Part two of this unique collaborative Mock 2023 MLB Draft featuring North Side Bound’s Greg Zumach and Next Year in Cleveland’s Willie Hood resumes below. Make sure to check out Picks 1-15 and 16-30 for the full writeups on each selection. Thanks for reading and please check out each respective site for more draft coverage. 

31. Tampa Bay Rays- Thomas White- LHSP HS, MA

Greg: Rays have dipped into the Northeast prep pool before. Thomas White has a legitimate arsenal, but it’s inconsistent. The Rays and the Dodgers would be two of the better organizations who could help him harness it and they both pick around this range.

32. New York Mets- Aidan Miller- 3b HS 

(No first-round selection: 10-pick penalty for exceeding CBA limits). Previous first-round selections: Brett Baty, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kumar Rocker, Kevin Parada, Jett Williams

Bonus slot: $2,607,500

33. Milwaukee Brewers- Juaron Watts-Brown- RHSP Oklahoma State 

Willie: The Mets have multiple compensatory picks adding to their draft pool and creating an opportunity for the organization to add both depth and be creative/aggressive with their early picks. 

Milwaukee adds a college arm with strikeout potential and athleticism. “JWB” will need some command gains to stick as a starter, but going in this range is every indication of the belief he should be a starter long-term.

34. Miami Marlins- Landen Maroudis- RHSP HS, LA

35. Minnesota Twins- Tanner Witt- RHSP Texas

Greg: Both of these picks fit recent trends. Miami went for a safe, productive college performer followed by multiple upside prep arms last year. Maroudis is that. The Twins target a former top college arm bouncing back from injury with Conner Prielipp. Tanner Witt had top 5 potential before Tommy John surgery.

36. Los Angeles Dodgers- Brock Wilken- 3b Wake Forest

(No first-round selection: 10-pick penalty for exceeding CBA limits). Previous first-round selections: Kody Hoese, Michael Busch, Bobby Miller, Maddux Bruns, Dalton Rushing

Bonus slot: $2,362,70

37. Detroit Tigers- Yohandy Morales- 3b Miami

Willie: Two sluggers back to back here. Both have swing-and-miss concerns and either of the two could go as much as 20 selections higher than this pick. 

Detroit has a great opportunity to add talent to its system with three of the top 45 selections. Detroit sits pretty with the opportunity to grab someone that slides down the board bc of the depth of talent in this range. 

38. Cincinnati Reds- Brice Matthews- SS Nebraska

Greg: Cincinnati is a club that has targeted multiple power-over-hit profiles in the draft in recent seasons. Matthews is an athletic player who hits the ball hard. The hit tool lags, but it’s a big power profile from a player on the dirt.

39. Oakland Athletics- Ralphy Velazquez- C HS, CA

40. Washington Nationals- Cam Johnson- LHSP IMG Academy, FL

41. Oakland Athletics- Jake Gelof- 3b Virginia

Willie: The Nationals have a good opportunity to add to their haul between pick 2 and 41. Getting a big talented left-hander like Johnson at 40 may be a questionable proposition with all the hitting talent that’s on the board. However, this is a unique opportunity to double down on arm talent. 

The soon-to-be Las Vegas baseball club owns 3 picks in the first 41 selections. That’s a good opportunity to add to their system. The A’s have leaned bat early and typically come back for college pitchers later. This mock has the club doing that.

42. Pittsburgh Pirates- George Lombard Jr.- SS HS, FL

43. Cincinnati Reds- Cade Kuehler- RHSP Campbell

44. Kansas City Royals- Jonny Farmelo- OF HS, VA

Greg: Despite paying up for Dylan Crews, Pittsburgh should have a good chunk of cash to move around. In this mock, they could offer $3 million to their second rounder without much difficulty. Lombard Jr. would be a great target with those funds. Cincinnati doubles up on pitchers after Dollander in the first. Honestly, it would just be too far for Kuehler to fall much beyond this. The Royals were one of the clubs heavily targeting Virginia prep, James Triantos in 2021. They’re different players, but coaches rave about Farmelo’s talents similarly, especially his mentality and intangibles.

45. Detroit Tigers- Kevin McGonigle- SS HS, PA

Willie: As alluded to above the Tigers have the opportunity to add talent to the organization and there should be opportunities to grab a draft day slider. That’s the scenario here.

46. Colorado Rockies- Nick Goodwin- SS Kansas State

47. Miami Marlins- Bjorn Johnson- RHSP HS

Greg: The Rockies take another hit-tool forward college bat in Nick Goodwin similar to their Comp A selection in 2022, Sterlin Thompson. This Marlins selection may feel out of left field, but Bjorn Johnson, the top-ranked prep from the state of Washington offers an intriguing pitch mix from a projectable frame.

48. Arizona Diamondbacks- Roch Cholowsky- SS Hamilton HS, AZ

Willie: The Diamondbacks aren’t scared of popping prep players early. This one fits their recent draft trends as a high-upside center of the diamond player.

49. Minnesota Twins- Spencer Nivens- OF Missouri State

50. Boston Red Sox- Ryan Lasko- OF Rutgers

51. Chicago White Sox- Grayson Hitt- RHSP Alabama

Greg: After splurging on Max Clark and Tanner Witt, the Twins could stand to save a bit of bonus pool by taking Spencer Nivens a round early. He offers an enticing set of metrics and production. Ryan Lasko was in the mix for the first round but has scuffled of late. Boston has shown they’re willing to gamble on those profiles with early day 2 selections. Grayson Hitt came into the season with a ton of fanfare. It’s hard to imagine, but the reports on his fall work were every bit as exciting as the ones on Paul Skenes. He’s a prime candidate for a team to gamble on during day 2 of the draft.

52. San Francisco Giants- Joe Whitman- LHSP Kent State

53. Baltimore Orioles- Josh Knoth- RHSP HS, NY

54. Milwaukee Brewers- Travis Honeyman- OF Boston College

Willie: The Giants continue their trend of grabbing college talent. They get perhaps the best college left-handed starter in this draft cycle in Kent’s Joe Whitman. 

Baltimore grabs quickly rising right-hander Josh Knoth from the prep ranks of the Empire State. 

Milwaukee sits in a good position to add to their draft haul with their third of three picks in the first 54 selections. 

55. Tampa Bay Rays- Mike Boeve- 3b Nebraska-Omaha

Greg: Cood contact, low chase, stellar barrel rate, and a defensive profile likely as a 3B/1B. Boeve is a good target for a team like the Rays that values those properties. He’s not twitchy, but he’s a very solid player.

56. New York Mets- Luke Keaschall- 2b Arizona State

Willie: After popping Aidan Miller at pick 32, the Mets come back for a very solid collegiate second baseman/outfielder. As mentioned, those additional compensatory picks could allow the Mets to seize a nice haul of talent.

57. Seattle Mariners- Kiefer Lord- RHSP Washington

Greg: I buy that multiple teams are interested in lord early and I do believe it’s a good bet that the Mariners are one of the teams (not just because he plays in the same state).

58. Cleveland Guardians- Hunter Owen- LHSP Vanderbilt

59. Atlanta Braves- Alex Clemmey- RI, HS

60. Los Angeles Dodgers- Alex Mooney- SS Duke

Willie: Cleveland hasn’t shied away from injured players. Furthermore, they’ve picked a left-hander three out of the last three years. Owen checks both boxes and would be an upside play here for the Guardians considering Owen had first-round smoke not long ago. Gino Groover could be a name to watch here as could any of the contact bats like Mike Boeve and Max Anderson or any outfielder that slides down the board. Popping an arm here like Will Sanders or Sean Sullivan seems like a distinct possibility as well. This mock has Cleveland gambling on Owen’s upside. 

The Braves have drafted arms early and aggressively. After getting Charlee Soto in the first mock the club comes back with a hard-throwing lefty with big-time potential. 

The Trolley Dodgers come back in this scenario with another bat. This time it’s Blue Devils shortstop Alex Mooney. He’s an advanced player with a chance to move quickly.

61. Houston Astros- Justin Lee- RHSP Notre Dame HS, CA

Greg: Joe Doyle of Future Stars Series described Lee with “some of the most impressive metric traits you can find in this class. The fastball has near perfect four seam efficiency with serious ride coming out of a low launch release.” That fits perfectly with Houston.

62. Cleveland Guardians- Zander Mueth- RHSP HS, IL

63. Baltimore Orioles- Cooper Pratt- SS HS

64. Arizona Diamondbacks- Joey Volchko- RHSP HS, CA

Willie: Here’s Cleveland’s third pick in the top 62. That’s not nearly as impressive as Seattle’s draft capital but it is a chance to add more talent to a deep system. In this mock Cleveland grabs a tall (6’6, 210) and projectable cold weather arm in Zander Mueth. The Illinois native utilizes a low three-quarters arm slot. Cleveland appeared to fall in love with that profile in 2022 and we could see them take the risk on a few talented prep arms in the 2023 class. If Myles Naylor is on the board Cleveland could choose that direction. I wouldn’t sleep on the Guardians popping a backstop like Michael Carico here or at Pick 93. Carico has advanced plate skills and is an improving defender. Look for any of the names mentioned at 58 here as well. 

Once again the Orioles spread the wealth and come back with a very talented prep player as part of their spoil.

The Snakes have mixed in a few prep and college arms early on and they come back with talented Cali righty Joey Volchko here. 

65. Colorado Rockies- Maui Ahuna- SS Tennessee

66. Kansas City Royals- Jace Bohrofen- OF Arkansas

67. Pittsburgh Pirates- Cole Schoenwetter- RHSP HS, CA

68. Chicago Cubs- Sean Sullivan- LHSP Wake Forest

Greg: It’s time to clean up for some clubs. There’s talent left in the Comp B/compensation round and this is the time to do it. Ahuna started to slow concerning contact, but he’s made significant strides there in the past few weeks. It’s a shortstop profile and one that fits early on Day 2. Bohrofen is a good gamble for a club in Kansas City that already invested in safer plays with Jacob Gonzalez and Jonny Farmelo. It’s worth noting that I strongly considered going pitcher there, but I’m curious if a slightly new regime after former number 2, JJ Piccolo, took over from Dayton Moore.

The Pirates have nearly $17m to spend with their bonus pool and the 5% overage. This may feel like a stretch after going with both Crews and Lombard Jr, but is it possible the Pirates can get Crews for a slight discount? Could Crews sign for $9.25m? It’s a $500k discount off slot and yet it still would set the record for signing bonus by over a million dollars. That’s the type of headlining deal that sets standards for future draft picks, which Scott Boras would want to see. I can’t see it being any less, but it’s a possibility. If the Pirates sign Crews ($9.25m) and Lombard Jr ($3m), it sets them up to offer Schoenwetter for $2.5m and still have another $2.25 million to fill out the rest of their class.

After going with Arjun Nimmala at pick 13, it’s useful to balance that upside with a less risky selection. Sean Sullivan probably fits a half-round below pick 68, but he has intriguing properties the Cubs could take to another level. Sullivan is a low-angle lefty, similar to Cooper Hjerpe in last year’s draft. The velocity isn’t as strong for Sullivan as he sits more upper 80s-low 90s, but hitters can’t handle it. He’s posted gaudy whiff rates on the heater despite the low velo. He started for Wake Forest and that is a ringing endorsement though it is possible he could ultimately end up in the pen. The upside here though is the Cubs have been successful in coaxing a tick or two in velocity into their pitchers in the system. Sean Sullivan is already intriguing at 88-91 mph. He’s a first-round caliber arm if he’s able to sit 92 with the fastball. In a draft where the Cubs go for all-star upside at pick 13, bringing in Sean Sullivan for a touch of a discount at pick 68 sets them up for a big draft.

69. San Francisco Giants- Gino Groover-2b North Carolina State

70. Atlanta Braves- Brandon Sproat- RHSP Florida

Willie: The Giants grab another college player grabbing the versatile Gino Groover in this mock. Groover is a talented hitter but is limited defensively. 

After going with two of the more talented prep arms in this class the Braves come out with an underdeveloped but older right-hander in Brandon Sproat. 

SelectorPick TeamFirst NameLast Name
Greg31TBRThomasWhite
Willie32NYMAidanMiller
Willie33MILJuaronWatts-Brown
Greg34MINTannerWitt
Greg35MIALandenMaroudis
Willie36LADBrockWilken
Willie37DETYohandyMorales
Greg38CINBriceMatthews
Willie39OAKRalphyVelazquez
Willie40WSNCamJohnson
Willie41OAKJakeGelof
Greg42PITGeorgeLombard Jr.
Greg43CINCadeKuehler
Greg44KCRJonnyFarmelo
Willie45DETKevinMcGonigle
Greg46COLNickGoodwin
Greg47MIABjornJohnson
Willie48ARIRochCholowsky
Greg49MINSpencerNivens
Greg50BOSRyanLasko
Greg51CWSGraysonHitt
Willie52SFGJoeWhitman
Willie53BALJoshKnoth
Willie54MILTravisHoneyman
Greg55TBRMikeBoeve
Willie56NYMLukeKeaschall
Greg57SEAKieferLord
Willie58CLEHunterOwen
Willie59ATLAlexanderClemmey
Willie60LADAlexMooney
Greg61HOUJustinLee
Willie62CLEZanderMueth
Willie63BALCooperPratt
Willie64ARIJoeyVolchko
Greg65COLMauiAhuna
Greg66KCRJaceBohrofen
Greg67PITColeSchoenwetter
Greg68CHCSeanSullivan
Willie69SFGGinoGroover
Willie70ATLBrandonSproat