point: fireball, high school right-hander Riley Pint, the fourth overall pick in 2016, who has made two big-league appearances worth two innings and a 27.00 ERA.
There’s a lot of college talent at the top of the board this year and the Rockies have a golden opportunity to draft a franchise-changing player. Who they pick at No. 3 depends on their scouting, analysis and intuition. However, the two teams drafting ahead of them will also determine their choice.
The resurgent Guardians, owners of the best record in the American League, have the first pick. Cincinnati has the second. In the plethora of mock drafts, I’ve counted seven players who could go one or two. In all likelihood, the first two picks in the draft will be position players, not pitchers.
Some draft gurus have Travis Bazzana, Oregon State’s power-hitting second baseman, going to the Guardians, while others think West Virginia shortstop JJ Wetherholt is the best fit. Others predict that Georgia third baseman Charlie Condon, perhaps the most polished position player in the draft, will go No. 1 overall.
According to MLB.com draftniks Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Kenny Van Doren, the top position players are Bazzana, Condon, Wetherholt, and Caglianone. The Rockies have also reportedly heavily scouted Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz.
Because of the volatility at the top of the draft, Colorado has spent a lot of time scouting Bazzana, who has uncommon power for a second baseman.
The safe pick for the Rockies would be right-handed pitcher Chase Burns from Wake Forest. He throws a triple-digit fastball and an elite slider.
Because the Rockies, of course, always need pitching.
They have gone heavily in that direction over the last few years. But Colorado’s reconstruction project took a hit last year when prospects Gabriel Hughes (first round, 2022), Jackson Cox (second round, ‘22), Jordy Vargas (international signing) and McCade Brown (third round, ‘21) all underwent Tommy John surgeries.
Last year’s top two pitching picks, Chase Dollander (rated as Colorado’s top prospect) and Sean Sullivan (No. 13 prospect), are thriving at High-A Spokane and 2022 fourth-rounder Carson Palmquist is pitching well at Double-A Hartford and could make his big-league debut this season.
Still, despite some promise in the minors the Rockies struggle to develop pitching, no matter how many arms they throw into the mix.
That’s another reason why they should draft Caglianone at No. 3. They need a dynamic, dangerous slugger — someone who will make a big impact in a hurry. There’s a lot of hype about Caglianone being a two-way player, a la Shohei Ohtani. I don’t see that happening, especially if he lands in Colorado.
What I do see happening is a player who could reach the majors as soon as 2025 and be a 40-homer guy in two or three seasons. The fans in the right-field seats at Coors Field would have plenty of souvenirs.
This season at Florida, Caglianone belted 35 homers, the second-most in Division I behind Condon. Caglianone put up an incredible.419/.544/.875 slash line. He tied an NCAA record by hitting a homer in nine consecutive games. He launched a 516-foot homer as a junior.
Caglianone has been criticized for having too many holes in his swing despite his incredible power, which some scouts see as a red flag. However, he dramatically reduced his strikeout rate this season (18.2% down to 8.2%) and recorded twice as many walks (58) as strikeouts (26).
As he does every year, general manager Bill Schmidt has said that the Rockies “will take the best player available.”
Sunday night, that would be Caglianone, if he’s still on the board. The Rockies need a Blake Street Bomber.
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