The best prospect at each position is featured in our “starting lineup.” The “starting rotation” is made up of pitchers who are all lumped together in one bit lefty/righty/starter/reliever mess. For the “bench,” we tried to follow the guideline of at least one backup catcher, a backup middle infielder (or two), a backup corner infielder (or two), and at least one reserve outfielder (though typically two). Remaining spots went to the best available pitching prospects who are no doubt thrilled to be a part of our “bullpen.” Add it all up and we should have a 25-man roster of interesting 2012 MLB Draft Prospects from the ACC.

More ACC coverage to come on Thursday or Friday, grad school assignments pending…

Everyday Eight

Miami SR C Peter O’Brien

I’m not the world’s biggest O’Brien fan, but his righthanded power (would love to know his splits to see if a future as a lefty mashing platoon and/or bench option could be in the cards) and plus arm give him two big advantages over the rest of the catchers in the conference.

Clemson JR 1B Richie Shaffer

I’ve waffled back and forth on top ACC first base prospect, but am finally settling on a player not even projected to play first this spring. Long-term, however, I’m pretty confident that first base will be Shaffer’s pro home. Then again, from the “take it for what it’s worth” files, one of my sharper buddies who saw Shaffer in fall ball this year deemed him athletic enough to stick at third base, at least through his first few pro seasons. If nothing else, we know he has the arm (94 peak FB on the mound) for it. His plus raw power and whole-fields approach give him the narrow edge over the underrated Jayce Boyd.

Florida State JR 2B Devon Travis

Travis does everything well. Great athlete, excellent defensive instincts, plus speed, strong arm, and a pro-ready leadoff approach to hitting. I think his upside is that of a viable big league starter at second. The biggest concern I have comes down to what worries me about any second base prospect: in the event his bat isn’t strong enough to handle regular at bats, can he add value at any other position on the diamond? Florida State’s infield is excellent, so there hasn’t been the need to try Travis at anywhere besides second. If he can hold down the fort on the left side of the infield, his overall stock is upgraded due to the boost in his projected floor (utility infielder).

Virginia JR SS Stephen Bruno

Search the archives if you don’t believe me, but I’ve been stubbornly in Bruno’s corner for years. He hasn’t done it at the college level yet due in large part to having to pay his dues while waiting for certain members of Virginia’s talented lineup to turn pro, and Chris Taylor’s current hold on the shortstop job will almost currently keep him from ever playing significant time at the position I project him to play at the next level, but Bruno’s tools are louder than most college middle infielders. He could be the rare example of a player who shows more as a pro than he ever showed in college.

NC State JR 3B Danny Canela

Canela is the best of the conference’s weakest 2012 draft position. 2013 is a different story with Colin Moran (North Carolina), Chase Butler (Georgia Tech), Tyler Palmer (Miami), and Chad Pinder (Virginia Tech) all positioned to be early round picks. Canela’s strong arm allows him to play a little deeper than others at the hot corner, enabling him to increase his so-so range. To his credit, he makes all the plays on balls hit to him. Offensively, he’s got good strength, solid bat speed, and a decent amount of patience. A creative team might try to maximize his value by trying him as a 3B/1B/C hybrid professionally.

Georgia Tech JR OF Brandon Thomas

Florida State SR OF James Ramsey

Wake Forest JR OF Mac Williamson

(EDIT: Georgia Tech SO OF Kyle Wren is an age-eligible sophomore. He was one of my favorite 2013’s, but now vaults to the top of this year’s ACC outfield class. Kid knows how to hit, has that classic patient leadoff hitter approach, and can run down almost anything in center. Definitely my kind of player.)

Not exactly a banner year for ACC outfielders, but Thomas, Ramsey, and Williamson all do enough well to warrant early round draft consideration in 2012. Thomas, the most heralded outfielder in the conference by a long shot, comes by his high praise honestly. I’ve been told his tools have been consistently overrated by the national media (it is admittedly a minority view, but he’s been described to me as a “tweener” outfielder, i.e. not enough power for a corner, not enough speed for center), so I look forward to seeing him for myself this spring. Even as a tweener, he’s still worth mentioning as a great athlete who put up pretty darn impressive numbers last year as a sophomore. Ramsey’s best tool is easily his bat, though I’m not sure there is enough to it if he’s locked into left field always and forever. This is sort of the Devon Travis dilemma all over again: interesting prospect at one position only who is risky because of the unlikelihood of being able to transition to a utility role. Rumors of improved range (better jumps and increased mobility, most notably) and his forthcoming trial in center field for the Seminoles give some hope that he shows enough this spring to get pro teams believing he can at least hold down the fort at center and right. Williamson is another player who I’ve spent a disproportionate (compared to his prospect stock) amount of time writing about over the years. His tools, most notably the arm and power, continue to shine, and his improved approach in 2011, though not yet quite where you’d like to see in terms of BB/K numbers, is encouraging. Rumors of him being tried behind the plate at Wake Forest seem to be officially dead and buried, but I wonder if a pro team might see things differently.

Starting Rotation

Duke JR RHP Marcus Stroman

Georgia Tech JR RHP Buck Farmer

North Carolina JR RHP Michael Morin

Virginia JR RHP Branden Kline

Clemson JR RHP Kevin Brady

Stroman has a big time arm. His mid-90s heat and plus low-80s slider give him enough to thrive in the back of a bullpen, but Duke’s inclination to try him as a starter means we’re all in for an interesting spring. If he can throw either the changeup or cutter for consistent strikes while maintaining his velocity late into games (even if it is 92-94 rather than 95-97), then we could be opening ourselves up to a whole lot of “short righthander!” backlash. I’m in “wait and see” mode with Stroman the Starter, but, as a reliever, he’s a borderline first round talent. Not for nothing, but I’m decidedly in the indifferent towards height camp, as well as the more or less apathetic about arm action and ugly mechanics club. Height helps, sure. I’ll take a pretty delivery over an ugly one, no doubt. But 100+ years of pro ball has shown that pitchers of all shapes and sizes can succeed, and, as for mechanics, so long as the pitcher can repeat whatever they are doing with consistency, I’m happy enough.

If Farmer’s command is right, he could be in store for a huge spring. At his best, he throws four pitches for strikes, three of them (FB, SL, CU) with plus big league upside. Morin is a personal favorite because of his excellent changeup, my preference for the most important pitch in baseball. I’d like to see him tried as a starter professionally, but when he’s allowed to crank it as in short bursts he reminds me a little bit of long-time Phillies reliever and current Reds closer Ryan Madson. Kline’s currently on the bubble when it comes to how pro teams seem him at the next level. He’s currently a very good relief prospect with the potential to be a very good starting pitching prospect. His fastball is solid and his inconsistent but occasionally great low-80s slider intrigues, but (get ready to hear this a lot in the coming months) his chance to start will depend on the continued progression of his changeup as a reliable third pitch. I’m still not sure how Kevin Brady fell to the 17th round in 2011, but Cleveland’s loss is Clemson’s gain. His fastball (up to 96 this past fall, sitting low-90s) has always been a little too straight for my liking, but arm strength that doesn’t come around as often as many teams would prefer. Brady’s secondaries have never wowed me, though bonus points should be given for the fact he has thrown at least three different non-fastball pitches for strikes at varying points in his development. If he can harness one, he’s a rock solid relief prospect. Harness two, and now we’re talking potential mid-rotation starter.

The Bench

North Carolina SR C Jacob Stallings 

Florida State JR 1B Jayce Boyd 

North Carolina JR 1B/OF Cody Stubbs

I would have been comfortable recommending Stallings as early as round 5 last year, so, yeah, you could definitely say I’m an admirer of his game. He has enough strength and patience to contribute at the plate, and his defense is already pro-quality. He could be 2012’s Curt Casali. Duke JR C Jeff Kremer, Virginia Tech rSO Chad Moran, and Clemson JR Spencer Kieboom round out the catching top five.

Picking Shaffer over Boyd was really tough for me, considering my long-standing affection of Boyd’s plus defense and strong plate discipline. He’s one of 2012’s best natural hitters, but his lack of current power has some worried. A little more meat on his bones could result in some of his drives to the gaps sneaking up and over fences. Georgia Tech SR Jake Davies, Virginia Tech rJR Andrew Rash, and Wake Forest 1B Matt Conway also received consideration here.

I’m excited to see what Stubbs does in a full year of ACC ball. His easy power and reputation as a patient hitter remind me a little bit of old favorite Taylor Ard of Washington State. He likely won’t see much time, if any, playing the outfield for the Tar Heels, but he’ll get a boost if scouts believe he can play anywhere else but first.

North Carolina JR 2B/SS Tommy Coyle 

Miami JR SS Stephen Perez

Coyle is right behind Travis for me, and I could see why someone might rate him as the better prospect based on the fact that Coyle’s defense at short is steady enough to be entrusted with everyday duty this spring for Carolina. He offers the similar upside (starting big league second baseman) with perhaps a higher floor (better track record playing other defensive spots besides second). A cleaned up approach could have Perez in line for a huge draft year. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that, speaking strictly on his tools, he is far closer to consensus top college shortstop Deven Marrero than many of the experts believe. His defensive tools are more than adequate to stay at shortstop, but inconsistency making routine plays has hurt him to this point. If he does some on-field growing up, he could sneak his way into the supplemental first.

It was hard leaving solid prospects like Florida State JR SS Justin Gonzalez (really growing on me), Virginia JR SS Chris Taylor (so damn steady across the board), and Georgia Tech SR 2B Conner Winn (anxious to actually see him get on the field) off the list. It was doubly hard not finding a spot for personal favorite Virginia JR Reed Gragnani.

North Carolina JR OF Chaz Frank

We’re going with only one true backup outfielder in Frank so that we could sneak Stubbs’ power bat on to the roster as a 1B/OF swing guy. Frank’s well-rounded offensive game (well, minus the whole power thing) gave him the nod over outfielders with better power reptuations (Virginia Tech’s Tyler Horan, Miami’s Rony Rodriguez, and NC State’s Tarran Senay) who can’t quite match Frank’s defense, speed, and approach to hitting. As nice a prospect as he is, Frank’s inclusion says more about this year’s group of ACC outfielders than it does anything else.

The Bullpen

Clemson JR RHP Dominic Leone 

Clemson JR RHP Scott Firth 

Leone and Firth both throw fastballs that hitters have a hard time squaring up on. They also both throw plus or near-plus changeups. They also both throw solid curveballs. Firth’s hard slider that flashes plus gives a slight advantage, but Leone’s superior performance in 2011 makes him the safer bet going forward.

Miami JR RHP EJ Encinosa 

Encinosa is an example of a guy who just fits his role in the bullpen perfectly. As a starter his stuff is decidedly average, but everything plays up big time for him once he starts letting it go in short bursts. His fastball, both in terms of speed and movement, looks like it is coming from a completely different player. With Marcus Stroman starting, Encinosa could claim the title as best ACC reliever in 2012.

Georgia Tech JR RHP Luke Bard 

With the 387th pick (12th round) in this year’s draft, the Boston Red Sox select Bard, Luke from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

North Carolina JR LHP RC Orlan 

Miami JR RHP Eric Whaley 

Orlan is just me going with my gut. I like his good enough four-seamer, above-average upper-80s cutter, and the two different breaking balls he spins with some consistency. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in tenacity. Eric Whaley is a bit under the radar to those not big on the college game, but his splitter is one of the better pitches of its kind in the amateur ranks. I know I shouldn’t love the splitter like I do, but a childhood of following one — and only one — good Phillie (Curt Schilling) has made me a lifelong fan of the pitch. Whaley has that splitter, a good sinking fastball, a strong track record of success, and a “now” pro body all going for him.

1. RHP Lance McCullers (Jesuit HS, Florida)
2. Stanford SO RHP Mark Appel
3. OF Nick Williams (Galveston Ball HS, Texas)
4. 3B Trey Williams (Valencia HS, California)
5. LSU FR RHP Kevin Gausman
6. Florida SO C Mike Zunino
7. RHP Lucas Giolito (Harvard Westlake HS, California)
8. TCU SO C Josh Elander
9. Texas Tech SO OF Barrett Barnes
10. Arizona State SO SS Deven Marrero
11. Texas A&M SO RHP Michael Wacha
12. Georgia Southern SO OF Victor Roache
13. RHP Walker Weickel (Olympia HS, Florida)
14. RHP Taylore Cherry (Butler HS, Ohio)
15. OF Albert Almora (Mater Academy, Florida)
16. SS Addison Russell (Pace HS, Florida)
17. James Madison SO OF Johnny Bladel
18. Rutgers SO 3B Steve Nyisztor
19. Kentucky SO LHP Taylor Rogers
20. Arkansas FR RHP Ryne Stanek
21. Texas A&M SO OF Tyler Naquin
22. Stanford SO SS Kenny Diekroeger
23. RHP Ryan Burr (Highlands Ranch HS, Colorado)
24. SS/RHP Carlos Correa (Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Puerto Rico)
25. Florida State SO 3B/1B Jayce Boyd
26. RHP Clate Schmidt (Allatoona HS, Georgia)
27. South Carolina SO 1B Christian Walker
28. Jacksonville SO OF Adam Brett Walker
29. Stanford SO OF Jacob Stewart
30. Florida Atlantic SO RHP RJ Alvarez
31. OF Vahn Bozoian (Ayala HS, California)
32. RHP/1B Joey Gallo (Bishop Gorman HS, Nevada)
33. Florida SO LHP Brian Johnson
34. Florida SO SS Nolan Fontana
35. Georgia Tech SO RHP Buck Farmer
36. RHP Lucas Sims (Brookwood HS, Georgia)
37. RHP/1B Kayden Porter (Spanish Fork HS, Utah)
38. Clemson SO 1B Richie Shaffer
39. St. John’s SO OF Jeremy Baltz
40. RHP Tyler Gonzalez (Madison HS, Texas)
41. LHP Hunter Virant (Camarillo HS, California)
42. Stanford SO 3B Stephen Piscotty
43. UCLA SO RHP Scott Griggs
44. Duke SO RHP Marcus Stroman
45. Virginia SO RHP Branden Kline
46. RHP Ty Hensley (Santa Fe HS, Oklahoma)
47. 3B David Thompson (Westminster Christian HS, Florida)
48. OF Anthony Alford (Petal HS, Mississippi)
49. RHP Carson Fulmer (All Saints’ Academy HS, Florida)
50. North Carolina SO RHP Michael Morin
51. Arizona State SO RHP Jake Barrett
52. Vanderbilt SO LHP Sam Selman
53. UCLA FR RHP Eric Jaffe
54. Buffalo SO C Tom Murphy
55. OF Josh Henderson (Home School, Virginia)
56. Connecticut SO 2B LJ Mazzilli
57. OF Rhett Wiseman (Buckingham Browne & Nichols HS, Massachusetts)
58. SS CJ Hinojosa (Klein-Collins HS, Texas)
59. Arizona SO RHP Kurt Heyer
60. St. John’s SO RHP Kyle Hansen
61. Samford SO LHP Lex Rutledge
62. Stanford SO OF Tyler Gaffney
63. Vanderbilt SO OF Connor Harrell
64. OF Jesse Winker (Olympia HS, Florida)
65. RHP Jamie Callahan (Dillon HS, South Carolina)
66. Maine SO RHP Jeff Gibbs
67. LHP Max Fried (Montclair Prep HS, California)
68. Virginia Commonwealth SO RHP Blake Hauser
69. Baylor SO 1B Max Muncy
70. 3B Corey Oswalt (James Madison HS, California)
71. College of Charleston FR OF Daniel Aldrich
72. TCU SO OF Kyle Von Tungeln
73. Florida SO LHP Steven Rodriguez
74. 3B Austin Dean (Klein HS, Texas)
75. Mississippi State SO RHP Chris Stratton
76. Miami SO SS Stephen Perez
77. 2B/C Alex Bregman (Albuquerque Academy, New Mexico)
78. C Chris Harvey (Germantown Academy, Pennsylvania)
79. 3B Rio Ruiz (Bishop Amat HS, California)
80. California SO LHP Justin Jones
81. LHP Matt Crownover (Ringgold HS, Georgia)
82. Texas SO LHP Hoby Milner
83. SS Gavin Cecchini (Barbe HS, Louisiana)
84. RHP Carson Kelly (Westview HS, Oregon)
85. Coastal Carolina SO RHP/SS Josh Conway
86. LHP Matthew Smoral (Solon HS, Ohio)
87. Clemson SO RHP Dominic Leone
88. Oklahoma State SO LHP Andrew Heaney
89. Monmouth SO RHP Pat Light
90. RHP Cody Poteet (Christian HS, California)
91. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi FR RHP Justin Meza
92. SS Jesmuel Valentin Diaz (Puerto Rico Baseball Academy)
93. College of Charleston SO LHP Christian Powell
94. Oregon SO LHP Christian Jones
95. Cal State Fullerton SO RHP Dylan Floro
96. 1B Keon Barnum (King HS, Florida)
97. Arizona State SO RHP Brady Rodgers
98. Texas SO OF/C Jonathan Walsh
99. Georgia Southern SO RHP Chris Beck
100. Arkansas SO RHP DJ Baxendale

A few trends that I’ve noticed while doing some 2012 draft prep work while I finish putting the final touches on a super early 2012 MLB Draft top 100 big board…

• Prospects from non-traditional baseball prospect producing schools will rise up. Big boys from the power conferences like Florida and Stanford, to name just two, will be well represented, but there is high round talent to be found at schools like Georgia Southern, James Madison, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Samford, Maine, and Monmouth as well.
• No high school right handed pitcher has ever gone first overall in the MLB’s Rule 4 Draft, but 2012’s lack of certainty at the top and strong group of high school pitching represents the best chance of this happening in recent memory. Lance McCullers has the requisite big fastball and alarmingly advanced secondary stuff to make a run for the draft’s top spot. Of course, with over a dozen potential first round high school right handers nipping at his heels (I do love Taylore Cherry), he’s far from guaranteed the top spot at his position’s ranking, let alone the overall number one post.
• Speaking of high school pitching, it’s very doubtful that we wait until the last pick of the first round for a prep lefty to go off the board, as in 2011. Matt Smoral, Matt Crownover, Max Fried, and Hunter Virant stand out as potential first round high school southpaws.
• Strong up-the-middle talent will headline the top available college bats on draft day. 2011 was a good year in this area, but players like Mike Zunino and Deven Marrero are ahead of the previous class’ top prospects at this point in everybody’s respective development. Like last year, there is also a strong group of outfielders with the tools to stay in center professionally.
• The words “athleticism,” “athlete,” and “athletic” are all peppered across the early scouting reports of the high school players to watch.
• Another big year is expected from college prospects from the West Coast…sort of. The Pac-10 looks stacked yet again (Stanford, Arizona State, and UCLA are all especially interesting), but the Big West appears rather weak. Some guys will pop up, of course, but down years (from a prospect sense only) from powerhouses Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State hurt the overall draft outlook of the conference.
• This year’s college pitching group is, at this point, average or slightly above-average in terms of overall talent, but, man, looking at some of my preliminary rankings of the 2012 guys makes me really miss/appreciate what we had in 2011. I’m sure I’ll warm up to more ’12 prospects as the months roll by, but players currently ranked in my top five this year (Mark Appel and Kevin Gausman excepted) might not have cracked the top dozen or so last year.
• Texas and California look about as good as we’ve come to expect (for better or worse) in terms of impact high school talent, but Florida and Puerto Rico both look outstanding, both in terms of high-end talent and depth. A handful of “cold weather” states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts also show the early possibility of producing multiple early round selections.
• Finally, and most excitingly, there is little to no consensus to be found on almost any prospect position group in the 2012 draft class. Part of this is timing — hard to make any firm commitments to players eleven months ahead of draft day — but the wide open nature of the 2012 prospect group is in stark contrast to the top heavy classes of the past three years. Strasburg, Harper, and Rendon (whoops) were all far ahead of the pack even at this point in their respective draft years. Not only is figuring out the top overall prospect a guessing game, but so is figuring out the top college position player, top college pitcher, top high school position player, and top high school pitcher. A case can be made for a half dozen players, at least, in each grouping at this point.