Speaker 1: It's times raise the groups for our latest Right This
Speaker 1: Season podcast and our twenty twenty six MLB Draft special
Speaker 1: and important one because the Rays have the number two pick.
Speaker 1: If you guys don't know, the Rays got very lucky
Speaker 1: in the draft lottery. It would have been nice if
Speaker 1: they would have gotten number one pick. But we'll take
Speaker 1: a number two pick any day of the week. The
Speaker 1: draft is on Saturday in Philadelphia. I will be there
Speaker 1: live to see who the Rays pick. Hopefully it'll be
Speaker 1: someone good.
Speaker 2: I mean, you have.
Speaker 1: Three consensus top three prospects up top, so we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens. But we do have a very special guest
Speaker 1: with us, a stats guy for the Baseball and Stitch podcast,
Speaker 1: also the director of data and analytics at East Tennessee State.
Speaker 1: We have Jackson Scudder with us. Jackson, how you doing?
Speaker 2: Man? Doing pretty good?
Speaker 3: Really have to be on the pond talk to rather.
Speaker 3: It's my favorite time of the year watch college baseball year.
Speaker 3: So this is this is really fun for me.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're basically grained in college baseball having worked
Speaker 1: for a team, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much. I keep up with that.
Speaker 3: I would say almost as much as anyone watched games.
Speaker 3: Pretty much all weekend, every weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, so on I guess starting off, so
Speaker 1: the race of the number two pick, we don't know
Speaker 1: what the White Sox are going to do. I think
Speaker 1: we have it seems like a lot of people have
Speaker 1: a consensus general idea. But right now, the top three prospects,
Speaker 1: at least from what I've seen are Rock Schwalski, the
Speaker 1: shortstop from UCLA, Grady Emerson Prep shortstop, one of the
Speaker 1: it seems like one of the best prep talents that
Speaker 1: we've seen in recent years. And then Georgia Tech catcher
Speaker 1: Vaughan Lackey, who burst onto the scene towards the end
Speaker 1: of the season. For you and how you have looked
Speaker 1: at the draft, are those your top three prospects and
Speaker 1: how do you see things filing out in that way?
Speaker 3: Yeah, those are the top three prospects I have. It's
Speaker 3: pretty consistent. Those are the ones I have as well.
Speaker 3: So I have him ranked as Chwowsky one, Emerson two,
Speaker 3: Lackey three. That's what I haven't ranked them by board,
Speaker 3: but we all know m'll be Draft is a different
Speaker 3: beast than any other sports. Just because the guy's in
Speaker 3: number one on my board doesn't mean he's gonna go
Speaker 3: number one. Even if I think Rock's pretty consensus a
Speaker 3: lot of people have number one. I don't necessari I
Speaker 3: think it's gonna between him and Emerson in that one spot.
Speaker 3: I think at two it's gonna between Lackey and whoever's
Speaker 3: left between those two. I could also see maybe Jackson
Speaker 3: Flora the best pitcher in the class at two, but
Speaker 3: I really highly doubt it. I think he would be
Speaker 3: the other person who could make their jump up. If
Speaker 3: the race feel like adding an arm, he would be
Speaker 3: the only arm mad. I think between those four guys,
Speaker 3: we'll see one of those be Tampa Bay ray Backs
Speaker 3: that coming Saturday.
Speaker 2: Got it.
Speaker 1: So on that same note, I mean, when you look
Speaker 1: at the current needs on the big league team and
Speaker 1: also in the minor leagues, I know catcher is definitely
Speaker 1: a position of need for this team. Even though they
Speaker 1: have like Nick Fort says, has been okay this year,
Speaker 1: Hunter has been okay nothing, but they've been been serviceable enough.
Speaker 1: You look in the mind of leagues, you see Nathan Flowelling,
Speaker 1: who's been incredible so far. Caden Bodine is already up
Speaker 1: in Double A, has looked great. Are you like, is
Speaker 1: there a certain position if you like, looking at those
Speaker 1: four specifically pitcher, two shortstops and a catcher with the
Speaker 1: race like, are you seeing the Rays potentially targeting one
Speaker 1: need over another position wise looking at the big league team.
Speaker 3: I don't think necessarily. I think the one thing with
Speaker 3: that could be, as you discussed, the catch position of
Speaker 3: the minor leagues looks decent right now for the Rays,
Speaker 3: so they might not want to add a catcher this
Speaker 3: high the draft. But also Lacky's such a special talent
Speaker 3: and he's also shown to have a really strong arm.
Speaker 3: This could be a guy that maybe you could play
Speaker 3: him in the right field because he's also a very
Speaker 3: plus athlete behind the plate as well. He's showing the
Speaker 3: abley steel some bases. Lackie could be a guy who
Speaker 3: could move to a corner outfields but very successfully if
Speaker 3: you draft him and don't want to keep him a catcher.
Speaker 3: And then I think Twaska Emerson, both in that same like,
Speaker 3: could also be moved positioned around as well. However, I
Speaker 3: think both are also high talent shortstops. He could play
Speaker 3: there for long term, and I think the Rays could
Speaker 3: use a long term answer at shortstop right now. I
Speaker 3: have a feeling Twasky or Emerson could both be great
Speaker 3: answers for that, Yeah.
Speaker 1: So between those two, is there like, are you part
Speaker 1: of the consensus that thinks that Rock is going to
Speaker 1: go number one? Or are like, would you be surprised
Speaker 1: at all if if Emerson went one?
Speaker 3: I would not be surprised either way. I like Rock
Speaker 3: more because by like the way I look at prospects.
Speaker 3: I always like guys with higher floors necessarily to higher ceilings.
Speaker 3: I think Kwaski has a higher floor of the type
Speaker 3: of player he can be, just because we've seen him
Speaker 3: so much in college seating the type of player he
Speaker 3: can be, I just think he has a higher floor.
Speaker 3: I think he's almost definitely gonna be a big league
Speaker 3: player and make an impact, not sure how great, even
Speaker 3: though I think he can be a very very good player. Well,
Speaker 3: I think Emerson has the upside be a potential like
Speaker 3: Bobby Witt type of player. I think the lowerest being
Speaker 3: a high school guy. But I do think both are
Speaker 3: going to be very good baseball players, and I think
Speaker 3: both are gonna end up being big leaguers. I like
Speaker 3: Emerson's defense a lot as well, so I think he
Speaker 3: could have been good Shortsop.
Speaker 1: So looking at the top end of this draft compared
Speaker 1: to maybe some previous drafts, like is the quality there
Speaker 1: from where it was in twenty five, where it was
Speaker 1: in twenty four to twenty three, just knowing the guys
Speaker 1: that were picked, Like does this crop, you know, top three,
Speaker 1: top five, top ten guys have that kind of staying
Speaker 1: power that some of these other top ten drafts have
Speaker 1: been in recent years.
Speaker 3: I think outside of I believe it was the twenty
Speaker 3: three class or the twenty two class one that Skeins
Speaker 3: and crews in it that was pretty ridiculous. I don't
Speaker 3: think outside of that, this can probably hold its weight
Speaker 3: with most of them. Mean, Chowawski is one of the
Speaker 3: rare guys that last December, last November, we were mocking
Speaker 3: him at number one. It's just very rare that we
Speaker 3: see those guys still being discussion for number one when
Speaker 3: it comes to May. They just have to do so
Speaker 3: much to still hold on to that spot. In the
Speaker 3: fact that he's been able to incredible and the rise
Speaker 3: of von Lackey has made is simply unbelievable. Like this
Speaker 3: is the guy who hit two hundred as a freshman
Speaker 3: soft free year was better had like four home runs
Speaker 3: this year. He hit four hundred and twenty home runs.
Speaker 3: He wasn't on anybody's draft radar in February, and now
Speaker 3: he might go to number one, number two, number three overall,
Speaker 3: probably two or three yearrange. I just really like the
Speaker 3: topest class. I think he has really good depth down board,
Speaker 3: especially with the arms. But I think the top like four,
Speaker 3: the top like five to six range is really really elite.
Speaker 1: So like with Lackey specifically, I mean, I know that
Speaker 1: the numbers speak for themselves, but there's plenty of other
Speaker 1: guys in this draft, in this in in this class
Speaker 1: that have put up equally strong seasons.
Speaker 2: I mean, like A. J.
Speaker 1: Garssia over at Virginia has been strong. Ace Reesilver at
Speaker 1: Mississippi State has had a good season. You know, Drew Burris,
Speaker 1: Lackey's teammate at Georgia Tech, had a good another good year.
Speaker 1: It took him, took him a while to get there,
Speaker 1: and he was more of like that. Like I think
Speaker 1: he was mocked at number two at one point, potentially
Speaker 1: number one guy. Now he's closer to the I would assume,
Speaker 1: like the eight to twelve, eight to fifteen range. But
Speaker 1: what makes him stand out and what made him go
Speaker 1: on this have this meteoric rise up the rankings to
Speaker 1: now he could potentially be the number one pick in
Speaker 1: the draft.
Speaker 3: Just looking at his career at Georgie Chaps, like I
Speaker 3: talked about, he got better every single year. The thing
Speaker 3: that I feel like has really impressed me. He's ability
Speaker 3: to able to stick to an approach. We see a
Speaker 3: lot of these college guys. They're either heavy into power
Speaker 3: but have real swing and misconcerns, or they might not
Speaker 3: have great power but they can hold on the swing
Speaker 3: and miss leamon. He was able to combine both.
Speaker 2: Of those this year.
Speaker 3: He hit four h two this year fifteen home runs
Speaker 3: or twenty home runs. I did wasn't looking at the
Speaker 3: postseason numbers, hit sixteen doubles. But he was also able
Speaker 3: to keep on a very elite ky to walk ratio,
Speaker 3: walking eighteen percent of how much, strucking out just thirteen
Speaker 3: percent of the time, kept his whiff and his chase
Speaker 3: right under eighteen percent, which is very elite. I think
Speaker 3: it was just the combination of him playing a premiered
Speaker 3: position defensively, having elite power, having a lead back to
Speaker 3: ball skills, while also like limiting Chase limiting with he
Speaker 3: was overall thirty five percent swing gr It's pretty low
Speaker 3: for the college level. I think average around forty two percent.
Speaker 3: He's a very passive hitter, but when he unleashes it,
Speaker 3: he makes contact and makes really hard, loud contact. It's
Speaker 3: just very rare that we see a guy playing a
Speaker 3: premium position like catcher have these type of overall numbers.
Speaker 2: Of the play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he's been I mean from what I saw,
Speaker 1: because I saw some stuff in the regionals. Not as
Speaker 1: much during the Raidar season just because I was too
Speaker 1: busy on my own end and try to watch as
Speaker 1: much college baseball as I could, but I know that, like,
Speaker 1: I mean, his stuff was legit. And then the other
Speaker 1: two haven't really seen as much from Emerson. I have
Speaker 1: seen some high school stuff. Apparently the high school that
Speaker 1: he goes to a has like a fall t field
Speaker 1: with like stands and and all that stuff looks really
Speaker 1: nice and has like the best production I have ever
Speaker 1: seen from any high school. Sim will cast any telecast
Speaker 1: or anything like that. Like the whatever's going on at
Speaker 1: that high school is absolutely nuts, and they have way
Speaker 1: too much money for it.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: And then Chowalsky. I mean, it's hard to not see
Speaker 1: what he's doing at you, Seeli, considering they were more
Speaker 1: more or less than number one team in the country
Speaker 1: for most of the season and then uh screwed up
Speaker 1: and didn't get out of region. Also, I don't know
Speaker 1: what kind of a sign.
Speaker 2: That is, But.
Speaker 1: What, like on your end is it does does does
Speaker 1: it seem like Emerson's gonna be the guy for the raise,
Speaker 1: because that's kind of That's essentially how I'm feeling right now.
Speaker 1: And I know that the Rays and like I make
Speaker 1: jokes about it and I'm annoyed about it to an
Speaker 1: extent that the Rays tend to draft a lot of
Speaker 1: prep shortstops. But I feel like, if he's available, and
Speaker 1: he's supposed to be someone who, from what I can tell,
Speaker 1: is one of the better prep players that has come
Speaker 1: out of any draft class in the last like five
Speaker 1: to ten years, I feel like it's a no brainer
Speaker 1: to take him if you have the opportunity to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I completely agree.
Speaker 3: I think if Rock goes one of Emerson's there too,
Speaker 3: I think he should be the easy pick in my
Speaker 3: opinion from what like, obviously I don't have as much
Speaker 3: of data and stuff on him just being a high screwrap.
Speaker 3: But from everything I read and everything I watch, he's
Speaker 3: very mature in his approach to the plate, swing decision wise,
Speaker 3: which again even rare to see at the seventeen eight
Speaker 3: year level. All these guys are better than everybody that
Speaker 3: play against andor just go up there swing and stuff
Speaker 3: ready to go.
Speaker 2: And from everything i've ready's.
Speaker 3: Also very mature defensively at short top it can almost
Speaker 3: definitely stick there, and having that ability to stick shorts
Speaker 3: up one comers can make him even more valuable even
Speaker 3: if the bat doesn't reach the point where that we
Speaker 3: think it could reach. The power is kind of thing
Speaker 3: I've heard a little bit questionable about, but I think again,
Speaker 3: just really young kid eighteen years old and six three
Speaker 3: point eight five, very projectable body, left handed stroke, I
Speaker 3: think he can very easily add power as he gets older,
Speaker 3: grows into his body. Again, just eighteen years old. I
Speaker 3: really like the prospect of this whole, and I think
Speaker 3: like the ability to stick a defensive ability to already
Speaker 3: have mature approach at such a young age is just
Speaker 3: very promising for his future.
Speaker 1: The last thing I have on this before we get
Speaker 1: into because the Rays have three picks in the top fifty. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have the number thirty three pick in the comp
Speaker 1: round A, which came from the Shame Bos trade, which
Speaker 1: is so funny that the Ray's got a compick out
Speaker 1: of that, considering that they traded a compic to get
Speaker 1: Brian Baker and then got that compick back in the
Speaker 1: Shane Bos trade and then got another pick on top
Speaker 1: of it. So in my opinion, that's a win win
Speaker 1: win for the Rays. But they have thirty three and
Speaker 1: then they have forty nine in the second round, which
Speaker 1: I think by the second round it just goes by
Speaker 1: record essentially, right and not because you know the I
Speaker 1: guess the the draft lotteries, draft lottery, but it goes
Speaker 1: by record. So that's why they have forty nine at
Speaker 1: that point. I think the Blue Jays and apparently the
Speaker 1: Blue Jays and Dodgers have their first picks there because
Speaker 1: they screwed up on them with the competitive balanced tax.
Speaker 1: But mostly yeah, yeah, yeah, So the Race have three
Speaker 1: in the top fifty there. But so outside of the
Speaker 1: top four that that that you mentioned, including Flora, is
Speaker 1: there anyone else that you think could potentially have like
Speaker 1: this meteoric final surge over the next couple of days
Speaker 1: and make a case to be the number two pick,
Speaker 1: or do you think that there's not really anyone that
Speaker 1: would have that kind of ability.
Speaker 2: I honestly do not. It would really shock me.
Speaker 3: I think it would honestly just depend on what they're
Speaker 3: doing money wise, and I think if the races had
Speaker 3: to go underslide, it would be Flora. But like, just
Speaker 3: looking at my board, like Jacob Lombard is the other
Speaker 3: prep shortsop in a world where Emmerson goes one and
Speaker 3: the raiser just gung home wanting to take a prep shortstop,
Speaker 3: Jacob Lombard at two would probably be that take. But
Speaker 3: that would really surprise me, especially with the guys still
Speaker 3: on the board. I think like those five would probably
Speaker 3: be the main ones. I really it would really shock
Speaker 3: me for anybody else to go at number two would
Speaker 3: have to be one of those. The Rays having three
Speaker 3: top fifty picks, are really wanting this table a little
Speaker 3: bit of money at two and get a guy that
Speaker 3: really like and then spend a little bit more. Maybe
Speaker 3: a high school guy or junior in college got on
Speaker 3: the board. I really think it's gonna be between those
Speaker 3: four guys, and that maybe the fifth would be Lombard.
Speaker 1: Got it okay going into the rest of this, so
Speaker 1: again thirty three in the comp round and then forty
Speaker 1: nine in the second round. Are there any names that
Speaker 1: kind of hover around either of those that you're interested in?
Speaker 1: I know one of them, at least in terms of
Speaker 1: local for the Tampa Bay areas, Caden Wecter, son of
Speaker 1: current Rays pre and post game guy, also analyst, and
Speaker 1: in many ways Doug Wecter. I think that he's still
Speaker 1: a top fifty prospect draft prospect by pretty much everything
Speaker 1: I saw. But who do you see around either of
Speaker 1: those picks that stands out as someone that fits, you know,
Speaker 1: fits the Ray's mold.
Speaker 3: I'll go ahead and talk about Lector first, because I'm
Speaker 3: actually a lot higher and him some people are. He's
Speaker 3: run fifty seven a MLB. I have him on forty
Speaker 3: six on my board. He's a guy who Tampa Jesuit
Speaker 3: A High school, one of the best high schools in
Speaker 3: the country for baseball. They just roll out top prospect
Speaker 3: every year. We have a guy at Etsuho went there.
Speaker 3: I mean he just said they're just rolling guys out
Speaker 3: every single year. I mean, he's he just has a
Speaker 3: very clean, consistent motion. Ninety two ninety four has been
Speaker 3: up to ninety five. Ninety six kind of has shown
Speaker 3: a couple of decent off seed pitches. But if you
Speaker 3: just watch him throw, looks very repeatable, it looks clean,
Speaker 3: it looks healthy. I think he could be a very
Speaker 3: fun pick in that I have forty nine spall. I
Speaker 3: don't think you would go all the way up with
Speaker 3: thirty three, but I think forty nine would be a
Speaker 3: great pick. And then my favorite player in the thirty
Speaker 3: three range is my favorite player in the entire class,
Speaker 3: not saying the best, but my personal favorite, and that's
Speaker 3: I believe another Tampa product who went to Florida State,
Speaker 3: and that's West Mendes, left handed pitcher played at Florida State.
Speaker 3: He's my favorite pitcher of the class simply because he
Speaker 3: throws five pitches in the zone a lot like up Florida.
Speaker 2: Say, he was truly.
Speaker 3: Throwing five pitches at a fastball, a really really good changeup, cutter, slider, curveball,
Speaker 3: and through all of them around at least nine to
Speaker 3: ten percent of the time. Obviously some of them want more,
Speaker 3: but it is very rare to see college guys had
Speaker 3: that mature of an ability to locate and throw five
Speaker 3: pitches with comfortability like he was doing. I think he's
Speaker 3: gonna fall a little bit just because he was only
Speaker 3: like ninety two to ninety four. I had the good
Speaker 3: command and had the five pitches. I think he would
Speaker 3: be a great pick at thirty three and could even
Speaker 3: follow that forty nine spot. I think most Mendes would
Speaker 3: be an absolute steal. I think he's going to be
Speaker 3: a guy who's gonna look, You're gonna look up. He's
Speaker 3: gonna like a three or four in a rotation, and
Speaker 3: of five straight years was three seven era with one
Speaker 3: hundred and sixty innings pitched.
Speaker 1: So, like, if the Rays end up taking two people
Speaker 1: that are from Tampa, like, like would that be would
Speaker 1: that fit the raised mold in your mind of like, hey,
Speaker 1: let's go try to grab these local guys that we've
Speaker 1: seen before. I don't because they have taken guys, I mean,
Speaker 1: Shane being one of them, being you know, a USF guy.
Speaker 1: They haven't necessarily always gone that route, but they've had
Speaker 1: Tampa guys, Saint Pete area guys that have played through.
Speaker 1: Like if that sort of a situation happened would you be, like,
Speaker 1: would that be surprising in the slightest or.
Speaker 3: Now, I mean, maybe a little surprise in just considering it,
Speaker 3: But I think it would be a very cool and
Speaker 3: fun storyline, especially for both of those guys, who again
Speaker 3: I'm very high on some people want to be as
Speaker 3: high on others. But I think either of those guys
Speaker 3: at those picks would be very fun spot. There's obviously
Speaker 3: a lot of other guys in those spots a life
Speaker 3: as well, but I mean, I think both those guys
Speaker 3: and then the storyline right there, both of them being
Speaker 3: Tampa guys, I think it would be very cool. Might
Speaker 3: be a little surprise and just considering, but like it's
Speaker 3: not out of the realm of possibility where if the
Speaker 3: Rays really want to add to pitching, and we know
Speaker 3: the Ray's love of adding pitching all the time, I
Speaker 3: think both of those could be very fun picks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I know Wes is a Jesuit guy too,
Speaker 1: so yeah, that would be I mean, if they I mean,
Speaker 1: if they picked up Sho's Tampa Tampa Jesuit guys in
Speaker 1: the first fifty picks, that'd be crazy. Who so who
Speaker 1: else in that realm any other guys that stand out
Speaker 1: to you as potential picks, specifically on like the more
Speaker 1: position player side, because I don't know how the Ras
Speaker 1: are planning on. I mean, they're weird in how they
Speaker 1: do things, because it could be like, you know, all
Speaker 1: position player one time, it could be all pitcher the
Speaker 1: other time. But on the position player side of things,
Speaker 1: anyone around either of those numbers that you could see
Speaker 1: them potentially getting and has that kind of raise mold.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll drop in like two or three. I can
Speaker 3: think fun names. Aiden Robbins, he was an outfielder at
Speaker 3: Texas this year. Really good power and just raw hitting
Speaker 3: ability spin his first two years at Seaton Hall, transfer
Speaker 3: to Texas and was able to keep his cape with
Speaker 3: numbers down. Just good player play center field could be
Speaker 3: a fun corner outfield spot.
Speaker 2: Another fun name is the son of Jim Tomey. Landon Tomey.
Speaker 3: He's projected around that like late first competitive balance. I'm
Speaker 3: not sure what his like number would be to lure
Speaker 3: him out of playing college ball because he's a prep
Speaker 3: He's a prep guy, but another left handed hitting prep shortstop.
Speaker 2: So depending on what the Rays do it too.
Speaker 3: But knowing the Rays, I could also see them double
Speaker 3: dipping on left handed hitting prep shortstops because that just
Speaker 3: seems like a really fun thing to do. Tomby is
Speaker 3: a very fun player. I could seem be like a
Speaker 3: utility type of guy. He's kind of described as like
Speaker 3: good hands, good defender, high IQ and another guy that
Speaker 3: just kind of has very good hit to a very
Speaker 3: good back to ball skills and it comes down to
Speaker 3: like the forty nine range. Another another legacy guy. I
Speaker 3: believe he's the nephew of Barry Bonds, and that's Tate Bonds,
Speaker 3: who has been at Rutgers, got hurt this year. He's
Speaker 3: a little bit lower on a lot of people's boards,
Speaker 3: but I'm really really high on him. Six five, two thirty.
Speaker 3: It has just one of the most violent swings you've
Speaker 3: ever seen in your entire life. I think that would
Speaker 3: be a very fun pick forever ends up getting him.
Speaker 3: And he's also a really good athlete. You should be
Speaker 3: able to play some decent corner outfield, but the just
Speaker 3: the raw powers off the charge. He's crazy exitv lows
Speaker 3: and then I would say the last position player is
Speaker 3: a Jared Avankoula who played at Georgia Tech as well
Speaker 3: spent two years at cow before that, just great hit tool,
Speaker 3: very little k or with just kind of that more
Speaker 3: like contact, fun hitter. I think he kind of played
Speaker 3: some second base and third base. I think he'd be
Speaker 3: a guy who just has very high on base percentage,
Speaker 3: just kind of like you stick it at the second base,
Speaker 3: stick them in your seven hoop for ten years and
Speaker 3: have fun with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The one thing I'm really annoyed by, and this is
Speaker 1: more of a personal thing, is so Chris Acopian, Maryland
Speaker 1: guy now at Texas A and M is you know,
Speaker 1: projected top ten pick.
Speaker 2: I was hoping.
Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't know where the Rays were gonna land,
Speaker 1: but originally I was like, Okay, if the Rays end
Speaker 1: up essentially where they are percentage wise, if that just
Speaker 1: equals out to where the pick is, he'll probably fit
Speaker 1: within their realm because he's you know, in that late
Speaker 1: late single single digit picks early you know, ten to
Speaker 1: fifteen range. And I really wanted to work out because
Speaker 1: as a Maryland graduate, I want to see all the
Speaker 1: Maryland guys on the team, and I want to try
Speaker 1: to corner the market on it because it's not like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of them. Even though he did go
Speaker 1: to A and M. It still kind of counts. I
Speaker 1: doubt that he's he.
Speaker 2: Like I, if.
Speaker 1: They stretched and tried to got him or tried to
Speaker 1: get him, I would probably be perplexed because I'm like,
Speaker 1: if you can get better college guys in that realm.
Speaker 1: But I was like, if it worked out where they
Speaker 1: were in that like thirteen to fifteen range instead of
Speaker 1: going all the way up to then we'd have a conversation.
Speaker 1: But right now it's it's just not a thing, and
Speaker 1: I'm really annoyed by it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Coping is a really good player.
Speaker 3: Both of the guys who I do the Baseball on
Speaker 3: Sitch podcast with are both in the DMV area as well.
Speaker 3: I think that I think his dad owned a facility
Speaker 3: or something around that area and they both work out there.
Speaker 3: So they both talked about like his dad being a
Speaker 3: really smart, good baseball guy in a coy Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, his dad's a stud. And his brother too, Eddie
Speaker 1: played at Maryland, ended up going to the Draft League,
Speaker 1: try to do stuff. I don't know where he is now.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's He might be playing indie ball somewhere,
Speaker 1: but I mean both of them are absolute studs and
Speaker 1: his dad was a stud too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a very good player.
Speaker 3: I think he's gonna be a very good pick and
Speaker 3: kind of like said the light or light single digits
Speaker 3: early early teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess I can kind of combine this into
Speaker 1: one last thing. But you you already mentioned the top
Speaker 1: half of this class being something that can rival the
Speaker 1: last five to ten years essentially of drafts. Like when
Speaker 1: people look back on this class and let's say five
Speaker 1: years or so, and that's probably looking too far into
Speaker 1: the future, where do you see this class projecting out?
Speaker 1: Not just raise guys, but in a general sense, Because
Speaker 1: like I'm normally not too excited about the draft because
Speaker 1: the race haven't been good enough or the race haven't
Speaker 1: been bad enough to have a shot at the number
Speaker 1: one pick. Now that this whole draft lotteries happening, now
Speaker 1: they have a shot at it, and they got the
Speaker 1: number two pick, So I care and obviously a lot
Speaker 1: of race fans care a lot more about it. Where
Speaker 1: do you see this whole class itself projecting out in
Speaker 1: the last you know, in the next five years.
Speaker 3: I think in five to ten years, it's gonna be
Speaker 3: a class we look back on and we're going to
Speaker 3: just be impressed of the of the college bats that
Speaker 3: were in this class. I think there is so many
Speaker 3: really good college bats, expect at the top of the draft,
Speaker 3: even like down into like the ten to twenty five range.
Speaker 3: You mentioned Ossia, Virginia, Ace Rees and Mississippi State Chris
Speaker 3: of Copan. We talked about Texas A and M Derek
Speaker 3: curryell Is and my favorite players in the draft outfield
Speaker 3: or LSU. I think there are so many really good
Speaker 3: college hitters in this class, and even further down the board.
Speaker 3: One of my favorite guys in the draft is Miles
Speaker 3: Bailey of Florida State, guy who has some of the
Speaker 3: best raw power in the class. Bad of injury this year.
Speaker 3: That kind of hurt his drafts talk a little bit.
Speaker 3: I think when we look back, we're gonna remember how
Speaker 3: good of all hitter.
Speaker 2: Classes was got it all?
Speaker 1: Right? Well that's all I got. I'm as of right now,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking it's Emerson. Part of me wants it to
Speaker 1: be rock. I mean, if I mean, if Emerson goes one,
Speaker 1: that would be pretty wild. I know that it could happen,
Speaker 1: but I'm very excited for what's to come Saturday. I've
Speaker 1: never experienced a draft before. It's not like anyone's experience
Speaker 1: a drafted for the last five years, so this is
Speaker 1: pretty cool. But Jackson, thank you so much for coming up.
Speaker 1: Where can people find you at and everything going on
Speaker 1: with Baseball and Stitch as well?
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolute, people can find me. My personal Twitter is
Speaker 3: Jaysco twenty three. I do some college contents and draft content,
Speaker 3: MLB analysis stuff, and then you can find Baseball and
Speaker 3: Stitch on Twitter, and then our podcast is where we
Speaker 3: find your podcast at YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music. We post
Speaker 3: every Tuesdays and then we're very active on Twitter as well.
Speaker 1: All right, well, Jackson, thank you so much. Man, hope
Speaker 1: you enjoy the draft. I'm going to try to do
Speaker 1: my best to enjoy it. But appreciate having you on
Speaker 1: to talk about the draft, buddy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. And we're back on this latest episode
Speaker 1: of Raised Roof. We really really appreciate Jackson coming on
Speaker 1: to talk with us about everything in regards to the
Speaker 1: MLB Draft.
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what happens. I don't know.
Speaker 1: If any of the fans are going to have the
Speaker 1: ability to talk with any of the players. I know
Speaker 1: that so twenty twenty five in Atlanta, there wasn't really
Speaker 1: a lot of people. I don't think anyone that actually
Speaker 1: showed up for the draft twenty twenty four, there definitely was,
Speaker 1: and I believe that a bunch of players, at least
Speaker 1: like ten to twelve players have actually been invited to
Speaker 1: the draft for Saturday. So we'll see what happens with that.
Speaker 1: But I'm very excited to see what happens. I'm very
Speaker 1: excited to be there and be part of it.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 1: The Rays don't get this opportunity often because of how
Speaker 1: good that they've been consistently in the last couple years.
Speaker 1: So the fact that they're in this position now with
Speaker 1: having as good of a season as they're having right
Speaker 1: now is just fantastic to say. So, with that being
Speaker 1: said that it's going to conclude the pod. Appreciate everyone
Speaker 1: for listening. If you guys want to follow everything that
Speaker 1: we got going on, especially through all the All Star
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Speaker 1: the MLB Draft and as always, raise up baby