It was a big week in the Draft League with the first game between the League and Cape Cod, where select prospects played in an exhibition in front of Major League scouts. Additionally, many more players across the league juiced their draft stock during the second to last week of the first half.

Here’s a quick look at 10 pitchers who have put together impressive summers in Year 5 of the MLB Draft League.

Frederick’s Kade Woods and Alton Davis have long shown $1M arms, but the results have yet to become consistent for either. Both have performed well in the league to date with the lefty Davis posting a 1.00 ERA over three starts and nine innings and the righty Woods carrying a 1.93 ERA through 9.1 innings in eight relief appearances. At 6-foot-5, Davis routinely sits in the mid-90s with some life on his heater (avg 13” HB) and impressive spin rates. His best pitch has been a 83-84 mph slider that has generated a 50% whiff rate with opposing hitters batting just .125 against it. Davis is once again in the transfer portal after moving from Alabama to Georgia last summer but might be best off getting the ball on a scheduled basis where he can develop his craft with consistent innings that Minor League Baseball offers.

Woods, a 6-foot-3 right-hander from LSU who pitched just one inning this spring for the Tigers, features a riding fastball up to 97 mph and a hard breaking 83-84 curveball. In eight games (9.1 IP), he has struck out 13 batters with a 1.93 ERA and has not allowed a hit in his two July appearances. Averaging 94.2 mph with the fastball, he’s caused batters to whiff 37.7% of the time. Woods is in a similar situation as Davis in their transfer portal history and current state, but like his Draft League teammate and SEC foe, is a Day 2 prospect.

Standing 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, Austin Newton from Mahoning Valley doesn’t have overpowering swing/miss stuff, but he’s an out-getter who finished his summer in the Draft League with a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings. Striking out 10 with two walks, the South Florida reliever turned Scrappers starter was also featured as a week four Data Darling. He combines a sinker up to 96 mph with a consistent mid-80s slider that he’s thrown for a strike a whopping 72.9% of the time this summer.

State College featured a trio of strong arms and high-level performances this week. Jacob Mayers followed up a scoreless inning in the exhibition game with four innings of one run baseball during his first in-league appearance on July 3. His fastball topped 96.7 mph with consistent ride (19.7” IVB), with an upper-80s slider and spin-killing splitter all missing bats to produce plenty of whiff as he struck out seven.

Luke House spun a big league top-to-bottom breaker and struck out eight during his Fourth of July start, the fifth pitcher to strike out that many this season. In total he’s pitched 15.1 innings over three starts and has struck out 16 against just three walks. To date, he has commanded his fastball with a high strike rate of 74% that averages of 92.2 mph. The lanky-bodied 6-foot-6 right-hander from Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) has also landed his big bender consistently at a 64.9% clip to go along with a 25% chase rate.

The third Spikes arm who continues to draw positive reviews is Carter Holjes who was featured earlier this season in Week 3 of the Prospect Report. His changeup continues to dominate as an effective offering with a whiff rate of 70.6%, averaging 84.3 mph with 13” of horizontal movement. Holjes has also averaged 93.7 mph on his fastball that fills the zone at a 72.7% clip as he’s thrown in eight games for the Spikes with 16 strikeouts and a 1.54 ERA.

Trenton’s pitching staff is full of sub 1.00 ERA relievers, but starters performing at a high level have been hard to come by. Enter Joe Ariola, a left-hander from Wake Forest who has made three starts and posted a 2.45 ERA with a .156 opponents’ batting average. He has mixed a riding four-seam fastball with a cutter, curveball and split-changeup. The best of the four has been his 80-mph curve that has generated a 40% in-zone whiff rate. It’s a dandy with downer shape and late-action break.

Another starter in Trenton who’s seen success is right-hander Tommy Case. The prep right-hander out of New York is committed to St. John’s and dazzled in his three inning start on Saturday to bounce back from a less-than-desirable debut. Case surrendered no hits or runs, one walk and struck out six with a 2700+ rpm breaking ball the upper-70s with seven whiffs for a 100% whiff rate. The fastball challenged hitters in the zone, sitting in the 90-92 mph range and generated a Z-Whiff rate of 57.1%. Case’s changeup has 16+ inches of horizontal break to round out a quality three-pitch mix.

West Virginia’s Sam Tookoian has made four appearances with one start for a total of nine innings this summer. He’s struck out 13 batters against just one walk, and even more impressive, he’s allowed just one hit. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound right-hander from Ole Miss didn’t get the ball much for the Rebels this spring (3 IP), but has performed every time he’s taken the hill for the Black Bears. With a heater that has averaged 94.3 mph and held opposing hitters hitless, Tookoian flourishes with his high ride heater that looks to be heading straight for the barrel, but jumps over at the last millisecond. And if his fastball isn’t nasty enough, his slider has shown to chew up left handed hitter’s hands with its late slice. It’s a power, back-end of the pen arsenal that will receive Day 2 attention next week.

Williamsport’s Merit Jones may be one of the more effective college pitchers in the league this summer as he entered the beginning of July as the defending Pitcher of the Week. The 6-foot-4 right-hander from Utah has performed at an extremely high level out of the Crosscutters’ bullpen with 27 strikeouts, just eight hits allowed, and a 1.53 ERA in 17.2 innings. He leads the league with a 0.74 WHIP and is second in total strikeouts and opponents’ batting average (.129). There hasn’t been a more complete pitcher in the league as Jones combines stuff with control with five distinct pitches, led by his low-90s fastball and high-whiff changeup. After walking 36 in 79 innings for the Utes this spring, Jones has walked just five of 69 batters faced this summer. He’s found the zone with his changeup an eye-catching 84% of the time and his slider commands attention with a 66.1% strike rate and 56% whiff.

For more information about the MLB Draft League, visit mlbdraftleague.com or follow @mlbdraftleague and @draftleaguedata on X, and @mlbdraftleague on Instagram.

David Seifert is the current Scouting Director for D1Baseball and the Director of College Scouting for Prep Baseball. Seifert is a former college coach and crosschecker and scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.