One aspect of the MLB Draft League that sets itself apart from other collegiate summer leagues is its implementation of technology and data. With the help of each team’s data coordinators, prospects of the league have information and analytics available in real-time to help evaluate, scout and develop their tools and game while it's distributed to the 30 Major League teams. Here are our picks for week four’s ‘Data Darlings.’
RHP Cody Delvecchio, Williamsport
Delvecchio was the Friday night starter for UCLA this year and maintained that role until he became ineligible to play until UCLA’s run in Omaha. He made his first appearance in the Draft League on June 27th and balled out, going six strong innings, only allowing two runs while striking out nine. The righty has a four-pitch mix consisting of a 4-seam, changeup, cutter and curveball. His 4-seam sits at 93-95 mph, topping out at 95.3 mph, and he gets a good amount of total movement on the pitch with nearly 20” of IVB and 12.2” of IVB. He is also able to pound the zone with it and induce weak contact to get easy outs. His curveball is yet another weapon in his arsenal. It averages 80mph and induced a whopping 57.1% Whiff %. His cutter is excellent, averaging 88 mph, and topping out at 90 mph with 12.4” of IVB and 1.2” of HB. His last pitch is his changeup at 86 mph, which he rarely threw. Delvecchio’s ability to quickly get ahead in the counts worked to his advantage as he threw a first pitch strike to 17 of the 22 batters he faced in Friday's outing.
2B Tyler Pettorini, West Virginia
Pettorini is really settling into his season in the Draft League. The lefty slugger is batting .368 with a .999 OPS and seven stolen bases. He often displays his power, as he has a top 20 average exit velocity at 89 mph. He has been tearing the cover off of the ball, sporting a 20% barrel rate and a 43% HHB%. He has a team leading 17 balls at 95 MPH+ and eight barrels, both of which are second in the entire league. His power isn’t the only thing that makes him a great bat, he also has only a 22% whiff% which is in the 76th percentile for the league. Pettorini has plus speed, which is apparent not only with his seven stolen bases, but with his two triples and 35 total bases, good for second and first in the league, respectively.
RHP Joe Ruzicka, West Virginia
The Belmont product has been solid for the Black Bears, as he owns a 1.80 ERA over two appearances so far. His 1.80 ERA is actually worse than expected, as his xERA is only a 1.05. His arsenal contains a ride-run fastball, a changeup with some depth to it, a 12-6 curveball and a sharp cutter. His fastball averages 17” IVB and 13” HB which he throws for strikes 88% of the time. His changeup plays great off of his fastball as it gets 9” IVB and 16” HB while spinning at only 1700 rpm. His cutter is a unique pitch, usually averaging nearly 3” of HB on his arm side, while throwing it at 89mph with a 20% IZ-Whiff%. His curveball is perhaps his best pitch, getting -10” IVB and -4” HB with a 57% Whiff%. All these pitches combine to give him great deception to hitters as he has a 43% Chase% and a cumulative 39% Whiff%. He has great presence on the mound with a 39% K rate and a 13.5% BB %.
1B Sam Parker, Frederick
Sam Parker has had an incredible week (as of June 27), posting a .421/.542/.737 slash line with three extra-base hits, five RBIs and seven walks (two IBB). His raw power has always been apparent, as he has a 91-mph average exit velocity, with a 15.2% barrel%. He only chases 24% of the time and only misses on fastballs in the zone 4.5% of the time. Perhaps his most eye-catching stat is his 51.5% HHB%, which is good for seventh in the league, but third among players with more than 30 PAs. The lefty slugger does the most damage against fastballs, as he has a 100% HHB% on fastballs with two strikes and a 57.1% pre-two strikes. Parker also squares up the ball nicely, with a 30% Sweet Spot% and a max home run distance of 417ft. It is hard to sum up just how valuable Parker has been for the Keys this year and keep an eye out for him come draft day.
RHP Austin Newton, Mahoning Valley
Newton has been very impressive this season with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings so far. He has very interesting stuff, throwing 96 mph, sub-10” IVB sinkers from a 6’4” release height with some getting down to 1” IVB! His changeup is equally nasty, sitting at 8” IVB with a 1900 spin rate that generates a 50% whiff rate. His most unique pitch is his slider, which is short but has depth and sits at about 85 mph. His deceptive release height mixed with his high-movement arsenal has generated exceptional results. He induces ground balls 58% of the time which contributes to his 78 mph average exit velocity. The South Florida reliever has great command, with only a 2.6% BB% and a nearly 70% Strike %. He does an excellent job limiting damage, as he has only a 12.9% HHB% and a 30% Chase %.
C Chase Heath, Mahoning Valley
The Central Missouri product is coming off of a monster college season, and he has not slowed down. He is slashing .400/.550/.533 while playing good defense behind the plate so far for the Scrappers. While he is a good catcher, the majority of his value comes from the batter’s box. He has a 20% Barrel % and can put balls into orbit, with a 403-foot max distance on a double off the left-center wall. Heath’s power isn’t the center of his game, as he is an elite on-base machine with excellent plate discipline. He has a league best .626 xOBP and a team best 28.8% BB %, combined with three walks, two HBPs, and two stolen bases, making the Scrappers’ catcher a legitimate threat all around the bases. Not only does he draw walks, but he doesn’t strike out. He has a 17.3% K % and a 16.7% Chase %, both of which lead the team and are top three league wide.
RHP David Leslie, West Virginia
Mainly starting weekends for Grove City, Leslie performed well, holding an excellent 2.05 ERA through 72.1 innings while racking up 84 strikeouts. Leslie sports a three-pitch mix, consisting of a 4-seam, curveball and changeup. Leslie throws his 4-seam around 92 mph and it has generated good results for him so far, with a 33 Whiff % and 29.7 IZ-Whiff %. His curveball is the best pitch in his arsenal and it’s a death ball shape at 82 mph, with -8.5” of IVB and -1.3” of HB. He rounds out the arsenal with a changeup that averages around 86 mph. The movement pattern is sporadic, but he spots it well at the bottom of the zone.
LHP Joe Ariola, Trenton
Ariola was a solid bullpen piece for Wake Forest in 2025, as the lefty threw 24.2 innings while striking out 40. He wields a four-pitch mix consisting of a 4-seam, cutter, split-change and curveball. The 4-seam averages around 92 mph, it gets lots of ride, averaging north of 21” of IVB and has -7.9” of HB. He pairs it with a high spin curveball that can get up to 2700rpm at 80 mph and gets nearly 16” of depth with 5.3” of HB. He has used his two other pitches sporadically with the usage rates on both being under 8%. The cutter averages around 87 mph with 9” of IVB and 1.4” of HB. The changeup averages 81-82 mph and gets a ton of depth at 2.3” of IVB and -7.8” of HB, although he has gotten it as low as -4.1” of IVB due to his ability to kill spin on the pitch, with the average spin rate being close to 1000rpm.
C Connor Hicks, West Virginia
The Black Bears’ primary catcher this season has had a great start, posting a .467/.600/.900 slash line with seven doubles, two home runs, six walks and 10 RBIs. He also has crazy power numbers. He has a 32% barrel rate, a 37% HHB%, and an 88.1 mph average exit velocity. He is an excellent pure hitter, as well, with an 81% IZ-Contact% and a .621 wOBA while only striking out 7% of the time. His plate discipline is also a contributing factor to his success as he has a 22% BB % and only a 23% Whiff % while also getting hit by pitches four times in 10 games. Hicks has been very important to the West Virginia offense and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
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