Brian Anderson checks a ton of boxes: arm, defensive versatility, speed, power, size, approach, and bat speed in excess. All aforementioned tools are at least average, so the only real question is how much he’ll actually hit going forward. My total not a comp comparison for him is JaCoby Jones, both in terms of talent level and draft floor. This may be an oversimplification, but Alex Blandino has almost the opposite scouting profile: not crazy toolsy, but born to hit. If he keeps doing what he’s done so far this spring, he’ll likely find himself atop this list by June.
After A and B, there’s C. Branden Cogswell follows Anderson and Blandino because of his solid all-around skill set and outstanding plate discipline. I’m not quite there in proclaiming him, or anybody following him on the list for that matter, a future regular in the big leagues due to his limited power ceiling, but I do enjoy scooping up quick-moving, valuable bench contributors from college after most of the upside gambles are off the board.
As mentioned above, there really is a significant gap between Anderson/Blandino (easy to see starter upside) and the rest of the 2B class (likely backups, but some good ones). I’m not saying that you could put the next dozen names or so and a hat and pull a perfectly acceptable order, but I’m not saying you can’t, either.
I genuinely like the two seniors (Ross Kivett and Kyle Ruchim) as top ten round targets that can both save you some dough and give you a potentially useful role player going forward. Kivett is the more famous prospect – still shocked he didn’t sign as a tenth rounder last year – and his speed, smarts, and sneaky pop make him fun to watch. Ruchim is less well-known, but, in my view, no less talented. I actually had Ruchim as high as fourth on original iterations of this list because of my appreciation of his approach, defense, versatility (fine in both SS and CF in a pinch), and the always comforting fallback plan on the mound (low-90s FB and SL that flashes plus).
The juniors are an interesting class at the top as I think there are more tools here than in most years. Gunnar Heidt’s flashes of power, Austin Davidson’s pedigree, Caleb Whalen’s offensive upside, Casey Turgeon’s glove and baseball IQ, Trent Gilbert’s swing, Grant Kay’s breakthrough, and Frankie Ratcliff’s redemption (I’m cheating since he’s a senior but go with it) are all worth following this spring. Really like Jace Conrad’s underrated speed/glove/approach/experience vibe; Caden Bailey’s tools aren’t quite at that level, but he’s above-average in those areas all the same. There are many others that I’d love to write about like Dante Flores (another pedigree guy), old favorite Steve Wilkerson, Stephen Ventimilia (love his athleticism and energy), and Ivy League star Thomas Roulis, but I need to cut myself off before I put people to sleep. One last name that I’ll be very curious to see gets drafted is Kevin Kramer, a good prospect who is out in 2014 (shoulder) yet still might be worth a mid-round pick if deemed even remotely signable. I’d guess he’s back at UCLA in 2015, but you never know.
- Arkansas JR 2B/SS/OF Brian Anderson
- Stanford JR 2B/3B Alex Blandino
- Virginia JR 2B/SS Branden Cogswell
- College of Charleston JR 2B/SS Gunnar Heidt
- Pepperdine JR 2B/SS Austin Davidson
- Kansas State SR 2B Ross Kivett
- Northwestern SR 2B/RHP Kyle Ruchim
- Portland JR 2B/OF Caleb Whalen
- Florida JR 2B/SS Casey Turgeon
- Arizona JR 2B Trent Gilbert
- Louisville JR 2B Grant Kay
- Houston SR 2B Frankie Ratcliff
- Louisiana-Lafayette JR 2B Jace Conrad
- Georgia State JR 2B/SS Caden Bailey
- Long Island-Brooklyn SR 2B/SS John Ziznewski
- USC JR 2B Dante Flores
- UC Davis rJR 2B/OF Tino Lipson
- North Carolina State JR 2B/3B Logan Ratledge
- Clemson SR 2B/SS Steve Wilkerson
- Nebraska JR 2B/SS Pat Kelly
- Hawaii JR 2B Stephen Ventimilia
- Western Carolina JR 2B/3B Brad Strong
- Dartmouth JR 2B/SS Thomas Roulis
- UCLA JR 2B/3B Kevin Kramer
- Mississippi State SR 2B Brett Pirtle
- Washington JR 2B/3B Robert Pehl
- South Alabama rJR 2B Logan Kirkland
- Wisconsin-Milwaukee JR 2B Michael Porcaro
- Northeastern JR 2B/SS Jason Vosler
- UC Riverside JR 2B/OF Joe Chavez
- Charlotte JR 2B/SS Mikal Hill
- Bradley rSO 2B Chris Godinez
- Georgia Tech JR 2B/SS Thomas Smith
- UNC Wilmington SR 2B Luis Renvill
- Indiana JR 2B/OF Casey Rodrigue
- Miami SR 2B/SS Alex Hernandez
- Charlotte JR 2B/OF Brad Elwood
- Georgia Tech SR 2B/SS Mott Hyde
- Maine SR 2B/SS Troy Black
- Richmond SR 2B Adam Forrer
- Arizona State JR 2B/SS Drew Stankiewicz
- South Florida JR 2B/SS Kyle Teaf
- San Diego State SR 2B Tim Zier
- Georgia JR 2B/SS Nelson Ward
- Texas A&M JR 2B/SS Blake Allemand
- The Citadel JR 2B Mason Davis
- Cal State Bakersfield SR 2B Oscar Sanay
- Elon SR 2B/SS Sebastian Gomez
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff SR 2B/SS Isias Alcantar
- Loyola Marymount JR 2B/SS David Edwards
- Oklahoma JR 2B/SS Josh Ake
- Texas JR 2B Brooks Marlow
- North Carolina Greensboro rSO 2B/OF Benigno Marrero
- Tennessee Tech JR 2B/SS Dylan Bosheers
- San Jose State SR 2B Jacob Valdez
- Wichita State SR 2B/SS Dayne Parker
- Oregon SR 2B Aaron Payne
- Maryland JR 2B Andrew Amaro
- UC Riverside JR 2B/SS Alex Rubanowitz
- Youngstown State SR 2B/SS Phil Lipari
- Baylor rSR 2B Lawton Langford
- UCLA SR 2B/OF Kevin Williams
- Stanford SR 2B/RHP Brett Michael Doran
- Stanford SR 2B/SS Danny Diekroeger
- Oregon State SR 2B/SS Andy Peterson
- Tennessee Tech SR 2B/SS Zach Zarzour
- Nicholls State SR 2B Phillip Lyons
- Monmouth SR 2B/SS Jake Gronsky
- Binghamton SR 2B Daniel Nevares
- Radford JR 2B Josh Gardiner
- Rice JR 2B/SS Ford Stainback
- Nebraska-Omaha JR 2B Caleb Palensky
- Mississippi State rJR 2B/OF Demarcus Henderson
- Oral Roberts JR 2B Matt Brandy
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi SR 2B Cody Stephens
- Wright State SR 2B Joe Ford
- North Dakota State SR 2B Wes Satzinger
- Siena SR 2B Vince Citro
- Kentucky SR 2B Matt Reida
- Towson SR 2B Pat Fitzgerald
- McNeese State rJR 2B/SS Connor Lloyd
- Kansas JR 2B Justin Protacio
- Hofstra SR 2B Matt Ford
- Georgetown JR 2B Ryan Busch
- Central Michigan JR 2B Pat MacKenzie
- Xavier SR 2B Selby Chidemo
The Baseball Draft Report 
Tino Lipson does not play 2nd Base for UC Davis. He was an outfielder last year and was playing ss this year before being injured. Steven Patterson was an All Big West Selection (2nd Team) at 2nd Base last year and is their starter this year. Last year he was the 7th hardest to strike out in D1 (10ks in 204 at bats) He is currently leading the team in RBI’s and hitting .312 with an .898 OPS. UC Davis is 11-9 going into conference play next week. This is the first time since 2008 they have been 2 games over .500 this late in the season.
Thanks for the update. I have Lipson down as a 2B/OF and I went with 2B because that’s where I’ve been told his best shot at sticking in pro ball will be. Have Patterson (as mentioned by you, great approach to hitting) down as a 3B/2B, though my notes do say he may be better off at 2B in the pros so I should have included him with that group. Making that switch for my next update. I see conference play hasn’t been all that kind to UC Davis so far, but still really like the way that team plays the game. Patterson and Adam Young look like draft-worthy talents for 2014 for the hitters and I could even see Harry Stanwyck getting popped late due to his size and velocity (control could use just a teeny bit of work though…). Nice college team.
This list is seriously flawed
Appreciate the feedback. Care to elaborate?