Day Two of the 2022 MLB draft is now in the books, which means 316 picks are down and 10 rounds (11-20), totaling 300 picks are left to go tomorrow. We saw a handful of surprises and some fascinating storylines on Day One and several more today. The PBR and D1Baseball staff break it all down below.

STORYLINES

+ After the snail’s pace of Day One, Day Two was a cheetah sprint. Just over three hours for 235 picks (81-316). Hats off to our friends Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com. How they kept up with the pace was phenomenal.

+ Two of the first three picks on Day Two were two-way talents as the O’s led off with RHP/3B Nolan McLean (Oklahoma State) and the Pirates followed two picks later with another RHP/3B Jack Brannigan (Notre Dame).

+ The Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Tigers, Twins and Yankees all went to college. Every one of their picks were from four-year colleges. The Angels and Royals also went to college, but both clubs mixed in one Juco prospect to their otherwise all four-year college selections.

+ On the other hand, the Brewers preferred the Juco Route. Three of the Brew Crew’s 11 picks have been for JC prospects, including second-rounder RHP Jacob Misiorowski (Crowder), sixth-rounder RHP Tyler Woessner (Central Arizona) and ninth-rounder C Tayden Hall (State College of Florida Manatee).

+ The Red Sox picked the middle of the diamond clean with all of their selections. They led off with an under-the-radar pick in Southern Miss reliever Dalton Rogers. The loose, athletic left-hander was featured in November as a Juco Impact Transfer. He can run his fastball into the mid 90s and show an above average breaking pitch. Boston then selected a shortstop, followed by five pitchers and a catcher.

+ Pitching has long been a sticking point for the Cubs and with eight picks on Day Two, they took seven arms. Wrigley Field needs as many arms as possible. Power-armed RHP Brandon Birdsell (Texas Tech) in the fifth round and high pitchability RHP Connor Noland (Arkansas) in the ninth were two of our favorites. RHP Will Frisch (Oregon State) was selected in the sixth after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late March.

+ As usual, college prospects dominated the later half. Just 26 preps were chosen out of the 235 Day Two picks. The remaining 209 were college prospects, 201 from four-year and eight from junior colleges. For more on all of the Juco prospects selected in the first two days, please see the JUCO Wire.

STEALS

+ The worst kept secret finally occurred with Porter’s selection by Texas in the fourth round. Getting two players in the top 20 on the PBR Draft Board was stellar work with Nos. 3 and 16.

+ In the fourth round, Tampa Bay got the bat of 1B Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt). Our No. 87 prospect combines power potential and hitability and has performed on the big stage of the SEC with a .371 conference average this season.

+ Oakland got a power arm in the fourth round in RHP Jacob Watters (West Virginia) He can touch 100 mph to go with an above average spiked breaking ball.

+ SS Jalen Battles (Arkansas) is a superior defender and went to Tampa Bay in the fifth round. His swing isn’t a thing of beauty, but there’s some pop and he’s a premier athlete with a 70-grade arm.

+ Another power arm, RHP Zach Maxwell (Georgia Tech) was selected in the sixth by Cincinnati. The big, physical righty consistently sits in the upper 90s and while the slider is inconsistent, it will flash plus.

+ RHP Mack Anglin (Clemson) features high spin in his arsenal with a fastball that reaches the high 90s and a plus breaking ball. His control (96 walks in 140 college innings) has held back his value. Kansas City took him the seventh round.

+ LHP Cy Nielson (BYU), the eighth-round selection for Pittsburgh, moved to the pen as a sophomore, where his mid-90s fastball plays better. His control continues to be a work-in-progress.

+ LHP Jackson Humphries (Fuquay-Varina HS, NC), who was among the top standouts at the Super 60 in February, easily could have heard his name toward the end of Day One or early Day Two. Instead, the Campbell recruit slid to eighth round where the Guardians scooped him up. That’s excellent value.

+ SS Adam Crampton (Stanford), the Pac-12 defensive player of the year, shined at the conference tournament, then had an eight-pitch at-bat that ended in a single against RHP Blake Burkhalter (Auburn). It was the only hit Burkhalter allowed in his 2.1 inning relief appearance, as he featured a fastball up to 97 and a plus-plus cutter. Baltimore got Crampton in the ninth round.

+ IF Chase Estep (Kentucky), San Diego’s ninth-round pick, is a versatile defender with some pop who has performed in the SEC.

+ LHP Chris Villaman (NC State), Tampa Bay’s ninth round pick, has a mid-90s fastball from the left side.

FAVORITE PICKS

RODE: Humphries in the ninth is a steal, but I loved another North Carolina selection in C Brooks Brannon (Randleman HS, NC), a physical right-handed hitter with power and a strong arm. He had a historic spring, setting single season records for hits (70) and RBIs (91), while tying the home run (20) mark, which was set by his father. 

SEIF: RHP Jonathan Cannon (Georgia) was a first-round talent who was selected in the third round, 60th overall, by the White Sox. If healthy, Cannon can sink it in the mid 90s and spin an above average slider and newly unleashed plus cutter. However, his top skill is plus-plus control with 12 walks in 78.1 innings.

SHOOTER: The Mets piled on the talent in the first 10 rounds and 3B Jacob Reimer (Yucaipa HS, CA) was a strong addition in the fourth round. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-handed slugger was one of the top hitters in the prep class, and was at his best against elite pitching. His future shift to a corner spot likely brought down the present value a bit, but the bat is always going to play, and likely with even more power in coming years.

NAMES TO WATCH ON DAY THREE

There isn’t an obvious high school guy to watch early on. Someone will be popped and have a chance of signing, but most, if not all, of the preps left on the PBR Draft Board remain due to signability. The top three college prospects include 3B Mac Horvath (North Carolina), RHP David Sandlin (Oklahoma) and RHP Andrew Walters (Miami). Horvath is a tooled-up, eligible sophomore who will likely return to Chapel Hill. With continued polish to his approach in the batter’s box, he has a chance to play himself into Day One in 2023. Sandlin and Walters may go real early on Day Three for a bonus well above the maximum ($125,000) for rounds 11-20, if a club has the available pool cash. Walters put together an impressive 2022 for the Hurricanes, posting a 1.65 ERA with 62 strikeouts against six walks in 32.2 innings out of the pen. Sandlin showed top three round stuff at the College World Seies with a heater up to 96 and a high-spin, tight-biting curveball.

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