Since just about any 2023 MLB Draft scenario is reasonably plausible three months before July 9 and the first round’s arrival, the Tigers might be considering this possibility.
Say one of the current top triumvirate — Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, Wyatt Langford — learns that scouts once obsessed with a baseball heartthrob have fallen out of love. Something has happened, physical, performance-wise, whatever.
Who might slip into a MLB team’s sudden courtship, particularly when the Tigers have the third-overall turn in July?
A possibility:
Walker Jenkins, a left-handed, pitch-mauling hitter, center fielder, and senior at South Brunswick High in Southport, North Carolina.
Jenkins is 6-foot-3, 205 pounds of athleticism and tinseled baseball talent. He has played 10 games for the Cougars and has elegant numbers: .591 batting average, .790 on-base percentage, .955 slugging, 1.740 OPS.
He has 18 walks and two strikeouts.
“And those (two whiffs) were on some questionable calls, if you ask me,” said Chris Sotriffer, head coach at South Brunswick, who during a Monday phone conversation spoke about Jenkins and his “exceptional” gifts.
It is known the Tigers have been keeping an eye on Jenkins. Of course, so, too, have scouts from 29 other MLB teams. Sotriffer estimates that “every night there are probably 28 to 35 scouts in the stands for our games.”
This is in line with national watchdogs, Baseball America for example, which has Jenkins No. 6 in its order of the best 2023 MLB Draft personnel and raves about Jenkins’ “easy plus raw power … with a picturesque left-handed swing reminiscent of some of the top sluggers in baseball.”
Sotriffer has seen it all: the swing, the bat-speed, the arm, the glove — everything.
“A lot of teams haven’t given him a whole lot of pitches to hit,” Sotriffer said, “so he’s helped us in multiple ways: baserunning, or throwing guys out from the outfield, dragging bunts, whatever. He’s just an exceptional athlete.”
As for his hitting, the gaudy numbers aren’t a product of cannon-fodder prep pitching.
“We have one of the top baseball conferences in North Carolina,” Sotriffer said. “We have eight teams in our conference, and five or six will be making a pretty deep run in the playoffs.
“We’ve faced a couple of Division 1 arms this year,” Sotriffer said, referring to opposing pitchers who have baseball scholarships coming their way. “We see some really good pitching.”
Another plus, definitely essential when teams are weighing early first-round options, is citizenship.
Sotriffer can talk for long minutes about Jenkins, about his 4.66 grade-point average, about his “yes-sir, no-sir” courtesy, about his parentage, about all the personal pluses that can add even more luster to a scout’s appraisal.
He has seen Top 10 draft-talent in his years coaching and says Jenkins is right there.
“He’s probably a top-five guy,” Sotriffer said. “And definitely in that top-10 range.”
The Tigers might or might not agree. They also might find that Jenkins’ pluses are worth pondering, hard, as that July 9 draft-turn draws nearer.
Detroit News ranking of the top 10 amateur baseball talents as they currently sit leading into the 2023 MLB Draft, set for July 9-11.
▶ 1. Dylan Crews, Louisiana State University, outfielder, 6-foot-1, 203 pounds, right-handed batter: By the week, this man’s endeavors are becoming fairly unbelievable. Crews has played 28 games. He is hitting (gulp) .543. He bears .664 on-base and .947 slugging percentages. His season OPS: 1.611. It must be repeated: This is not slow-pitch softball. Last week’s ranking: 1
▶ 2. Paul Skenes, RH starter, LSU, 6-6, 240: How about 83 strikeouts in 44.1 innings Skenes has tossed in 2023? How about eight walks and an 0.81 ERA? How about a 100-mph fastball with all the fixings? And nothing has changed since the SEC bats arrived on LSU’s schedule. Friday night against Tennessee, Skenes went seven innings. The Vols got five hits, a run, one walk, while 12 of them were vaporized as Skenes’ strikeout tote board whirred. Last week’s ranking: 2
▶ 3. Wyatt Langford, OF, University of Florida, 6-1, .225, RH batter: Langford is still dealing with a two-week layoff following a groin-bludgeoning last month when he was hit by a pitch. He might have returned a bit too early, but Sunday’s game against Auburn was more like it: 3-for-3, a homer, two doubles, three walks. He’s back playing left field, which is more attuned than center to his skill set. This man and his current 1.410 OPS figure to be back at fuller throttle in the coming weeks. Last week’s ranking: 3
▶ 4. Walker Jenkins, CF, 6-3, 205, South Brunswick High, Southport, N.C, LH batter: This is one of those Josh Hamilton-caliber guys, and no, we’re not exaggerating. Last week’s ranking: 4
▶ 5. Jacob Wilson, shortstop, Grand Canyon University, 6-3, 190, RH batter: Still a few questions about Wilson, all because of his competition. But note last week’s game against Arizona, which doesn’t feature slouches. Wilson was 2-for-3 with three walks. He’s batting .465 in 26 games, with a 1.217 OPS. He has struck out all of five times in 101 at-bats. Scouts will be divulging some of their more detailed notes in coming weeks, which should make clearer if Wilson can stick as a Top-5 contestant. Last week’s ranking: 5
▶ 6. Jacob Gonzalez, SS, University of Mississippi, 6-2, 200, LH batter: Not having the other-worldly years racked up by some of his SEC stable-mates, but take a gander at Ole Miss’ weekend series at Texas A&M: Gonzalez was 5-for-9, with a homer, two doubles, and three walks. He’s at .348 with a 1.075 OPS (.481 on-base). He’s a Top-10er — for now. Last week’s ranking: 6
▶ 7. Rhett Lowder, RH starter, Wake Forest, 6-2, 200: Pretty polished pitcher here, as his Thursday outing at Clemson confirmed: seven innings, seven hits, one run, one walk, six whiffs. Not to be confused with one of those Human Blowtorches. Rather, a solid, mid- or back-end guy an MLB team can expect to soon plug into a rotation. His season WHIP: 0.89. Last week’s ranking: 7
▶ 8. Max Clark, OF, Franklin (Indiana) Community High School, 6-1, 190, LH batter: The Grizzly Cubs, which might be one of the prep landscape’s better team nicknames, are just getting going. Clark was 3-for-4 in Saturday’s game and clearly is limbering up for what figures to be a scouts-feast as he displays his baseball wares to MLB snoops. Last week’s ranking: 8
▶ 9. Kyle Teel, C, University of Virginia, 6-1, 190, LH batter: Just keeps hitting, which, when you’re a catcher, is especially enticing to scouts seeking help at what might be the toughest-to-fill spot on a roster. Teel last week against Old Dominion (one game) and Virginia Tech (three games) was 8-for-19, which, as April’s schedule arrives, is how you’re batting .446, with a 1.195 OPS. Last week’s ranking: 9
▶ 10. Jack Hurley, CF, Virginia Tech, 6-foot, 185, LH hitter: Hurley is new to the Top 10, but that’s what seven home runs in his last seven games can earn when you’re a center fielder, batting .349, with a 1.203 OPS. He posted up this weekend against Teel and Virginia and, of course, hit three homers for the series, going 9-for-15. Not the size teams ideally prefer, but he has enough of a frame to swing that left-hand bat with muscle.
Dropped from Top-10 status
▶ Hurston Waldrep, RH starter, University of Florida, 6-1, 205: Too many walks, too many pitches, too many bumps for Waldrep to hang among the draft-board elites. Notice his Saturday game against Auburn: six innings, six walks, 110 pitches. Sure, he struck out 10, but Waldrep needs to ponder why he’s having control issues that can sabotage his overall body of work. He’s donated 22 walks in 38 innings in 2023. Last week’s ranking: 7
Knocking at the door
▶ Chase Dollander, RH starter, University of Tennessee, 6-2, 210: Wasn’t great in his weekend start against LSU. Threw 89 pitches in 4.2 innings and walked three. Three punch-outs, four hits, which means Dollander’s underwhelming 2023.
▶ Brayden Taylor, 3B, Texas Christian, 6-1, 180, LH batter: A bit worrisome, that .291 season batting average in 28 games. But, he picked it up, and then some, this weekend at Texas Tech: 7-for-13 with a pair of homers and two doubles.
▶ Colin Houck, SS, Parkview High, Lilburn, Georgia, 6-2, 193, RH batter: Numbers keep soaring, and the scouts keep noticing. Houck has played 20 games, is batting .508, with six homers and a 1.601 OPS. Could make some Top-10 inroads the way he’s going.
▶ Matt Shaw, IF, University of Maryland, 5-11, 182, RH batter: On the slighter side, but note the 10 homers in 26 games, accented by a .349 batting average and 1.201 OPS.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and retired Detroit News sports reporter.