Cubs Draft Prospect Target: Ryan Waldschmidt |
With the NCAA Baseball season officially over and congratulations to the Tennessee Volunteers for capturing the National Championship, it's time to start focusing on the upcoming MLB draft, which will take place in roughly three weeks. Expected to be one of the more intriguing drafts in quite sometime where any one of the top 15 teams could land anyone of the top prospects, things are about to get very interesting soon.
Looking at the most recent mock draft for the Chicago Cubs, once again, it has the Cubs targeting bats and an OF bat. Sure, this team needs offensive and defensive help, but when you pick 14, you take the best player available, and James Tibbs is expected to be the best player available at 14. However, with more mock drafts having him go in the top 10, it leaves the Cubs with other options, and University of Kentucky OF Ryan Waldschmidt is one of those guys. A LF by trade, Waldschmidt hasn't been linked to the Cubs much, if at all, since these mock drafts started, but he is another one of those prospects rising up the board. Currently listed as the 39th best prospect, Waldschmidt put up massive Numbers against the SEC this season, and that alone could see him land higher than expected, as someone will bank on his potential over the talent level. The 6-2, 205-pound right-handed hitter put up solid numbers this season, but his postseason performance put him on the map. For the season, Waldschmidt hit .333 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs while swiping 25 bases. He did that while walking 41 times and striking out 45 times, as he has one of the better eyes at the plate. Waldschmidt has posted a .312 average, 28 homers, 126 RBIs, and 60 steals for his career. One of the better prep starts out of Florida, Waldschmidt, wasn't as highly recruited as you would think, as an injury during his freshman season limited him to DH duties the next few years before losing his senior year due to COVID. Once he made his NCAA debut, Waldschmidt put on a show as he posted a 1.043 OPS in his first college season at the College of Charleston, then dipped to .872 in 2023 after transferring to Kentucky. He was off to a hot start in the Cape Cod League when he stepped in a hole making a throw from the outfield, blew out his left knee, and required ACL surgery that limited him to DH duties in the first three weeks of this season. Since then, Waldschmidt has not only gotten healthy but went on a tear to finish the season as he posted a (.357/.487/.654) slash line entering the tournament. Even if he doesn't come off as one of the best hitters in this class, Waldschmidt has the metrics that attract scouts, and there are not many hitters who can make better contact than him. His patient approach leads to a high walk rate as he doesn't chase pitches. That leads to hard contact to all fields and uses all fields equally well. From a power perspective, most of his damage comes from the pull side, which is something you are starting to see a lot more from college kids. A bat-first prospect, Waldschmidt isn't going to wow you with his glove, although his fielding has gotten a lot better once he started to get healthy. Still considered a subpar left fielder, which isn't something you want to hear, there were several times throughout the season when he showed plus defensive ability, and that alone leads to the overall potential in his game. Initially, third basemen when he was at Charleston, his below-average arm wasn't an ideal fit for the hot corner, thus the move to LF once he transferred to Kentucky. Taking him in the first round could be a reach for the Cubs, but should he be around in the second round when they pick again, this would be one of those picks that could be considered a day-two steal.
