ESPN projects where 4 Tennessee baseball players will be drafted
A byproduct of the Tennessee Vols' success this season is that they should have several players selected in the 2022 MLB Draft in July. Four players, specifically, could be drafted in the first few rounds of the draft. Earlier this week, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, an MLB insider, revealed his first 2022 MLB mock draft. McDaniel […]
A byproduct of the Tennessee Vols' success this season is that they should have several players selected in the 2022 MLB Draft in July.
Four players, specifically, could be drafted in the first few rounds of the draft.
Earlier this week, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, an MLB insider, revealed his first 2022 MLB mock draft. McDaniel has three Vols being selected in the top 41 picks and he thinks another Tennessee player will be drafted in the first 80 picks of the draft.
McDaniel has the Colorado Rockies selecting outfielder Jordan Back with the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.
From ESPN:
Colorado has been tied to Beck all spring, and the Rockies were bearing down on him at the SEC tournament — though he has a wide range of possible landing spots throughout the round since teams have wildly different evaluations of him. Since consensus starts to break down around here, the predicted mixes of players whom teams are on is also less reliable because they are still changing their minds as bonus asking prices become clearer.
McDaniel then has the Chicago White Sox selecting outfielder Drew Gilbert with the No. 26 overall pick. He describes Gilbert as one of the "safest picks in the draft" before suggesting that Gilbert could be the first non-reliever from this draft class to reach the big leagues.
The White Sox tend to take college bats with their top pick, then get bolder with later selections, and that's exactly what the board is giving them here. Gilbert is one of the safest picks in the draft and might be the first non-reliever to make the big leagues from this class. He's in play in the late teens as well.
The final Tennessee player that McDaniel has going in the top 41 (which is essentially the first round, including compensation picks and competitive balance picks) is right-handed pitcher Blake Tidwell.
Tidwell popped up late as a high school player in the COVID-shortened spring of 2020 throwing in the high 90s and might have been paid out of high school with a normally scheduled spring. He was solid last season for the Vols, then missed the first part of this season with shoulder soreness. Tidwell has flashed top-10-level talent this spring but comes with concerns and figures to go around this range, though some teams prefer the steadier type of college pitcher while Tidwell is more boom/bust.
The other Vol that McDaniel has going high in the draft is right-handed pitcher Ben Joyce, the flamethrower who can reach 105 MPH with his fastball.
McDaniel noted that most scouts see Joyce as a third-round talent.
I think Joyce will go in the 80 picks but is unlikely to sneak into the 41 picks I include in this projection. Most scouts think he belongs in the third round on talent, so he'd probably come in below slot when/if he goes in the second round.
Joyce obviously has a ton of potential, but MLB teams aren't certain if he'll be a starter at the next level. And teams don't typically use high draft picks on relief pitchers. Joyce's velocity is dazzling, but there are questions as to what type of pitcher he'll be in the big leagues.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
