With the Major league Baseball Draft now just two weeks away, Now that the college baseball season is finally complete, I thought today would be the perfect time to revisit a post I wrote earlier this spring about the possibility of the Cubs redrafting some players they have taken in previous years. For most of them, this is their last year of possibly being taken by the Cubs again.
The odds of the Cubs actually redrafting a player are probably not very high as every single one of these players was taken in the Jason McLeod era. However, there are three of these players are in Baseball America’s top 500 and the others could be good organizational players to take a risk on. A couple of them have injury concerns that have not subsided over the past three or four years.
Ryan Ritter – SS – Kentucky
He is probably going to be available in the third or fourth round. He started off at John A. Logan Community College in southern Illinois and then spent two years in Kentucky where he improved each season, especially this year, his junior year. I could see the Cubs retaking Ritter as he is ranked in the top 125 at both BA and MLB Pipeline and is having a good summer on the Cape.
Nolan Letzgus – RHP – Walters State CC – RS Sophomore
He didn’t pitch much this spring but when he did, he struck out about two batters per inning. And that’s been the issue throughout his career is his durability. He spent three years at Walters State and he’s not in the top 500 at BA or the top 200 MLB Pipeline. Let’s keep him in the loop for next year as he finally goes to a four-year school next spring.
Hunter Patteson – LHP – University of Central Florida
I took Patteson in the 10 round mock draft that Greg Zumach and I did a few weeks ago. He had an outstanding season at University of Central Florida with an ERA under two as a left-handed starter. He’s probably going to be available somewhere in the sixth or seventh round and he is in both the top 200 for BA and Pipeline. The only concern with him is that he did miss some time with an undisclosed injury this spring that did not require surgery. Then again, he came back from said injury to pitch welll.
Mac Bingham – OF – Arizona
He’s a very good outfielder who played for a good team. He reminds me a little bit of Bradlee Beasley in that he does a lot of things well and he can play all three outfield spots. He is in the top 350 on BA‘s top 500. He could be worth a shot on day two.
Julian Boyd – OF – Colorado Mesa University – D2
In playing at D2 Colorado Mesa at altitude, Boyd put up video game numbers this year. Every year it seems he is at a different school. He is not going to hit for power, but the on-base type of hitting is always needed – see Darius Hill. He is noted for just be a natural athlete which could bode well for him with pro instruction. In our 10 rock mock draft, I called him a sleeper for day three.
Jacob Campbell – C – Illinois
Campbell saw a dramatic increase in his power this year as well as his batting average. He might be a year away from being taken in the draft and he would be a decent backstop to take on day two of the draft in like the eighth, ninth, or 10th round. I could even see the Cubs taking him on day three as well. You can never have enough good catchers, especially one who’s ascending at the plate.
There were a couple of other players that I didn’t include here as their careers sort of washed out this spring.
These kids are from a different draft era that consisted of 40 rounds. Now with just 20, the Cubs aren’t going to take a lot of gambles and start selecting names they know we’re going to sign. They had 20 picks last year and signed 18 of them. And in two years, Gage Ziehl of Miami and Teo Banks of Tulane will be eligible to be taken again. But most of the players listed above are done. Letzgus will probably be eligible for two more years. If the Cubs take one of them, I’m going to be pleasantly surprised, especially if it’s any of that 2019 class of Ritter, Patteson, and/or Bingham. Boyd would also be a good bet as well. We have two weeks to find out.
