Here are the top prospects for the 2020 Draft

May 13th, 2020

As teams work on lining up their boards for the 2020 Draft, we felt it was a perfect time to expand ours, from 150 to 200.

Nothing has changed from the Top 150 Draft Prospects list released a few weeks ago, starting with Arizona State’s Spencer Torkelson at No. 1 all the way down to Florida high schooler Sammy Infante at No. 150. With no games being played or workouts being held, there’s no cause to re-rank anything, so this is an expansion of the list, plain and simple.

The top of the list is still college-heavy, with the top six players all hailing from four-year schools. Zac Veen, an outfielder from the Florida high school ranks, is the only prepster in the top 10.

1) Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Arizona St.
2) Austin Martin, OF/3B, Vanderbilt
3) Asa Lacy, LHP, Texas A&M
4) Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia
5) Nick Gonzales, SS/2B, New Mexico St.
6) Garett Mitchell, OF, UCLA
7) Zac Veen, OF, Spruce Creek HS (Fla.)
8) Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville
9) Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota
10) Heston Kjerstad, OF, Arkansas
Complete list »

“The top of the Draft is solid this year with productive Major League-caliber bats at various positions,” a National League scouting director said about the college hitters. “The college arms that are going up there are established, too, with Major League-caliber stuff and the credentials to back up their Draft rankings.”

There’s definitely depth in college arms, with 18 in the Top 50, especially when compared to last year’s group of 10. Come Draft time, it’s not uncommon for the college arms to move up and the high school pitchers to fall back a little, with teams worrying about the risk involved.

"This Draft is heavy on elite-level arms, particularly college arms, so that's going to push down the other arms,” an American League scouting executive said. “Conversely, the position players -- both high school and college -- are going to get a position-scarcity bump. Particularly middle infielders, who are a really thin part of this class."

Overall, there are 112 four-year college players on this expanded Top 200, 81 high schoolers and seven who play at the junior college level. Here’s how the list breaks down:

By position

This is a pretty strong Draft class for pitching, with a lot of scouts pointing to the depth in college arms available, well beyond the top of the first round. And pitching makes up more than half of the Top 200 overall, with 109 arms on the list. That differs from last year’s class, which was pitching-thin with only 93 hurlers on our 2019 Top 200.

There are more right-handed pitchers than any other primary position on the list, with 77. Outfielders are next, with 34, followed by 32 left-handers, 20 shortstops, 14 third basemen, 12 catchers, seven first basemen and four second basemen.

By state
There are 31 states represented on this year’s Top 200, as well as representatives from Puerto Rico and Canada. Florida leads the way with 29 ranked players, with California not far behind with 27. Texas is third with 21 on the list. Nine other states have more than five prospects on the Top 200: North Carolina (11), Tennessee (11), Arizona (10), Mississippi (9), Georgia (8), Arkansas (7), Michigan (7), Oklahoma (6) and South Carolina (6).

By school
Arizona State was a popular location before the season ended and while possible No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson was a big reason why, he was far from alone. The Sun Devils lead all schools with six players on the Top 200. Three colleges – Miami, Michigan and Vanderbilt – are next with four on the list. Eight four-year schools have three representatives: Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. There’s one junior college (San Jacinto) and one high school (Harvard-Westlake) with multiple players on the list, with two each.