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After having written a grand total of just four blog posts in the past eight months, I am aiming to do four or five this week alone. Most of them will make up our annual DTBL season preview series. However, before I get to that, I want to do a quick review of the recently completed draft. The 2022 draft was rather unusual with a majority of the first round picks being pitchers. This year, things were back to normal. The first round was comprised of mostly young hitters. While the beginning of the 2023 DTBL draft was rather predictable, it was also quite interesting.
The draft kicked off with the Diamond Dogs making the first pick for the second consecutive season. Last year, they went a bit off the board in selecting pitcher Shane Baz, a move which backfired quickly as he hurt his elbow soon after the draft and eventually had Tommy John surgery. This year, the Dogs played it more conventionally, selecting the clear best available player in the draft in outfielder Julio Rodriguez. Not only was Rodriguez the consensus best available player in this draft, I’ve seen dynasty rankings that have him #1 among *all* MLB players heading into this season. He broke into the big leagues with a 28 home run and 25 stolen base season, earning him AL Rookie of the Year honors. It has been quite some time since a player had such a dominant rookie season in both of those categories. He has true five category star potential and should be a cornerstone for the Diamond Dogs franchise for years to come.
Speaking of guys with elite power and speed talent, the Mavericks selected shortstop Bobby Witt Jr with the second pick. Witt also joined the rookie 20/20 fraternity with 20 home runs and 30 steals. The stolen base aspect of his game will give the Mavericks the only thing they were missing from their extremely potent offense. Witt is of course the son of former MLB pitcher Bobby Witt, who had a one season stint in the DTBL with the Metros in 1997.
The first pitcher selected was Spencer Strider by the Darkhorses at #3. Strider was an under the radar prospect who made his presence felt immediately at the big league level. He struck out 202 hitters in just 131 innings pitched, while posting a 2.67 ERA and a sub 1.0 WHIP. Like Rodriguez being the first hitter taken, there was little doubt that Strider would be the first pitcher off the board.
Strider’s Braves teammate, outfielder Michael Harris II was the fourth pick, taken by the Jackalope. Harris is yet another huge power and speed contributor. He hit 19 home runs with 20 steals while posting a .297 average. In almost any other year, he would have been the best five category player available. Perhaps playing in a loaded Braves lineup does give him the best immediate outlook among these top hitters though.
The first non-DTBL rookie selected was outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The Cougars picked him up in the fifth slot. Reynolds was a surprising drop by the Komodos this winter, but the Cougars were happy to add him to their roster. He could be an especially nice addition if the Pirates were to trade him to a team that would offer more lineup protection.
It is almost hard to believe, but prior to this year there had not been a catcher selected in the first round of the draft since 2017 (Gary Sanchez and Willson Contreras). The Choppers ended that drought by choosing Adley Rutschman at #6. Rutschman had been the #1 prospect in baseball heading into last season according to many publications, and one of the most highly touted catching prospects in modern history. He had a very good rookie campaign and should give the Choppers a leg up on most of the league at an extremely shallow position.
The second and final pitcher of the first round was Cristian Javier, selected by the Komodos with the seventh pick. Javier had a decent stint with the Jackalope back in 2021, but fell off the league roster last year as the Astros kept shuffling him between the rotation and bullpen. He established himself as an extremely valuable starter last season though, highlighted by his dominant performance in the Astros combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series.
The next two picks are the consensus top two prospects in baseball heading into this season, as the others drafted ahead of them have already exhausted their MLB rookie eligibility. The Demigods took speedy outfielder Corbin Carroll with the eighth pick. Carroll stole 33 bases across three levels last season. Oh, he also has pop. He hit 28 home runs in his ’22 minor and major league season.
Third baseman Gunnar Henderson went to the Kings in the ninth slot. Corner infield wasn’t exactly a position of need for the Kings going into the draft, but they are certainly happy to have Henderson now with Rhys Hoskins out for the year. Henderson doesn’t have quite the same speed as the other hitters picked ahead of him, but he can run a bit and certainly has big league raw power.
Finally, the defending champion Moonshiners selected catcher MJ Melendez with the last pick of the first round. Melendez filled in admirably behind the plate for the Royals when Salvador Perez got hurt last summer. This year, he will likely spend most of his time in the outfield, but should catch often enough to maintain catcher eligibility. His bat should make him an extremely valuable commodity as long as that remains the case.
To pull back the curtain a bit on my own draft process, this wound up being as predictable of a first round as I can recall. Since I had the ninth pick, I had exactly nine guys who I had settled on as potential selections. As it turns out, only Henderson remained from that list when my pick came up, which made my decision pretty easy. While I didn’t map out exactly which team I expected to take which player, not one of the first round selections was even remotely surprising to me.
Now it is time to dive into the season preview. I’m actually hoping to get the first part out later tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. So be on the lookout for that!