Picking best Draft prospect on every NCAA Super Regionals contender

If you haven't caught your breath yet from the excitement of the NCAA Regionals, take a moment now.

This NCAA tournament is off to a exhilarating start with walkoff thrillers, unfathomable upsets and unlikely heroes donning their capes when their clubs needed it most.

With powerhouses UCLA (No. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament) and Georgia Tech already bounced, this weekend's Super Regionals will feature eight No. 1 seeds, four No. 2 seeds and a pair of No. 3 and No. 4 seeds each.

There are 30 of MLB Pipeline's Top 200 Draft Prospects remaining in the tournament, though the four-highest ranked prospects that appeared in Regional play have all been eliminated, as well as 11 of the top 12 and 16 of the top 20.

Still, even with the end of "Roch Watch" and the beloved "Lackey Looky," there is no shortage of talent taking the field in the Super Regional round that kicks off on June 5 at 12 p.m. ET.

On the latest MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, with host Jason Ratliff, identify the top prospect for each squad to watch from the upcoming matchups as these teams aim to punch their tickets to Omaha:

MORGANTOWN - West Virginia (16) vs. Cal Poly
West Virginia (43-15): Dawson Montesa, RHP (No. 167)
Mayo: Montesa has got a legitimate four-pitch mix. He’s got a fastball that can touch 98 mph at times. He misses bats with it when he's up in the zone. The command with it was up and down. He can spin a curve and he’s got a harder slider. There’s stuff there and scouts I talked to are surprised that he struggled with his control for a lot of the year. But they were surprised that he was removed from the rotation just because he was probably the best arm and he was pitching in relief. I think that he started against Wake Forest and pitched into the eighth inning and came back the next day to pitch two-thirds of an inning against Kentucky, so he really helped pitching them into the Super Regional, so what he’s got left in his arm remains to be seen.
Cal Poly (39-22): Griffin Naess, RHP (NR)
Mayo: Naess is a 6-foot-6 righty who has been their Friday night starter the last couple of years, has pitched at least six innings in his last four starts. He went seven against Virginia Tech in the Regionals, struck out nine, struck out 11 against San Diego in the start before that. It's not like a sexy array of stuff, it’s a below-average fastball, but he's got a good mid-70s changeup. And can spin both a low-70s curveball and an 80 mph slider and he repeats his delivery really well because he’s a very good athlete.

TROY - Troy vs Arkansas-Little Rock
Troy (36-30): Aaron Piasecki, SS/2B (NR)
Callis: Piasecki just goes out and hits. It’s contact over power. He’s a 60-grade runner. He’s got a 50-grade arm so he’s probably more of a second baseman than shortstop at the next level. He’s proven himself with wood bats. Led the Northwoods League with a .406 average last summer and that’s one of the better summer leagues out there. He hit .366 over two years in the Northwoods League. Just a gritty guy. He was brought up to me in the preseason as a guy to keep an eye on. He hit .349 this year and a lot more walks than strikeouts. He does a little bit of everything, he’s just one of those glue guys that powers Troy.
UALR (39-26): Brannon Westmoreland, RHP (NR)
Callis: Westmoreland is probably a 6-10 round guy. But, he’s on everybody’s radar. I think the area scouts all like him. I think he’s not a secret, but he’s 92-95 mph with good life on the fastball so it plays up a little bit. He’s got a solid slider, mixes in a change. He had a 3.12 ERA this year in 98 innings, 81 strikeouts. So, he’s not a big bat misser. But only 22 walks. He throws a lot of strikes.

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina (5) vs. Southern California
North Carolina (48-11): Jake Schaffner, SS (No. 91); Ryan Lynch, RHP (No. 97); Jason DeCaro, RHP (No. 125); Owen Hull, OF (No. 158); Gavin Gallaher, 2B (No. 198)
Callis: It’s a very talented and deep team, but Schaffner is interesting because he played last year at North Dakota State before transferring to UNC and he’s been better than scouts thought he was going to be. He’s shown more impact with the bat. It’s more gap power than really home run power, but he’s shown more impact with the bat and he’s been quicker. He can flash 70-grade speed out of the box. He’s got on-base ability, he’s a scrapper. His profile kind of prompts comparisons to Kane Kepley, who was another guy that was a catalyst and scrappy, who the Cubs took in the second round last year. I think these college shortstops are moving up in the Draft. I think Schaffner is more of a third-round pick, but you could see him go in the second round.
USC (47-16): Mason Edwards, LHP (No. 34)
Mayo: Edwards is one of the best pitching prospects still pitching. He’s going to be looking to make amends, a bounce back from a rough start he made against Lamar. I mean Southern Cal beat up on Lamar but he gave up five runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Not exactly what you would want, especially given how good he’d been down the stretch and really all year. He had double-digit strikeouts 12 times during the season and had, before his Regional start, going back three starts, 16 scoreless innings and had only given up a run in over seven innings with 13 K’s in a start against Rutgers before that. He had been one of the better performers, it’s a reason why his name has been floating up and up. And why it’s being mentioned quite frequently as a potential first-round pick. He’s continued to show that he has every chance to start. He can miss a ton of bats so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him bounce back with a cleaner outing in this Super Regional.

AUBURN - Auburn (4) vs. Mississippi
Auburn (42-20): Chris Rembert, 2B (41) … Chase Fralick 2027
Callis: Rembert came into the year with some scouts believing he may be the best pure hitter in the college class. Some guys think he might have the best bat speed in the college class. He’s had a good but not great year, he’s moved down in our rankings a little bit, he’s now at No. 41. He was a little banged up with injuries early in the season. I think it was an ankle sprain but he’s come back. He’s more of a second baseman in that Howie Kendrick/Christian Moore mold if you wanted to throw a comp out there. He will be the Tigers' highest pick this year.

Mississippi (39-21): Cade Townsend, RHP (27); Taylor Rabe, RHP (90); Wil Libbert, LHP (179)
Callis: Townsend is the top-ranked pitcher still alive in these Super Regionals. We’ve talked about him a few times on the podcast. He’s got a really good fastball that’s 94-98 mph, really high spin rate with good carry. He has to command it because it’s not the most lively fastball, but when he locates it up it’s very tough to hit. He can really spin the ball, he’s got a power curveball with downward break, he’s got a hard slider in the upper 80s that’s got depth as well. And when he’s on he can be very very tough. So he's another potential first-rounder in this matchup.

LAWRENCE - Kansas (15) vs. Oklahoma
Kansas (45-16): Tyson LeBlanc, SS (130)
Callis: We talked about LeBlanc coming in. He’s been MVP of the Big 12 Tournament, he’s been MVP of Kansas’ Regional, he’s hit a school record of 24 homers. He already has a National Championship ring from Division II junior-college World Series a couple of years ago at LSU Eunice. He’s got average tools across the board, arm might be a little bit better than that. And he keeps performing and he keeps climbing Draft boards. So very curious to see where he’ll go in the Draft.
Oklahoma (36-22): Brendan Brock, C/OF (109); Camden Johnson, 3B (129); Jaxon Willits, SS (146); Cameron Johnson, LHP (166); LJ Mercurius, RHP (172)
Callis: The best prospect on Oklahoma is Brock, who is a very athletic catcher/outfielder. Last year, when he was at Southwestern Illinois Community College, he ranked third among national JuCo players in hitting, on-base percentage and OPS and was a 20-20 player as a catcher. The Brewers made a big run at him, gave him well over slot offers in the 14th round last year but he turned them down and went to Oklahoma. He’s got second-round tools, he’s struggled some in SEC play so that might knock him down a little bit, but you’re talking about a catcher who has legitimate 70-grade speed and is capable of playing center field. He crushes fastballs, but not as effective against off-speed pitches so needs a little more work at the plate. But one of the more interesting athletes in the college ranks.

TUSCALOOSA - Alabama (7) vs. St. John’s (NY)
Alabama (40-19): Justin Lebron, SS (9)
Callis: Lebron is the biggest wild card in the Draft. He might have the biggest tools in the college class. If it comes through, he could be a 30-30 shortstop who is a quality defender at the position. He’s just not had the year that people hoped. Before Roch (Cholowsky) was the No. 1 guy, it was Justin Lebron. Lebron got off to a great start last year then leveled off some in SEC play. And then leveled down in SEC play this year, but then had a good Regional. Obviously not the toughest test in facing a No. 4 seed, but he has a chance to go out and perform well in this Super Regional and Alabama is heavily favored to get to Omaha and then he can continue to help his cause with a late surge.
St. John’s best (36-24): Adam Agresti, C (NR)
Mayo: They do not have a ranked prospect, but their best player in the Draft class is Agresti. A redshirt sophomore, big 6-foot-3, righty, first-team All Big East. Had an OK freshman year to start out and then he got hurt, only played in a dozen games and then last year really didn’t do much of anything. This year he’s come out and hit a bunch of homers. He's walked more than he’s struck out, he's got 19 homers on the year now. He's got some arm strength, he's also played some first base, which could help him down the line. I don’t see him being a super high Draft pick, but we’ll have to see, you know, it’s been a while since St. John’s has had a high pick. So we’ll have to see where he goes as a college performer.

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AUSTIN - Texas (6) vs. Oregon (11)
Texas (43-13): Aiden Robbins, OF (30); Ruger Riojas, RHP (77); Carson Tinney, C (86)
Callis: Their best player for this year’s Draft is Robbins. I think we talked about him earlier this season as guys who were emerging. I think he’s played his way into first-round consideration. He’s definitely one of those college hitters who could go in the first round. He can go in the sandwich round, he’s going to go in the top 40 picks. And he was a guy who transferred from Seton Hall. Last year, he led the Big East in hitting, on-base percentage, led the Cape Cod League in hitting, slugging and OPS and he started to hit for more power in the Cape. He’d always been more of a contact over power guy, this year he’s come out and he tripled his career highs. He had 18 homers at the end of April and then he hit one home run in May until we got to the Regionals when he decided to finish with a flurry: he homered four times in three games against Holy Cross, Charleston State and UC Santa Barbara. There’s some debate about where he fits in the outfield, but if you think he’s a center fielder and you know he puts the bat on the ball, he's hitting for more power, then I think he’s a first-round pick.
Oregon (43-16): Ryan Cooney, 2B (133); Maddox Molony, SS (173); Cal Scolari, RHP (191)
Mayo: Cooney comes in at No. 133 on our Draft list and I really like him. He’s a guy who just always hits and is kind of under the radar. He’s hitting .335, there’s a little bit of pop in there, he’s the kind of guy that if you watch him once, then he might not be that loud but then you watch him more frequently and you like him even more. He might even have a chance to play shortstop at the next level.

ATHENS - Georgia (3) vs. Mississippi State (14)
Georgia (49-12): Daniel Jackson, C (39); Joey Volchko, RHP (73); Tre Phelps, 3B (116); Rylan Lujo, OF (187); Dylan Vigue, RHP (199)
Callis: We’ve talked about Daniel Jackson on the podcast a bunch. I think he is another guy who is a first-round pick for some teams. I can’t see how he goes later than the sandwich round. You’re talking about an athletic catcher with power and arm strength. He needs more work behind the plate but he’s a caught a team with a lot of live arms. And if he doesn’t make it behind the plate he’s certainly athletic enough to play the outfield. He’s the first 25-25 catcher in NCAA history. He was the SEC Player of the Year. I believe his was the SEC tournament MVP as well. He’s leading the SEC in all three triple crown stats, which would make him only the third player to do that behind Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker. Two homers in three Regional games over the weekend. And I think that this is another guy that if he continues to play well and hits two home runs every weekend and he steals bases and does everything that he does, then I think that he could continue to climb boards.
Mississippi State (43-17): Ace Reese, 3B (21)
Callis: I think Reese is a guy who is continuing to climb boards too. He’s a third baseman who has done nothing but hit for power for two years at Mississippi State since transferring from Houston. If I had to guess, it feels like he probably goes in the teens right now if the Draft were today.