Angels select P Dylan Jordan (HS) in the 5th round-SIGNED $1,247,500

[jsnpritchett]

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/dylan-jordan-813335

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Jordan had a pretty busy summer showcase circuit, showing off his stuff at events like Perfect Game National, Major League Baseball’s PDP League and the Area Code Games, while also being named to USA Baseball’s 18U National Team Training Camp roster, though he did not make the team that competed internationally last year. After helping Viera High School (Fla.) finish as a state runner-up as a junior, he pitched the squad to another district title as a senior, then showed off some good stuff at the MLB Draft Combine this June.

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Jordan certainly looks the part of a projectable prep right-handed pitcher, with some exciting stuff to go along with it. Pitching from a stretch delivery, he has the chance to have a solid three-pitch mix, though he hasn’t always executed all three consistently. He can run his sinking fastball up to 95 mph, typically sitting around 92-93, and he averaged around 94 mph with the heater at the Combine. He doesn’t always stay on top of his breaking ball, so it can be a bit soft at times, but when he gets to it, he’s shown he can spin a low-80s breaker with some bite. He doesn’t throw his changeup much, but he’ll show one occasionally with some fade, especially against left-handed hitters.

Scouts don’t always love Jordan’s arm action, as it can get long with a full arm swing in the back, and they felt his delivery slowed down too much at times this spring. He does tend to be around the strike zone, and there could easily be more in the tank stuff-wise as he matures, something teams will likely be thinking about if they select the Florida State recruit on Day 2 of the Draft.

Edited July 19 by jsnpritchett

[totdprods]

There’s at least one of the overslot guys. Fits well will the Dana and Kent wave. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

And there's that Hs prep guy! 

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, totdprods said:

There’s at least one of the overslot guys. Fits well will the Dana and Kent wave. 

Does he, though?  Was he ranked that low because folks thought he was going to college, or is that just where people thought he should be?

[rafibomb]

 

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Does he, though?  Was he ranked that low because folks thought he was going to college, or is that just where people thought he should be?

I take the MLB.com rankings with a huuuuuuge grain of salt once they start putting three-digit numbers next to HSers. There’s absolutely no way they’ve covered that wave of players to the extent a MLB team will have.

That said, if you’re a HS player and you’re showing up on any list - something’s probably working out for you. I’ve got as much confidence with this pick as I did with Dana, Kent and Albright. He’ll be a solid prospect.

Edited July 15 by totdprods

[Hubs]

This guy was born three days after the Pierzinski / Josh Paul / Doug Eddings ALCS masterpiece of a blown call. (Dropped third strike...which wasn't dropped). Freddy Garcia pitched a 9 IP CG in game 4 of the series on the day he was born.

[jsnpritchett]

2 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I take the MLB.com rankings with a huuuuuuge grain of salt once they start putting three-digit numbers next to HSers. There’s absolutely no way they’ve covered that wave of players to the extent a MLB team will have.

Ok, did anyone else have him ranked higher?  I don't see much about him.

[jsnpritchett]

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

honesty I would compare Jordan more to that Albright pick than the Dana or even Kent. Its a pick where there is upsides, but your really now sure what your getting. I think it'll be over slot pick, but by not that much. but we shall see. 

[totdprods]

20 minutes ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

honesty I would compare Jordan more to that Albright pick than the Dana or even Kent. Its a pick where there is upsides, but your really now sure what your getting. I think it'll be over slot pick, but by not that much. but we shall see. 

Accurate. Hoping they nab one other HS arm still. That 11th round tends to be a good one because I think it’s the first without counting towards pool or without restrictions or something or other. 

I’ve spoken before about how Perry’s team has certain strengths and weakness when it comes to drafting…so far, they’ve done *great* with HS arms, so that alone makes me feel somewhat confident about this pick.

First-round college bats are good, HS arms are good, college arms and HS bats not so much. Also think the international signings have taken a huge step from previous FOs, but still a ways to go. I don’t think they’re horrible in that department anymore though.

Edited July 15 by totdprods

[jsnpritchett]

2 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Accurate. Hoping they nab one other HS arm still. That 11th round tends to be a good one because I think it’s the first without counting towards pool or without restrictions or something or other. 

I’ve spoken before about how Perry’s team has certain strengths and weakness when it comes to drafting…so far, they’ve done *great* with HS arms, so that alone makes me feel somewhat confident about this pick.

First-round college bats are good, HS arms are good, college arms and HS bats not so much. Also think the international signings have taken a huge step from previous FOs, but still a ways to go. I don’t think they’re horrible in that department anymore though.

Where does this narrative come from?  They got Dana, who's unquestionably a top prospect.  They got Kent, but it's way too early to tell what he's going to become, since he's currently getting shelled in low-A.  And Albright isn't with the team anymore and is currently the 21st-ranked prospect in the Rockies system.

Am I missing something?

[Angel Oracle]

Hoping then that Dax Whitney is still available when they pick in round 11 tomorrow

[totdprods]

22 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

Where does this narrative come from?  They got Dana, who's unquestionably a top prospect.  They got Kent, but it's way too early to tell what he's going to become, since he's currently getting shelled in low-A.  And Albright isn't with the team anymore and is currently the 21st-ranked prospect in the Rockies system.

Am I missing something?

I wouldn’t be too harsh on Kent. His numbers are way more impressive than his W/L and ERA show. He’s three years younger than the average Cal Leaguer, and across all leagues of A Ball, he’s 5th in strikeouts, 8th in K/9, and 15th in IP. His batting average against is .243, and his HR rate is below average at 1.2 per 9. He isn’t getting shelled, he’s just a little wild, and that comes with the territory when you’re a teen with that kind of strikeout stuff. Inland Empire has an awful defense too…Kent’s FIP is around 4.50, almost 3 runs less per 9 than his actual ERA.

Albright isn’t killing it over in Colorado’s farm, but he isn’t bombing either. 4.81 ERA, 1.43 WHIP. He’s already up to AA though and more than 3.5 years younger than the competition. For his age, that’s not a bad place to be considering he’ll probably repeat next year. 

Just because they aren’t top 100 doesn’t mean they aren’t decent prospects still, both look to be on track to be MLB pitchers in a couple years. If they had been drafted out of college, yeah, alarm bells, but that’s IMO really good progression and good production from HS arms competing against way older kids already. And Dana has performed extremely well versus expectations so far. I have a good bit of confidence in the HS arms Perry drafts. There’s a success rate there, much better than his post-1st/early-to-mid round college arms so far.

Edited July 16 by totdprods

[jsnpritchett]

4 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I wouldn’t be too harsh on Kent. His numbers are way more impressive than his W/L and ERA show. He’s three years younger than the average Cal Leaguer, and across all leagues of A Ball, he’s 5th in strikeouts, 8th in K/9, and 15th in IP. His batting average against is .243, and his HR rate is below average at 1.2 per 9. He isn’t getting shelled, he’s just a little wild, and that comes with the territory when you’re a teen with that kind of strikeout stuff. Inland Empire has an awful defense too…Kent’s FIP is around 4.50, almost 3 runs less per 9 than his actual ERA.

Albright isn’t killing it over in Colorado’s farm, but he isn’t bombing either. 4.81 ERA, 1.43 WHIP. He’s already up to AA though and more than 3.5 years younger than the competition. For his age, that’s not a bad place to be considering he’ll probably repeat next year. 

Just because they aren’t top 100 doesn’t mean they aren’t decent prospects still, both look to be on track to be MLB pitchers in a couple years. If they had been drafted out of college, yeah, alarm bells, but that’s IMO really good progression and good production from HS arms competing against way older kids already. And Dana has performed extremely well versus expectations so far. I have a good bit of confidence in the HS arms Perry drafts. There’s a success rate there, much better than his post-1st/early-to-mid round college arms so far.

Ok.  We just fundamentally disagree on what a "success rate" is on something like this, then.  No worries.

[totdprods]

23 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Ok.  We just fundamentally disagree on what a "success rate" is on something like this, then.  No worries.

Some more context….

Other 8th round HS arms from Kent’s draft:

• Jatnk Diaz, injured in Tigers’ Arizona League equivalent, career ERA over 8 and WHIP over 2
• Kannon Kemp, Padres, injured, yet to appear in a pro game

7th, 9th, 10th rounds:

• No HS arms selected

11th round (the first round with no slot selections, so usually get upper-round talent here):

• Bishop Letson, 3.02 ERA, 1.10 WHIP in A ball. Doing real good.

That shows how infrequent HS arms are chosen around this point in the draft…the fact they found a HS arm who has been able to do what Kent has done strikes me as a successful pick so far.

Digging deeper into 2022 offers more of the same. Very few HS arms, and generally pretty awful. 

Edited July 16 by totdprods

[jsnpritchett]

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

He reminds me a-lot of G-Rich, especially the way he throws and hides the ball. 

[Angel Oracle]

I hope he’s worth it.

Might have cost the Halos signing Prager!

[Stradling]

Just now, Angel Oracle said:

I hope he’s worth it.

Might have cost the Halos signing Prager!

Again, why?  

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Again, why?  

I should have kept it in one thread instead of two.   

[Make Angels Great Again]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Again, why?  

 

Giving triple the slot value for a high schooler who honestly isn't that exciting? Ryan Prager seemed much more interesting, at least to me. Loved his over-the-top arm slot.

[Inside Pitch]

8 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

Giving triple the slot value for a high schooler who honestly isn't that exciting? Ryan Prager seemed much more interesting, at least to me. Loved his over-the-top arm slot.

Already has a TJ in the tank and owes a lot of his success to that delivery. The biggest thing he's got going for him is what he already is .vs a HS kid who is all promise at this point.  Prager is without question far more of sure thing, but there isn't anything exciting about him beyond probability.

[Inside Pitch]

10 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

I hope he’s worth it.

Might have cost the Halos signing Prager!

This will likely be something that's brought up in the future.  The annoying part is that the system is so lacking right now that they had to possibly pick between probability and what might be possible.  That lack of depth has me leaning towards adding as many options as possible, it's a terrible place to be.