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, develop their tools and game while it's distributed to the 30 Major League teams. Week 3 takes place during the MLB Draft Combine. As the draft looms ever closer, here are our picks for this week’s “Data Darlings”.
C Beau Sylvester, West Virginia
After making 23 appearances for the Cowboys this season, Sylvester looked to be a consistent bat in the Draft League. Through his first four games as a Black Bear, he has displayed consistency in his bat. With a 33% Barrel% and a 66% HHB rate, he has averaged 96 mph in exit velocity for second in the league. With his power, he’s shown plate discipline boasting a 13% chase rate and a 0% whiff%. He also has a 0% K rate with a 25% BB rate, making him a multi-faceted threat at the plate.
RHP Merit Jones, Williamsport
Jones is a classic five pitch starter whose arsenal contains a ride fastball, depthy sinker, changeup, hard cutter and slider. His best pitch has shown to be his changeup, which gets ~10” of separation from his fastball and spins at 1350 rpm. He throws the pitch in the zone 80% of the time, and gets up to 6.2 feet of extension. The ability to separate his pitches, his command of the zone and his extension has allowed Jones to be exceptional at inducing swings, with a 40% whiff rate and a 32% chase rate. He also does a good job of reducing errors, as he has a 30% K rate and only a 4% walk rate. Drafted last year in the 20th round by the Twins, the Utah graduate’s five-pitch arsenal and good performance can see him be drafted even earlier this year.
INF/OF Easton Kitura, Canada Junior National Team
One of Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team’s premier bats, Easton Kitura fared well against the MLB Draft League All-Star team in the week-long series. Through four games, the Miami commit hit .556 with a .778 SLG, and even stole home. Resulting in his leading box score numbers, he posted a 20% barrel% in their five games and had an expected batting average of .379. Kitura crushed right-handed pitching, as the lefty bat had a max exit velo of 102 against Draft League pitchers of the opposite hand and had an average exit velo of 90. Not only did he put bat to ball, but he also earned a 31% BB%. Combined with his .570 xOBP, his plate discipline is top of the line.
RHP Adam Falinski, Mahoning Valley
Falinski has had a solid start in his second Draft League season, allowing no runs with six strikeouts so far. His arsenal features a cut-ride fastball that tops out at 97 mph and a hard cutter that can get -2” of HB. His performances go deeper than the box scores, as his metrics are top of the line. He currently has 0% HHB and Barrel rates with an xBAA of .041. His xERA is 0.120 which is higher than his actual ERA of zero. Not only does he limit damage of batted balls, but he is exceptional at preventing them all together. He has a 33% chase rate and a 44% whiff rate, while also commanding a 67% K rate. His ability to control the outcome of the at bat is something that many pitchers struggle with and has helped him a lot this season.
3B Tim Piasentin, Canada Junior National Team
Ranked 152nd nationally and the seventh ranked third baseman by Prep Baseball in the Class of 2025, Piasentin had a fantastic series for Team Canada. Batting .333 with a .867 OPS and a .420 wOBA, he has an unmistakable power talent with a 39% HHB rate, a 23% barrel rate, and a max exit velo of 107 mph. He roped a 96-mph, 368-foot double in his final game vs. the Draft League, where he saw time in right field and stole a base. The Miami commit’s impact goes beyond the batters box, as he also had an outfield assist in the game. He hosed a runner at second in the fourth inning, a play which added 3% in win probability to Team Canada.
LHP Sean Duncan, Canada Junior National Team
Ranked 21st Nationally and first in British Columbia’s Class of '26 by Prep Baseball, Duncan is a high profile name that scouts came in to see. In his two outings against Draft League teams, the lefty went two innings allowing only one earned run while striking out eight. He has a three pitch mix consisting of a fastball, changeup and a slider. The fastball sits around 90-91 mph that varies from cutting to getting arm-side run. It generates a 24.2 IZ-Whiff% and a Chase% of 32.7. His slider has -4” of IVB and 11” of Sweep, he has the feel to manipulate multiple shapes out of it and it has yielded a 44 Chase% so far. His changeup averages 83 mph and has -15” of HB that gets whiffs and chases.
RHP Tyler Deitz, Williamsport
Deitz has been electric so far in the Draft League, as a prototypical reliever with a deadly fastball and slider combo. The fastball that sits 97-99 mph and tops out at 100.1, it has 16” of IVB and 12” of HB from a low 5.4 foot release height which helps him generate plenty of chases and whiffs. His slider is a hard gyro shape (-2” of IVB/-3” of HB) in the high-80s that can go as high as 92.5 mph. He flashed a low-90s splitter with 1.1” of IVB and 11” of HB. The overall results for Deitz have been exceptional; he has a 47.4 Whiff%, 40 IZ-Whiff% and a 47.4 Chase% so far.
RHP Max Hansmann, Fredrick
Hansmann is one of the more intriguing arms in the Draft League. He has a super low release height at five feet from a low-¾ arm slot. It’s a four pitch mix consisting of a four-seamer, changeup, cutter and slider. The fastball, which averages 91 and tops out at 93, has returned excellent results so far, generating a 35.8 CSW%, 40 Whiff% and a 38.1 IZ-Whiff%. His slider has big sweeping movement as it averages around 80 mph with 18” of sweep. At times he has gotten as much as 23.7” of sweep with the spin rate consistently sitting above 2900 rpm. The slider has put up even better results than the 4-seam, getting 43.8 CSW%, 57.1 Whiff%, 50 IZ-Whiff% and a 42.9 Chase%. His cutter averages 86 mph and acts as a bridge pitch to the slider. He rounds out his arsenal with a changeup at 86 that he spots well at the bottom of the zone.
RHP Roman Kimball, State College
The State College Spikes continue to impress on the pitching side as Kimball was named Pitcher of the Week. Kimball’s arsenal is that of a big league starter, featuring a fastball, changeup, cutter, curveball and a sweeper. His fastball is a high-ride 4-seamer which averages about 19” of IVB from a low five-foot release height and induces whiffs 35.7% of the time. His fastball also has a 17.6% IZ-Whiff%, which is 5% higher than MLB average for 4-seam fastballs. He has a cutter that serves as a bridge pitch to his breaking balls but has also gotten good results at 84-86 with 10.6” of IVB and 0.9” of HB. It’s an effective pitch, returning a 40 Whiff% and Chase%% and a 33 IZ-Whiff%. His curveball is his primary breaking ball with -7.1” of IVB and -2.5” of HB he paints it on the edges of the zone, and while he has only thrown it 16 times, it has excellent results in a small sample getting plenty of whiffs and chases. His secondary breaking ball is his sweeper which averages around 81 mph with 15” of Sweep. Lastly, his changeup at 82 has unique characteristics with the vertical break sitting below the fastball while the horizontal break remains relatively similar.
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