One aspect of the MLB Draft League that sets itself apart from other summer baseball leagues is its access and utilization of data capture. Each ballpark is equipped to capture live, in-game metrics and video to help further develop and scout the league’s prospects ahead of the MLB Draft.
Working with each team’s Data Coordinators, every week we’ll share a select group of players, or “Data Darlings”, who throughout the week and season have set themselves apart from the league, their trends and how it has impacted their summers.
Austin Puett, Aberdeen: The flamethrower returns as a Data Darling after Week 1 following his outing Wednesday, June 17, where he touched triple digits with his fastball. Clocking in officially at 100.07 mph, Puett became the fourth pitcher in MLB Draft League history to surpass 100 and joins Miguel Sime Jr. (Trenton 2025, Washington Nationals No. 17 prospect), Ryan Lambert (West Virginia 2024, New York Mets No. 16 prospect) and Tyler Dietz (Williamsport 2025, San Diego Padres). Through six appearances this summer, Puett has averaged 97.5 mph with the heater and. Mixed with a curveball, has resulted in batters failing to catch up with a 28.3% whiff rate (26.2% Z-Whiff%).
Hollis Porter, Aberdeen: In his last complete NCAA season with Maryland in 2025, Porter led the team with 21 home runs and slugged a gaudy .632 through 55 games. With the IronBirds, the power seems to have never left, beginning with blasting the first home run of 2026 across the league on Opening Day with a 368-foot solo shot to right field with an exit velocity of 101.6 mph. He then kicked it in gear this past weekend with the longest home run of the season and tied for the second longest in MLB Draft League history since 2022 on Friday, June 19, going 449 feet to right field with an exit velocity of 107 mph. It would also tie for the 15th hardest-hit home run. The following day, Porter would go 422 feet to right center field (104.4-mph EV) and tie for the home run lead. His home runs in back-to-back days would make the 21-year-old the third player in MLB Draft League history since 2022 to hit at least two 420-foot home runs and the only one to do so in the first half.
Parker Burgess, State College: The incoming College of Charleston junior was dominant in his two most recent outings, allowing just two hit batters over 5 2/3 innings while striking out six. Burgess relies on the fastball, utilizing it 77.4% of the time and averaging 92 mph while running up to 95.2 mph. The pitch creates a ton of ride, averaging 18 inches of IVB and creating 20+ inches of IVB on nine of them, peaking at 23 inches and leading to a whiff rate of 22.5%. Playing off the riding fastball, the Spikes right-hander features a pair of swing and miss secondary pitches; the changeup to get left-handers and the sweeper to get right-handers. The changeup at 84.7 mph creates 15.1 inches of horizontal break and generates whiffs 57.1% of the time. The sweeper averages 75.9 mph and 2,920 rpm, peaking with a pitch June 9 at 79.2 mph, creating 3,234 rpm spin and -24.4 inches of horizontal break. The sweeper has a whiff rate of 40% and creates 50% ground balls. With a vertical fastball and a pair of running secondary offerings, Burgess hasn’t surrendered a hit to the past 24 batters he’s faced.
Alex Kranzler, Trenton: In his most recent start on Thursday, June 18, the Vanderbilt product generated 15 whiffs with four pitches that was led by mixing his sinker and slider. Sitting in the mid-90s, Kranzler was able to get up to 22 inches of horizontal movement glove-side during five-shutout innings. Eight of the 15 whiffs that were created by the right-hander were a product of his slider that sat 82 mph and had upwards of 2,759 rpm and 18.8” of glove-side movement. Across three starts, the slider has carried a whiff rate of 69.2% with an in-zone rate of 36.4%. Adding some speed to his glove-side movement, Kranzler threw a high-80s cutter that also spun as much as 2700+ rpm with a tight inch of horizontal movement. Thrown four times Thursday, his mid-80s changeup that rounded out the arsenal was able to kill spin as low as 880 rpm with around eight inches of horizontal movement.
Victor Christal, West Virginia: Closing out the NJCAA Division I World Series to complete Johnson County CC’s historic season, Christal joined up with the Black Bears and has displayed the arsenal that played such an important role. Bringing a four-pitch mix to the mound, the 20-year-old has excelled in spinning his fastball, slider and curveball and shutting it down with a changeup. The heater sits in the low-90s with an average spin rate of 2,591 rpm. It features tight, arm-side movement on average of 6.6” and gets plenty of ride at 17.6” IVB. Christal’s go-to pitch (45.9% usage), he has painted it on the corners at an elite rate of 40% and has seen batters chase a quarter of the time. Christal’s curveball and slider have seen similar usage with both averaging from 2,900-3,000 rpm in spin. The curve has sat in the low 70s moving at -10.4” horizontally with -10.5” in IVB. Complimenting his fastball, Christal has generated whiffs two-thirds of the time on the pitch and has yet to be touched when swung at in the zone. The slider has a bit of velocity to it ranging from the mid to high-80s with eight inches of glove-side movement and IVB ranging from 0-4 inches. The arsenal is rounded out with a mid-80s changeup that kills spin at an average of 1,965 rpm. With an IVB of 12.4”, the change has horizontal movement of 18.1” to the arm-side. While it hasn’t been thrown often, the pitch has seen batters whiff 100% of the time.
Brendan Sweeney, Williamsport: Three no-hit innings Tuesday, June 16 saw a sinker/changeup-led mix to throw off hitter timing effectively. The sinker sat between 93 and 94 mph (top 94.6 mph) and averaged 16.8 inches of arm-side movement. The change, Sweeney dropped nearly 10 mph (average 85.4 mph) with similar arm-side movement. Along with the speed difference, Sweeney was able to kill spin from his sinker to changeup with an average rpm of 2,255 (top 2,359) down to 1,618, with the lowest to be spun at 1,432 rpm. With both pitches, the Mississippi State graduate achieved up to 20 inches of arm-side movement. The speed change and drastic movement featured eight whiffs with batters chasing 34.8% of the time.
Jalen Jacob, Canada: Still just 16-years-old and finishing up Grade 11, Jalen Jacob has proven he can already hit balls as hard as anyone in the MLB Draft League. It was an impressive second series for the young first baseman as he scorched a slider Tuesday, June 16 for a line drive single at 111 mph for the hardest hit ball so far in the 2026 season. Just two days later in his next appearance, Jacob ambushed a first-pitch curveball for a home run to the left of the batter's eye, travelling 409 feet at 98.3 mph. Despite the age gap, the left-handed hitter is producing a hard hit rate of 53.8%, fly ball+line drive% of 61.6% and has consistently been on time with a middle of the field% of 46.2%. While there’s been some swing and miss on the fastball, it’s tough to throw a breaking ball in the zone to the Canadian right now. The power is undeniable and the uncommitted prospect has been settling into the box, reaching base safely in 10 of his past 27 plate appearances.
Hendrick Briones, Mexico: One of the twins in Mexico’s pitching staff, Briones has featured swing-and-miss stuff through four appearances with a fastball, curveball and changeup. The heater typically sits in the 92-93 range but has run up to 95.2 mph, featuring 2,100-2,200 rpm of spin on average. The 24-year-old has gotten impressive IVB with the pitch, averaging around 18” with a max of 20.8” along with some arm-side horizontal movement of around 10”. The rest of his arsenal was thrown less than 10 times but playing off his fastball helped result in an overall whiff rate of 41.2% and in-zone rate of 28.6%.
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