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. With a month left in the season, here are our picks for Week 9’s Data Darlings:
OF Isaiah Greene, Frederick
Greene has been a reliable bat for the Keys in the second half of this season, posting a .275/.414/.406 slash line, good for a .820 OPS. His nine doubles and 12 RBI have heavily contributed to some Frederick wins. He is a solid defensive outfielder as well, playing significant innings in all three spots, with most of his time coming in right where he has an outfield assist and a double play. His metrics show how valuable of a hitter he truly is, with a .396 wOBA and a 20% hard-hit rate, Greene has made himself hard to take out of the lineup. His strength is his ability to get on base, with most of that coming from his high walk rate of 20%, good for the eighth best in the league. His low 25% Chase% and 23% Whiff% are what greatly reduce his poor swings which increases his walk numbers. Getting on base is extremely useful for the speedy lefty, as it allows him to create havoc on the basepaths. With five stolen bases already and a 100% SB%, Greene will definitely be looking to steal more as the season progresses.
C Evin Sullivan, Trenton
The Trenton catcher has had a great season, starting in the first half. His .286/.398/.362 slash is above average, especially through his almost 40 Draft League games. With only a 17% Whiff% and 30 hits, he is one of the more consistent hitters in the league. Sullivan is an on-base machine as he holds a 14% walk rate and has struck out only 7.1% of the time for one of the better K/BB ratios. What really sets Sullivan apart from the pack is his expected stats, his expected slash line is .307/.436/.432, an improvement from his actual measured stats. This can be indicative of an unlucky batter, but is more of a testament to how good his bat-to-ball skills are. Sullivan is repeatedly making excellent contact with good launch metrics which causes models to expect him to have better outcomes. So even though his actual slash isn’t as impressive as his expected, he is more than likely going to be better as the season nears its end. On top of being a good bat, Sullivan is a defensive force behind the plate. He has logged 182 innings as a catcher for the Thunder and has caught 10 runners stealing while not allowing a single passed ball. Sullivan has put together an excellent 2025 season with offensive and defensive tools that should allow him to continue playing at a high level.
RHP Min-Seong Jeong, Mahoning Valley
Jeong is one of the most crafty pitchers the Draft League has ever seen. The KBO prospect doesn’t overpower batters with velocity, but he has the ‘stuff’ to get guys out. He has a four-pitch arsenal, consisting of a four-seam fastball, changeup, sweeper and a depthy curveball. His four-seam carries 17” of IVB and 12” HB on average while sitting 86-87 mph. While the velo isn’t too much to brag about, the pitch is very consistent, rarely deviating from his average movement profile. He’ll throw it for strikes 64% of the time, with a 9% In-Zone Whiff%. His sweeper is his primary offspeed pitch, throwing it 23% of the time while generating whiffs 18% of the time. The breaker averages -11” of HB but sometimes gets almost 20” of glove side movement. He throws this pitch for strikes 58% of the time, further contributing to his success and ability to get outs. His curveball usually sits in the low 70s and tops out at 77 mph. It plays off the sweeper well with similar horizontal movement but drops off much faster with an average -16” of IVB. The devastating breaking ball is his best swing-and-miss pitch, as he generates whiffs 24% of the time while throwing it for strikes 52% of the time. The changeup averages 7” of IVB and 13” of HB, a small difference from his fastball but kills spin the best at only 1400 rpms. Overall, Jeong’s value comes from his ability to throw strikes, doing so 60% of the time and getting out ahead of batters early with a first-pitch strike 55% of the time. He constantly is mixing up how he approaches batters, with similar usage on each pitch in each count. His strike throwing ability greatly contributes to his overall 71% Out%, a great mark.
RHP Joe Steeber, West Virginia
Steeber has been a bullpen staple in his seven games with the Black Bears. His 1.17 ERA and 0.65 WHIP make him one of the better relievers across the league. He has a unique arsenal from a pretty standard release profile, which helps keep batters guessing. He throws two fastballs, sinker and four-seam, along with a changeup, slider and a cutter. He has only thrown 12 fastballs this season, but consistently gets above 20” IVB and tops out at 94 mph. His sinker is his go-to, throwing it 42% of the time to an 18% Whiff%/14% In-Zone Whiff%. His cutter is a nice secondary, sitting at 87 mph, but has reached up to 90 mph. The cutter usually gets around -1” HB and 9” IVB with a 50% Whiff%. His slider is his least used secondary pitch, throwing it only 8% of the time, but it’s just as effective. He induces whiffs 43% of the time, despite throwing it out of the zone 72% of the time, which makes it the perfect two-strike chase pitch to righties. By far his best pitch is his changeup. From his 5’9” release height, Steeber is able to get sub 0” IVB movement and nearly 15” of arm side movement. His changeup is crippling to opposing batters as it gets whiffs a staggering 68% of the time and chases 39% of the time. Critical in getting outs, as it has a similar shape to his sinker then just drops off the plane causing his high whiff numbers. Steeber is a great bullpen piece, as he has a 36% strikeout rate to only a 5% walk rate while inducing ground balls 61% of the time.
OF Jackson Mayo, Williamsport
Mayo has been one of the best performers of the second half. He’s batting .380 with a .408 OBP and an eye-catching .620 SLG, good for a 1.028 OPS which is top three in the league. Mayo has been hitting the ball very hard. He owns a 49% hard-hit rate and a 22% Barrel% with an average exit velocity of 90.3 mph, all of which are top five marks in the league. His ability to mash the baseball heavily contributes to his 35 hits, 11 doubles, one triple and three home runs. He also has 15 RBI, four walks and 12 stolen bases. The speedy outfielder also plays great defense in left field, with 19 starts, 166 innings and zero errors so far. Mayo is also the owner of a .504 wOBA, the second best mark in the second half, due to his high exit velocities and on field success. The second best max exit velocity, 108.6, also belongs to Mayo on a single in the beginning of August. In his second stint with the Crosscutters, he has been one of their most consistent bats.
RHP MT Morrissey, Trenton
Morrissey has been a great addition to the Trenton rotation, starting four games so far for the Thunder. He has been one of the more successful starters, with a team leading two wins and two quality starts (6+ IP and three or fewer ER). He has a 1.16 WHIP and a 3.63 ERA with 19 strikeouts to only nine walks. His arsenal contains a fastball, splitter, cutter, and a slider. The fastball varies a lot in shape, but sits in the low 90s and gets up to 94 mph. He’s thrown it for strikes and gets an effective 18% In-Zone Whiff%. His slider and cutter mesh together, with the main difference being velo. His cutter sits between 82-84 and gets up to 86 mph, while the slider sits between 78-80 and gets up to 82 mph. The shapes are slightly different with the slider averaging 2” IVB and -4” HB while the cutter averages 7” IVB and 0” HB. Both pitches are effective, with the slider getting a 27% In-Zone Whiff% and the cutter getting a 65% Strike%. His final pitch is a depthy splitter, which can be extremely devastating for batters. Its movement varies sometimes getting below 0” IVB while spinning at only 1300 rpms. It has a 55% chase rate and generates whiffs at a 37% clip. The most intriguing part of Morrissey’s game is how he faces batters. When facing lefties he moves to the left on the mound with his average release side being 1.3 feet away from the center of the mound vs 2.3 feet away vs right handed batters. This helps keep the batters guessing as two players will get pitched to in two completely different ways.
OF Conor Higgs, State College
Higgs joined the Spikes towards the end of July and while hasn’t produced the biggest of swings, he has brought juice into the lineup with swings that should bring results soon. While only hitting .244 through 41 at-bats, he’s been able to put the ball in play with speed behind an average exit velocity of 87.4 mph and a Hard-Hit rate of an even 40%. When Higgs really gets a hold of one, he averages 106.4 mph amongst his 90th percentile exit velocities and maxed out at 107.5 mph on his lone home run of the summer. Against fastballs, the State College outfielder has done his most damage to the tune of a .529 SLG and .417 wOBA as well as the pitch where he clocked his max exit velocity. With some swing-and-miss, Higgs has had strong awareness of when pitches are in the zone as he carries a 70.1% Z-Swing%.
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