David Levine
Posts: 76784
Joined: 7/14/2007
From: Las Vegas
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Keth Law:
5. Minnesota Twins: Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick High (Southport, N.C.)
No. 5 on Law’s Big Board
The Twins seemed to be much more interested in college hitters, so the pick of Jenkins is a mild surprise, especially since he is likely to require full slot. I know some scouts had him first on their personal pref lists and compare him to a young Larry Walker, seeing an athletic right fielder who has plus range and really, really hits. He has that build and a sweet left-handed swing that should produce hard contact and power. Like Clark, he hit well in showcases but was walked a ton in his senior spring while playing mediocre competition. This also means the top five were, in fact, the top five — the five players atop my board, and I think everyone’s boards, ended up going in the first five picks. No team decided to cut a deal to take a player outside of that quintet.
Scouting Report: Jenkins flew up boards this spring after a modest summer showing when he was hampered by a hamate injury. He looks the part of a top-of-the-draft hitter, 6-3, 205 pounds, lean and athletic and twitchy but with lots of room to add 20-25 pounds. He’s a plus runner, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he slid a little toward above-average as he filled out. He’s a left-handed hitter with a great swing that’s boosted by his outstanding bat control, allowing him to adjust mid-swing more than most teenagers can, and once he fills out he’ll probably have 30-homer power. He’s a center fielder now and a good one, although I could see him losing enough speed to move to right. He looks like he’ll hit like an All-Star right fielder, and maybe the UNC commit will end up staying in center, too.
34. Minnesota Twins: Charlee Soto, RHP, Reborn Christian Academy (Kissimmee, Fla.)
No. 31 on Law’s Big Board
Soto had some of the best stuff of any high school pitcher in the draft, three now pitches that could show plus, but he was a little tougher to see than most high school pitchers, sometimes going two weeks between starts. If he were 21, with exactly the same stuff and delivery, he’d be a top-10 pick, so the main question with him is whether he can stay healthy the next few years as someone who already throws pretty hard. But it all works pretty well and, beyond health, he mostly needs to work on consistency to the delivery and location.
Scouting Report: Soto has some of the best pure stuff in this draft class, with three pitches in his fastball, slider and split-changeup that can all show plus, along with a delivery he should be able to repeat for command. He’s been up to 98 mph with some riding life to the four-seamer, while the split-change has the sort of hard fading action you expect from that pitch and shows good separation and deception. His slider is more of a power slurve with a break almost straight down, but he seems to throw it for strikes and gets late bite on the pitch. He’s also one of the youngest pitchers in the draft, turning 18 at the end of August, and already is 6-foot-5 and listed at 210 pounds. Scouts found him difficult to see this spring as he’d often go two weeks between outings, and his command wasn’t where it was last summer on the showcase circuit. He’s as risky as any high school arm, but this stuff rivals that of White’s for the best among all prep pitchers this year.
https://theathletic.com/4677888/2023/07/10/mlb-draft-2023-analysis-first-round-law/
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