TEAM: Colorado Rockies
PICK: 22 (Slot: $2,912,300)
POOL: $7,633,900
SCOUTING DIRECTOR: Bill Schmidt

PREVIOUS TOP PICKS
2017: Ryan Vilade, 3B, Stillwater HS, OK (48th overall, 2nd round)
2016: Riley Pint, RHP, St. Thomas Aquinas HS, KS (4th overall)
2015: Brendan Rodgers, SS, Lake Mary HS, FL (3rd overall)
2014: Kyle Freeland, LHP, Evansville (8th overall)
2013: Jon Gray, RHP, Oklahoma (3rd overall)

HISTORY: Colorado didn’t pick in the first round in 2017, kicking their draft of with 3B Ryan Vilade (Stillwater HS, OK) in the second last year. The four years prior, they focused on pitching with their top pick, making an exception with SS Brendan Rodgers (Lake Mary HS, FL) in 2015 with the third overall pick. Six of the Rockies’ last 10 first-round picks have been pitchers. Four of them came from the college ranks.

FORECAST: It’s a tough sales pitch to convince free agent arms to sign in Colorado, thanks to the elevation and inflated offense it produces. So, why not look to draft and develop arms? With nearly $3 million to spend at the No. 22 pick, there are a host of options for the Rockies in RHP Sean Hjelle (Kentucky), LHP Ryan Weathers (Loretto HS, TN), RHP Jackson Kowar (Florida), RHP Tristan Beck (Stanford), RHP Logan Gilbert (Stetson), RHP Blaine Knight, RHP Adam Kloffenstein and RHP Grayson Rodriguez (Central Heights HS, TX). If they want to gamble a little, they could look a little further down the board for a discount and see who falls to their next pick at 42. 

Sean Hjelle, RHP, Kentucky
PBR Draft Board: 19
FB: 55/60            CB: 55/60            SL: 45/55            CH: 55/60
Hjelle has an extra tall, long-bodied and long-limbed frame at 6-foot-11, 225 pounds. He’s surprisingly athletic and repeats his delivery, leveraging the ball from a high-3/4 slot with a loose arm swing and good arm speed. Hjelle’s two-seam fastball sits 91-93, peaking at 94 early, and shows tail and sink in addition to steep downplane. His knuckle-curveball flashes plus at 80-83 and he throws it to both sides of the plate. He also showed an 85-87 slider and 83-86 power changeup. (David Seifert)

Find Hjelle's full report in the Draft HQ.

Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto HS, TN
PBR Draft Board: 20
FB: 55/60            CB: 60/70            CH: 20/50
Weathers showed two plus pitches in his second start back after winning a state title in basketball. The frame is close to mature with some physical projection remaining, and is built much like his major league father, David Weathers. He pitches with some effort and has a super quick arm with extension. He maintained his fastball velo for the first four innings, sitting 90-94. His tight curveball was a weapon all day, flashing plus-plus. He pounds the zone and projects to command his arsenal. (Tim Kay)

Find Weathers' full report in the Draft HQ.

Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida
PBR Draft Board: 21
FB: 60/60            SL: 50/55            CH: 60/70
Kowar is wiry at 6-foot-6, 185 pounds. He has a very simple, low-effort delivery and throws from a 3/4 slot. The arm works free and easy with whip, as the ball comes out his hand very well. The fastball worked 92-94 mph, touching 97 with late, riding life. Despite a plus fastball, he seemingly pitched backwards early, working off of a plus changeup at 83-86. He threw the pitch in any count to any hitter. He showed impressive ability to control the pitch to right-handed hitters on the inner half. He also showed a feel for an above-average slider with late sweeping action at 75-78. (Doug Freeman)

Find Kowar's full report in the Draft HQ.

Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford
PBR Draft Board: 26

FB: 50/55            CB: 55/55            SL: 50/50            CH: 50/60
Beck is tall, lean and wiry at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds. He mixed four pitches for strikes with a cross-body landing and high-3/4 slot. He occasionally dropped closer to a 3/4 slot. His fastball sat 90-93 mph, occasionally touching 94 and one 95 on a 3-2 pitch that was up and well out of the zone. He generated occasionally swings and miss, but that was mostly due to his pitch mix and not excessive life or pinpoint command. His first changeup was at 83 and plus. It had great bottom and good hand speed. All the other changupes were 80-83 with more average quality and movement. The curveball was his best breaking ball, showing good shape and depth in the 75-79 range. He also mixed in a sweeping slider/slurve at 80-84. (David Seifert)

Find Beck's full report in the Draft HQ.

Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson
PBR Draft Board: 27
FB: 50/55            CB: 45/45            SL: 45/55            CH: 40/50
Overall, Gilbert is an athletic pitcher with a proportional frame, long legs and long arms. There is a little wrist wrap/curl in his separation, but the arm works free and easy. When he gets to extension with the fingers on top, there is tilt on the fastball. He showed velocity early, sitting 92-95 mph and settled in at 91-92 mph. He competed, despite not having his best command and being up in the zone. Both breaking balls are average at best and will need to improve. At times, they blended together. (Doug Freeman)

Find Gilbert's full report in the Draft HQ.

Blaine Knight, RHP, Arkansas
PBR Draft Board: 28
FB: 45/50            CB: 45/50            SL: 50/55            CH: 45/50
Knight is a highly competitive righty with a slender frame and good pitchability. During the regular season, he won matchups against Casey Mize, Brady Singer, Ryan Rolison and Sean Hjelle. He worked at 90-93 early in the game, touching 94-95. The slider can show plus, but worked more average at 80-84. He also throws a curveball that flashes average at 73-75 and a changeup at 80-81. (David Seifert)

Find Knight's full report in the Draft HQ.

Adam Kloffenstein, RHP, Magnolia HS, TX
PBR Draft Board: 30
FB: 50/60            CB: 50/60            SL: 50/60            CH: 50/60
Kloffenstein works from a high-3/4 slot with a quick arm stroke. His fastball got up to 95 a couple of times but was mostly 92-94 through the first three innings. He had great command of four pitches with all of them coming from the same window. He features a changeup that he throws with fastball arm speed, heavy depth, and some fade. He used his changeup more the first time through the order, but did flash a couple of sliders with 11/5 shape at 84 mph. He also works in the occasional curveballl with more 12/6 shape at 79-80. (Toby Bicknell)

Find Kloffenstein's full report in the Draft HQ.

Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Central Heights HS, TX
PBR Draft Board: 32
FB: 50/60            CB: 55/60            SL: 50/60            CH: 40/45
At 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, Rodriguez has a strong, long-limbed frame. He works from a high-3/4 slot with a low-effort delivery and a long, clean arm swing. His fastball sat at 96 in the first inning, touching 98 mph once. In the second inning his fastball ranged from 94-97. He locates well to his glove side, occasionally coming in to right-handed hitters. He used a big breaking curveball with 11/5 shape and good depth early in the game at 74-78 mph. His slider was his third best pitch for the first three innings with flat, inconsistent spin at 81-83 mph. But the pitch got better from the fourth inning on, and he went to it more often for swings and misses with sharp spin, and late, short 10/4 bite. (Toby Bicknell)

Find Rodriguez's full report in the Draft HQ. 

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