2022 MLB Draft Report: Mock Draft IV

When choosing at No. 26 overall in the first round, endless possibilities present themselves ahead of where Mike Shirley will make his third first round selection as scouting director for the Chicago White Sox. The top prospect in an evolving farm system, Colson Montgomery was the club’s first rounder with the 22nd overall pick, and he was seen as the top target in the lead up to the 2021 draft. Things are much more fluid this time around.

Montgomery has been stellar in his first professional season and his play has landed him on top 100 prospect lists at MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. In 2020, Shirley took Tennessee southpaw Garrett Crochet with the 11th overall pick in the first round but there were strong rumors connecting the then first year scouting director to California prep slugger Tyler Soderstrom. While it didn’t ultimately occur, that methodology leads me to believe that South Carolina prep infielder Tucker Toman is very much in play as the primary target in the first round for the White Sox.

Pitching is a huge organizational need as well and while decision makers for the club may ultimately prefer to wait until the later rounds to load up on hurlers, they could decide that the best path involves selecting a college pitcher in the first round. They could definitely go in this direction with the 26th pick depending on how the pieces fall in front of them. In this projection, Tucker Toman is off the board already but one of the highest upside pitchers in the class has fallen down the board.

Below are some options for the White Sox with their first three selections along with the rest of the first round.

Round 1: #26 Overall: Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama

Pick Slot Value: $2,788,000

Signing Bonus Guess: Slot

Prielipp falling to the White Sox could be considered a best case scenario but call me an optimist in this instance. The 21-year-old left hander looked like a potential top ten pick in this class before undergoing Tommy John surgery during his sophomore season at Alabama. The 6-2, 205 pounder is on the mend and has thrown bullpens in front of scouts recently. The stuff appears to be mostly back and he has a quick arm and athletic frame with a toolset to become a frontline starter.

Here's a look at a handful of pitches from Connor Prielipp's bullpen at the #MLBDraft Combine.

FB: 94-95
CB: 85-87
CH: 86-87@DSeifertD1PBR | @PBR_DraftHQ pic.twitter.com/Okk6dm8fQA

— Nathan Rode (@NathanRode) June 18, 2022

Prielipp is ranked as the No. 38 overall player in the draft class according to Baseball America. Possessing a mid nineties fastball and two overwhelming secondaries, the southpaw is a tremendous prospect but his limited track record makes him a wild card. The lefty’s slider is a devastating pitch and many scouts and publications have referred to it as a 70-grade offering. He was the high school player of the year in the state of Wisconsin back in 2019 and was the top prep prospect from the state. He’s ranked 25th overall in the class at MLB Pipeline.

Prielipp would immediately become the top starting pitching prospect in the White Sox’s system. It’s very possible that the former Crimson Tide southpaw goes well before the Sox are on the clock at 26. The addition of college pitching in the 2022 draft is likely and doing it in the first round with a player of this caliber would be a promising development for the franchise.

Pick 62: Roman Anthony, OF, Stoneman Douglas HS (FL)

Pick Slot Value: $1,158,600 

Signing Bonus Guess: $1,600,000

Anthony was a highly regarded prospect after his junior year in high school but struggled with too many strikeouts on the summer circuit. The 6-3 205 pounder plays center field but projects to an outfield corner in the future. The 18-year-old possesses significant raw power from the left side and while there are some hit tool concerns, he was much better this spring. He’s committed to the University of Mississippi. His selection would give the White Sox another prep hitter that hits from the left side. The Floridian is ranked as the #No. 56 overall prospect in the class at MLB Pipeline and lands at No. 74 for Baseball America.

OF Roman Anthony (Marjory Stoneman Douglas/FL) hit HR no. 9 last night. His stock is surging. He's hitting over .500, slugging over 1.000.

And this ball got out in a hurry.

Recently mocked by @ProspectsLive to the Rockies at no. 31.

Mock: https://t.co/jb8FjLbHG6 pic.twitter.com/vyDPB73QBR

— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) April 28, 2022

Pick 101: Nate Savino, LHP, Virginia

Pick Slot Value: $606,300

Signing Bonus Guess: $1,000,000

The 6-3 210 pounder was one of the best prep lefties in the 2019 draft class. He chose to attend the University of Virginia where his stuff promptly backed up and he struggled for two seasons. The 20-year-old pitched better in 2022 but sputtered a bit down the stretch once again. The southpaw deploys a low nineties fastball and an inconsistent changeup that flashes plus. Savino profiles as a back-end starter.

Quick, efficient first inning for Nate Savino. Touched 96 last week, right now he's 92-95 with the heater, getting two ground ball outs. Utilized SL at 85-86 to get a chase then doubled down to catch Tyler Johnson freezing for a strikeout. pic.twitter.com/c2WjrGWlAg

— Tyler Jennings (@TylerJennings24) June 3, 2022

Full First Round Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School
1	Orioles	Termarr Johnson	2B	Mays HS (GA)
2	Diamondbacks	Druw Jones	OF	Wesleyan HS (GA)
3	Rangers	Jackson Holliday	SS	Stillwater HS (OK)
4	Pirates	Cam Collier	3B	Chipola JC
5	Nationals	Kevin Parada	C	Georgia Tech
6	Marlins	Jacob Berry	3B	LSU
7	Cubs	Brooks Lee	SS	Cal Poly
8	Twins	Elijah Green	OF	IMG Academy (FL)
9	Royals	Gavin Cross	OF	Virginia Tech
10	Rockies	Jordan Beck	OF	Tennessee
11	Mets	Jett Williams	SS	Rockwell-Heath HS (TX)
12	Tigers	Jace Jung	2B	Texas Tech
13	Angels	Carson Whisenhunt	LHP	East Carolina
14	Mets	Brock Porter	RHP	Orchard Lake St. Marys Prep (MI)
15	Padres	Justin Crawford	OF	Bishop Gorman HS (NV)
16	Guardians	Zach Neto	SS	Campbell
17	Phillies	Kumar Rocker	RHP	Independent
18	Reds	Drew Gilbert	OF	Tennessee
19	Athletics	Dylan Beavers	OF	Cal
20	Braves	Cade Horton	RHP	Oklahoma
21	Mariners	Cooper Hjerpe	LHP	Oregon State
22	Cardinals	Peyton Graham	SS	Oklahoma
23	Blue Jays	Tucker Toman	3B	Hammond HS (SC)
24	Red Sox	Sterlin Thompson	OF	Florida
25	Yankees	Spencer Jones	1B	Vanderbilt
26	White Sox	Connor Prielipp	LHP	Alabama
27	Brewers	Blade Tidwell	RHP	Tennessee
28	Astros	Jacob Melton	OF	Oregon State
29	Rays	Brandon Barriera	LHP	American Heritage Plantation HS (FL)
30	Giants	Chase DeLauter	OF	James Madison
31	Rockies	Daniel Susac	C	Arizona
32	Reds	Dylan Lesko	RHP	Buford HS (GA)
33	Orioles	Robby Snelling	LHP	McQueen HS (NV)
34	Diamondbacks	Brock Jones	OF	Stanford
35	Royals	Owen Murphy	RHP	Riverside Brookfield HS (IL)
36	Pirates	Cole Young	SS	North Allegheny HS (PA)
37	Guardians	Thomas Harrington	RHP	Campbell
38	Rockies	Gabriel Hughes	RHP	Gonzaga
39	Padres	Jackson Ferris	LHP	IMG Academy (FL)
40	Dodgers	Reggie Crawford	LHP	UConn