A completely subjective ranking of the Top 50 2014 draft prospects
Below is my list for the Top 50 prospects in the 2014 draft. Nothing fancy here or anything that's gonna need a ton of explanation. Just a few preferences I have before we begin:
1. I like hitters more than pitchers and if I had to choose between a pitcher and a hitter who were two of the same caliber prospects, I'd probably go with the hitter 10/10 times.
2. I prefer college guys generally to high schoolers. College players face much more parity and a higher skill level in their seasons than their prep counterparts and they have had more time to develop. This can be broken down even further that prep players from warm weather climates are better than cold weather climate players generally given their ability to play ball almost year round. Further touching upon the the competition point, those prep guys who attend the summer showcases are higher to me than those who don't.
3. Power is great and it can completely change the game, but you only hit home runs when you make contact with the ball. I'll take the lower power bat and the higher hit tool than the high power low hit tool unless you're bringing speed and defense to the table as well (such as Jacob Gatewood vs Bubba Starling).
4. Defense matters, but at the end of the day it's the bat that wins out for me. I'll take a below average defender and plus hitter over an above average fielder and below average hitter even if the defense is plus defense.
#
Name
Position
School
1
Brady Aiken
LHP
Cathedral Catholic HS, CA
2
Alex Jackson
OF
Rancho Bernardo HS, CA
3
Carlos Rodon
LHP
North Carolina State
4
Tyler Kolek
RHP
Shepherd HS, TX
5
Nick Gordon
SS
Olympia HS, FL
6
Max Pentecost
C
Kennesaw State
7
Michael Conforto
OF
Oregon State
8
Brad Zimmer
OF
University of San Francisco
9
Grant Holmes
RHP
Conway HS, SC
10
Aaron Nola
RHP
LSU
11
Sean Newcomb
LHP
Hartford
12
Jeff Hoffman
RHP
East Carolina
13
Forrest Wall
2B
Orangewood Christian HS, FL
14
Trea Turner
SS
North Carolina State
15
Casey Gillaspie
1B
Wichita State
16
Kyle Schwarber
1B
Indiana
17
Michael Chavis
3B
Sprayberry HS, GA
18
Derek Fisher
OF
Virginia
19
Spencer Adams
RHP
White County HS, GA
20
Kodi Medeiros
LHP
Waiakea HS, HI
21
Michael Gettys
OF
Gainesville, GA
22
Derek Hill
OF
Elk Grove HS, CA
23
Braxton Davidson
1B
TC Roberson HS, NC
24
Touki Toussaint
RHP
Coral Springs Christian HS, FL
25
Chase Vallot
C
St Thomas Moore HS, LA
26
Monte Harrison
OF
Lee summit West HS, MO
27
Luis Ortiz
RHP
Sanger HS, CA
28
Kyle Freeland
LHP
Evansville
29
Erick Fedde
RHP
UNLV
30
Brandon Finnegan
LHP
TCU
31
Alex Blandino
3B
Stanford
32
Sean Reid-Foley
RHP
Sandalwood HS, FL
33
Tyler Bedde
RHP
Vanderbilt
34
Nick Howard
RHP
Virginia
35
Jacob Bukauskas
RHP
Stone Bridge HS, VA
36
Ti'Quan Forbes
3B
Columbia HS, MS
37
Foster Griffin
LHP
First Academy HS, FL
38
Nick Burdi
RHP
Louisville
39
Michael Kopech
RHP
Mount Pleasant HS, TX
40
Jacob Gatewood
3B
Clovis HS, CA
41
Aramis Garcia
C
FIU
42
Mike Papi
OF
Virginia
43
AJ Reed
1B
Kentucky
44
Justus Sheffield
LHP
Tullahoma HS, TN
45
Brian Anderson
OF
Arkansas
46
Carson Sands
RHP
North Florida Christian HS, FL
47
Cody Reed
LHP
Ardmore HS, AL
48
Matt Chapman
3B
Cal-State Fullerton
49
Marcus Wilson
OF
Junipero Serra HS, CA
50
Sam Travis
1B
Indiana
If you want to see basically every single one of these guys on video check out the Perfect Game All-Star Game from last year.