Latest news with #MLBDraftCombine
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Draft Combine 2025: Everything you need to know as workouts begins in Phoenix
PHOENIX — This week, hundreds of the best amateur prospects eligible for the 2025 MLB Draft will descend upon Chase Field to participate in the fifth annual MLB Draft Combine. With the first two rounds of the draft scheduled to commence July 13 during All-Star weekend in Atlanta, this is a premier opportunity for players to boost their stock in the weeks leading up to the 20-round draft. Here's everything you need to know to get ready for the MLB Draft Combine. What is the MLB Draft Combine? The combine is a multi-day event in which players eligible to be selected in the upcoming draft participate in organized workouts, medical evaluations and interviews with a range of club personnel as a streamlined, league-sanctioned process through which players can showcase their skills on the field and personalities off it to all 30 MLB organizations. Advertisement The first two days will feature on-field workouts and a formal scrimmage featuring exclusively high school players, and the remaining days will include strength and conditioning assessments, medical reviews and interviews between players and club personnel. How long has this been a thing? Don't feel bad if you're unfamiliar with this event. This is only the fifth year MLB has held a draft combine and only the third time it has taken place at Phoenix's Chase Field, with the inaugural showcase held in Cary, North Carolina, in 2021 and the second set at San Diego's Petco Park in 2022. While the MLB Draft dates to 1965, only recently have the event and the process surrounding it become more accessible to fans and more promoted by the league. Unlike the NFL or NBA Drafts, which have been television spectacles for decades, it wasn't until 2009 that the MLB Draft was televised. From 2009 to 2020, the draft — or, at least, the first couple of rounds — took place in early June at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. In 2021, MLB pushed the draft back a month and made it part of All-Star weekend, creating the opportunity for fans to attend the draft that Sunday evening. This has helped make the scene on television (and in person) more like that of the other major sports leagues' drafts, albeit on a smaller scale. Advertisement Solidifying the combine as a crucial week on the baseball calendar represents the latest effort from MLB to grow awareness and hype for its draft among fans, and it's an obvious opportunity to highlight the amateur players who hope to become stars at the big-league level. What happens at the combine? On Tuesday and Wednesday, Chase Field will be packed with players cycling through batting practice and bullpen sessions, all of which will be monitored by the same motion-tracking technology used during big-league games. Players who choose to participate in the on-field workouts will produce data such as exit velocities, launch angles and projected distances for batted balls for hitters and velocity, movement and spin for pitchers. For some high school players, this will be their first time performing in a setting that allows for these measured evaluations, affording them the chance to separate themselves from their peers by hitting certain benchmarks. Advertisement On Tuesday evening, a selection of high school players will compete in a game, affording scouts the opportunity to see prospects perform in a live setting beyond batting practice and bullpen sessions. This is a particularly valuable opportunity for prep players who hail from areas where the competition is lesser than it is in, say, Florida or California, as they can showcase their skills in a game setting against a higher caliber of peers. Because collegiate prospects have significantly more chances to prove themselves against higher levels of competition over the course of an NCAA season, there is less incentive to organize an official game for those players at the combine. To that end, even beyond the game, the high school players in attendance are more likely to participate in on-field workouts because they have more to gain by demonstrating their pure physical abilities than college players, who have a much larger sample of statistics on which their evaluations are already based. Performances and interviews at this week's combine could go a long way in determining next month's MLB Draft order. (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports) (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports) On Thursday and Friday, players will undergo a series of strength and conditioning assessments that track a vast array of physical traits, from foot speed and grip strength to agility, vision and much, much more. Advertisement Beyond the workouts on the field, arguably the most important element of the event is the chance for teams to meet players individually and get to know them, a vital process for both sides to feel comfortable before offering or agreeing to a multi-million-dollar bonus in the first few rounds of the draft. The statistics and physical attributes sometimes only go so far for a prospect; it's absolutely imperative that a team feels confident in a player's potential to get the most out of his natural ability as he enters the grind of professional baseball. While area scouts meet with players throughout the year, no other event affords the opportunity for this many front office personnel to sit down in person with this many draft-eligible prospects over a short period of time. Each MLB club has its own suite at Chase Field that players will cycle through for interviews over the course of the week. Each team handles this process differently, with some sending 10-plus members of the front office to participate in interviews and others sending just a handful of representatives from the amateur scouting department. In addition, some teams narrow their list of interviews to a few dozen players of interest, while others try to squeeze as many intel-gathering conversations into the week as possible. While these discussions take place behind closed doors, they can impact a team's draft board just as much as what takes place on the field. Which players will be in Phoenix? More than 300 draft-eligible players accepted invitations to attend the combine, including 174 of MLB Pipeline's Top 200 prospects for this year's class. A little more than half of the players in attendance will be from the collegiate ranks, with 90 schools sending players to the combine, ranging from Division I powerhouses to ascendant mid-majors to some junior colleges and even a Division III program in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The rest will be prep players hailing from high schools in 31 different states, plus a right-handed pitcher from Washington D.C., four players from Puerto Rico and two from Canada. Advertisement Tennessee (eight combine invitees) and Florida State (seven) will be the programs most represented at Chase Field, with each school's headliner an elite southpaw: Volunteers ace Liam Doyle and Seminoles star Jamie Arnold. Neither is slated to throw on-field this week, but their presence will highlight one of the biggest storylines of next month's draft: A trio of top-tier college left-handers — Doyle, Arnold and LSU lefty Kade Anderson — are expected to be selected in the first few picks, in some yet to be determined order. Anderson, who pitched brilliantly for the Tigers on Saturday in their opening game in the Men's College World Series, is still in Omaha as the Tigers push for a national championship and thus won't be in attendance at the combine. Arnold entered the spring as the clear-cut favorite to be drafted first among this group, while Doyle and Anderson soared up boards this spring. Beyond the premier lefties, another feature of the top of this year's draft is a notably stronger crop of high school talent than in last year's class, which produced just two prep picks among the first 15 selections: SS/CF Konnor Griffin at No. 9 and SS Bryce Rainer at No. 11 (both of whom were at last year's combine). This year could see five prep players taken within the first 10 picks, including a pair of high school teammates in right-hander Seth Hernandez and shortstop Billy Carlson. Co-stars at Corona High School in southern California, Hernandez and Carlson delivered on massive hype for a powerhouse Panthers team that went 28-3, and they've positioned themselves to hear their names called extremely early in the first round. Those two will be at the combine, as well as another candidate from the prep ranks to go in the top 10, shortstop JoJo Parker from Purvis High School in Mississippi. Unfortunately, the two best high school players in the class — Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits, infielders from Oklahoma with fathers who played in the big leagues — will not be at the combine. Still, this group of prep stars promises to give the teams picking at the top a lot to think about. How can I follow along? MLB Network is broadcasting the combine starting Tuesday, with coverage of the workouts taking place on the field as well as interviews with some of the top players in attendance. I will also be there Tuesday and Wednesday, so stay tuned for more Yahoo Sports coverage from Phoenix.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Draft Combine 2025: Everything you need to know as the Combine begins in Phoenix
PHOENIX — This week, hundreds of the best amateur prospects eligible for the 2025 MLB Draft will descend upon Chase Field to participate in the fifth annual MLB Draft Combine. With the first two rounds of the draft scheduled to commence July 13 during All-Star weekend in Atlanta, this is a premier opportunity for players to boost their stock in the weeks leading up to the 20-round draft. Here's everything you need to know to get ready for the MLB Draft Combine. What is the MLB Draft Combine? The combine is a multi-day event in which players eligible to be selected in the upcoming draft participate in organized workouts, medical evaluations and interviews with a range of club personnel as a streamlined, league-sanctioned process through which players can showcase their skills on the field and personalities off it to all 30 MLB organizations. Advertisement The first two days will feature on-field workouts and a formal scrimmage featuring exclusively high school players, and the remaining days will include strength and conditioning assessments, medical reviews and interviews between players and club personnel. How long has this been a thing? Don't feel bad if you're unfamiliar with this event. This is only the fifth year MLB has held a draft combine and only the third time it has taken place at Phoenix's Chase Field, with the inaugural showcase held in Cary, North Carolina, in 2021 and the second set at San Diego's Petco Park in 2022. While the MLB Draft dates to 1965, only recently have the event and the process surrounding it become more accessible to fans and more promoted by the league. Unlike the NFL or NBA Drafts, which have been television spectacles for decades, it wasn't until 2009 that the MLB Draft was televised. From 2009 to 2020, the draft — or, at least, the first couple of rounds — took place in early June at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. In 2021, MLB pushed the draft back a month and made it part of All-Star weekend, creating the opportunity for fans to attend the draft that Sunday evening. This has helped make the scene on television (and in person) more like that of the other major sports leagues' drafts, albeit on a smaller scale. Advertisement Solidifying the combine as a crucial week on the baseball calendar represents the latest effort from MLB to grow awareness and hype for its draft among fans, and it's an obvious opportunity to highlight the amateur players who hope to become stars at the big-league level. What happens at the combine? On Tuesday and Wednesday, Chase Field will be packed with players cycling through batting practice and bullpen sessions, all of which will be monitored by the same motion-tracking technology used during big-league games. Players who choose to participate in the on-field workouts will produce data such as exit velocities, launch angles and projected distances for batted balls for hitters and velocity, movement and spin for pitchers. For some high school players, this will be their first time performing in a setting that allows for these measured evaluations, affording them the chance to separate themselves from their peers by hitting certain benchmarks. Advertisement On Tuesday evening, a selection of high school players will compete in a game, affording scouts the opportunity to see prospects perform in a live setting beyond batting practice and bullpen sessions. This is a particularly valuable opportunity for prep players who hail from areas where the competition is lesser than it is in, say, Florida or California, as they can showcase their skills in a game setting against a higher caliber of peers. Because collegiate prospects have significantly more chances to prove themselves against higher levels of competition over the course of an NCAA season, there is less incentive to organize an official game for those players at the combine. To that end, even beyond the game, the high school players in attendance are more likely to participate in on-field workouts because they have more to gain by demonstrating their pure physical abilities than college players, who have a much larger sample of statistics on which their evaluations are already based. Performances and interviews at this week's combine could go a long way in determining next month's MLB Draft order. (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports) (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports) On Thursday and Friday, players will undergo a series of strength and conditioning assessments that track a vast array of physical traits, from foot speed and grip strength to agility, vision and much, much more. Advertisement Beyond the workouts on the field, arguably the most important element of the event is the chance for teams to meet players individually and get to know them, a vital process for both sides to feel comfortable before offering or agreeing to a multi-million-dollar bonus in the first few rounds of the draft. The statistics and physical attributes sometimes only go so far for a prospect; it's absolutely imperative that a team feels confident in a player's potential to get the most out of his natural ability as he enters the grind of professional baseball. While area scouts meet with players throughout the year, no other event affords the opportunity for this many front office personnel to sit down in person with this many draft-eligible prospects over a short period of time. Each MLB club has its own suite at Chase Field that players will cycle through for interviews over the course of the week. Each team handles this process differently, with some sending 10-plus members of the front office to participate in interviews and others sending just a handful of representatives from the amateur scouting department. In addition, some teams narrow their list of interviews to a few dozen players of interest, while others try to squeeze as many intel-gathering conversations into the week as possible. While these discussions take place behind closed doors, they can impact a team's draft board just as much as what takes place on the field. Which players will be in Phoenix? More than 300 draft-eligible players accepted invitations to attend the combine, including 174 of MLB Pipeline's Top 200 prospects for this year's class. A little more than half of the players in attendance will be from the collegiate ranks, with 90 schools sending players to the combine, ranging from Division I powerhouses to ascendant mid-majors to some junior colleges and even a Division III program in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The rest will be prep players hailing from high schools in 31 different states, plus a right-handed pitcher from Washington D.C., four players from Puerto Rico and two from Canada. Advertisement Tennessee (eight combine invitees) and Florida State (seven) will be the programs most represented at Chase Field, with each school's headliner an elite southpaw: Volunteers ace Liam Doyle and Seminoles star Jamie Arnold. Neither is slated to throw on-field this week, but their presence will highlight one of the biggest storylines of next month's draft: A trio of top-tier college left-handers — Doyle, Arnold and LSU lefty Kade Anderson — are expected to be selected in the first few picks, in some yet to be determined order. Anderson, who pitched brilliantly for the Tigers on Saturday in their opening game in the Men's College World Series, is still in Omaha as the Tigers push for a national championship and thus won't be in attendance at the combine. Arnold entered the spring as the clear-cut favorite to be drafted first among this group, while Doyle and Anderson soared up boards this spring. Beyond the premier lefties, another feature of the top of this year's draft is a notably stronger crop of high school talent than in last year's class, which produced just two prep picks among the first 15 selections: SS/CF Konnor Griffin at No. 9 and SS Bryce Rainer at No. 11 (both of whom were at last year's combine). This year could see five prep players taken within the first 10 picks, including a pair of high school teammates in right-hander Seth Hernandez and shortstop Billy Carlson. Co-stars at Corona High School in southern California, Hernandez and Carlson delivered on massive hype for a powerhouse Panthers team that went 28-3, and they've positioned themselves to hear their names called extremely early in the first round. Those two will be at the combine, as well as another candidate from the prep ranks to go in the top 10, shortstop JoJo Parker from Purvis High School in Mississippi. Unfortunately, the two best high school players in the class — Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits, infielders from Oklahoma with fathers who played in the big leagues — will not be at the combine. Still, this group of prep stars promises to give the teams picking at the top a lot to think about. How can I follow along? MLB Network is broadcasting the combine starting Tuesday, with coverage of the workouts taking place on the field as well as interviews with some of the top players in attendance. I will also be there Tuesday and Wednesday, so stay tuned for more Yahoo Sports coverage from Phoenix.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Clemson players, prospects who are participating in the 2025 MLB draft combine
Clemson players, prospects who are participating in the 2025 MLB draft combine The MLB Draft Combine kicks off Tuesday at noon (EDT) in Phoenix, and Clemson will once again have a presence at the event. Per Baseball America, outfielder Cam Cannarella, standout transfer Ryan Wideman, and incoming signees Dax Kilby (SS) and Nick Frusco (LHP) are among the attendees. Cannarella and Kilby have both drawn Day 1 draft projections, with currently projecting Cannarella to go No. 38 overall to the Mets. Cannarella is the highest-ranked among the four, coming in at No. 39 on prospect list. Kilby follows at No. 79, Wideman at 155, and Frusco is currently unranked. Wideman, a Clemson legacy, recently transferred from Western Kentucky and joins Cannarella in earning All-American recognition for the 2024 season. calls Kilby 'one of the more polished high school bats' with second-round potential if he's signable. Cannarella is praised for his elite bat-to-ball skills, though there are questions about his power and swing discipline. Wideman is described as a highly athletic, toolsy outfielder, but scouts have concerns about his approach and contact quality. Last year, three Clemson-affiliated players attended the combine—two (Will Taylor and Austin Gordon) were drafted, while two signees enrolled at Clemson. The MLB Draft Combine includes medical evaluations, interviews with club executives, and media opportunities. MLB Network will begin live coverage at noon Tuesday. This year's MLB Draft is scheduled for July 13–14 during All-Star Week in Atlanta. Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
New York Times
06-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Twins' Luke Keaschall eager to resume march to majors that started with meaningful meeting
The success rate for draftees reaching the big leagues is still minimal enough that Sean Johnson never makes prognostications about a player's potential. The Twins assistant general manager has scouted enough 'can't-miss' prospects who missed, so he refrains from predicting a big-league career for anyone. Advertisement Luke Keaschall's cool and calm demeanor changed that. During his interview with the Twins at the 2023 MLB Draft Combine, Keaschall made such a strong impression on the team's draft room that Johnson immediately declared he was bound for the majors. Less than two years later, Keaschall, whom the Twins selected with the 49th pick in the 2023 draft, is on the verge of making Johnson look astute. Ranked the No. 62 prospect this year by The Athletic, Keqschall is healthy and undeterred after Tommy John surgery in August interrupted a 2024 season in which he was named the Twins' minor league player of the year. Nearly back at full strength, Keaschall is looking to resume a march that could land him in the majors before season's end. 'I turned to our group and I'm like, 'I'll never say this again, but that guy's a big leaguer — that's just how they act,'' Johnson said of the combine meeting. 'That's the only time I've done that. 'The way (Keaschall is) wired, he walks away from you and you think, 'That guy's going to play in the big leagues.' He's free-minded, he doesn't have a lot of clutter in his brain, he's fearless, he can handle failure. Just a tough kid who's also super humble, but on the field, he's an animal.' Though he's gone hitless this spring since singling in two runs in his first at-bat, Keaschall continues to make a good impression. Seated near Carlos Correa, Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda in the clubhouse, Keaschall is soaking up all the information he can to prepare for his minor-league season. Despite going 1-for-10, with two steals, Keaschall looks the part. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli likes the nice, short stroke that's helped Keaschall produce a .901 OPS in 604 professional plate appearances. '(His swing is) very direct to the ball,' Baldelli said. 'He's got a very short swing. There is some strength to his body, his hands and to the swing itself. And he can run on top of that. He's a good athlete. He's going to be an exciting player to watch. It's a very nice intro for him.' The only thing to slow Keaschall thus far in his career is his right elbow. At the start of last season, Keaschall and the Twins knew the second baseman's right elbow was at least partially torn. An MRI in April confirmed a full tear and showed Keaschall would need surgery. Determined to stay in the lineup, Keaschall was the designated hitter in 67 of 103 games, batting .303/.420/.483 with 15 home runs, 48 RBIs and 23 steals in 464 plate appearances between High A and Double A. When he did play defense, Keaschall tried to improve his routes, jumps and positioning to minimize his physical limitations. Advertisement 'I wanted to get the most out of last season while not jeopardizing this season,' Keaschall said. 'I knew I wasn't going to have the best arm, so I had to make it up in other ways. Take better angles on balls, groundballs. In the outfield, range up a little bit better.' Keaschall and the club determined having surgery in August would limit his missed playing time. After spending several weeks in a cast, Keaschall resumed hitting as soon as possible. He began throwing in December and recently said he hopes to return to the field by mid-to-late March. After playing 59 games at Double-A Wichita, Keaschall could be ticketed to start the season at Triple-A St. Paul. All seven of Keaschall's spring appearances have come as the designated hitter. Being a temporary DH doesn't appear to bother Keaschall, who projects to play anywhere from second base to outfield to first base. 'I like to hit,' Keaschall said. 'I'll play wherever they want me to play.' Keaschall's unflappable nature comes as no surprise to the Twins. They saw it in the interview room in June 2023 but learned of his ability to adapt while scouting him. 'He wants it,' Johnson said. 'He's extremely driven.' Keaschall wasn't recruited heavily in high school, describing himself as a 'little booger' who weighed only 106 pounds as a freshman. He estimates he grew to 5 foot 8, 140 pounds as a junior, but not in time to get invited to any of amateur baseball's premier showcase events. Keaschall accepted an offer to play Division I baseball at nearby University of San Francisco before his senior year, but any chance of receiving late offers evaporated when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the season. None of the obstacles mattered. With no games to play, Keaschall created a home gym out of telephone poles in his backyard and focused on lifting, increasing his weight to 165 pounds before graduation. The summer before attending USF, Keaschall reacclimated to baseball and played for the San Francisco Seals, a collegiate-travel ball program. In college, he increased his exposure through stellar play, starting and starring as a freshman for USF and transferring to Arizona State before his junior season. Advertisement A growth spurt to 6 feet, 190 pounds and an incredible junior season at ASU in which he batted .353/.443/.725 with 15 homers led to an invitation to MLB's combine. Over two days, Keaschall participated in more than 20 interviews. His strategy was to keep things simple and sell himself. Everything would happen the way it was supposed to. The strategy clearly won over the Twins, who a month later gave Keaschall a $1.5 million signing bonus. 'It was a cool experience,' Keaschall said. 'You try to stay present the best you can and be yourself. I just went in there and I had normal conversation with normal people. … I didn't try and put up some facade or try and act like someone else. Just being myself, and if they like me, cool, if they don't, that's their problem.' Reliever Justin Topa is out with right shoulder tightness after exiting Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of the sixth inning. Topa threw seven pitches, surrendering a solo home run ahead of his removal. Baldelli said the Twins took a preliminary look at the right-hander and would have more information in a day or two. Topa battled knee and forearm injuries last season and was limited to three scoreless appearances after being acquired in the January trade that shipped Jorge Polanco to Seattle. 'We'll see how he responds tomorrow and see how he comes in,' Baldelli told reporters in Fort Myers, Fla. 'It's obviously not something you're looking to see, but we're not going to jump to any conclusions. … It's not overly serious the way he talks about it, but he did feel something he didn't like.' • Baldelli was excited when describing Brock Stewart's first spring outing. Stewart allowed a run but maxed out at 97.5 mph during a 22-pitch performance. 'I thought Brock was the highlight of the day,' Baldelli said. 'The stuff looked like vintage Brock Stewart. … He was pumped to be back out there on the mound.' • Correa singled in his first at-bat, ending an 0-for-10 start to the spring. He finished 1-for-3. • Royce Lewis and Ty France each went 2-for-3 in the losing effort, the latter raising his spring average up to .538.
