Published May 8, 2020
Where South Carolina players, signees fall in latest draft rankings
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Collyn Taylor  •  GamecockScoop
Beat Writer
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@collyntaylor

With each passing week, there seems to be a little more clarity on the MLB Draft in terms of when it'll be and how many rounds it will included.

So, as things inch closer about a month out from the scheduled start of the draft, more and more outlets are beginning to look at which guys will go in the first round.

Both PerfectGame and MLB.com released mock drafts recently and BaseballAmerica updated its top 500 prospects list with plenty of Gamecocks included and on the rise.

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Carmen Mlodzinski is the headliner of the group, checking in at No. 25 overall in Baseball America's latest update and is still projected to go by most in the first round of this year's draft.

Also see: Iriel checks "all the right boxes" for South Carolina

He could slip until the compensatory picks at the end of the first round or to round two, but both MLB.com and PerfectGame have Mlodzinski going No. 25 overall to the Atlanta Braves in their latest mock drafts.

After a stellar Cape Cod League summer, Mlodzinski was the team's ace before the season was shut down and finished the year with a 2.84 ERA and 22 strikeouts to five walks.

He's not alone on this year's team with guys on the current team who will have some professional attention this summer when the draft starts.

Baseball America has two pitchers soaring up its top 500 prospects list with Thomas Farr up 80 spots to No. 157 overall and Brannon Jordan up 96 spots to 175 in the latest update.

Both guys were in the rotation when the season ended with Farr sporting a 3-0 record with a 1.72 ERA at season's end while Jordan was one of the best pitchers in the SEC through four weeks, going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA, 32 strikeouts and a .104 batting average against.

Noah Campbell, who hit .256/.370/.410 with 10 RBI this spring, comes in at No. 330 and Andrew Peters, who only pitched 2.1 innings this season coming off Tommy John surgery, is on the list at No. 459.

Also see: Why Israel Mukuamu's stock is so high this offseason

As for the signing class, eight members of the 20-man recruiting class cracked the top 500 with the highest being junior college lefty Luke Little at No. 118. Little has made social media headlines the last few weeks with his insane fastball, topping out at 105 Friday.

Outfielder Brandon Fields comes in at No. 136, followed closely by left-handed pitcher Jackson Phipps at No.169 and righty Will Sanders at 192.

In-state lefty Mag Cotto comes in at No. 215 with catching signee Alek Boychuk behind him at 254.

Shortstop Jalen Vasquez (306) and Josh Shuler are the final two Gamecock commits on the list as well.

The MLB Draft right now is scheduled for early June and, while the exact length of the draft is still unknown, it's looking more likely it'll be five rounds but there is a possibility it goes to 10.

If that's the case, the Gamecocks should get the majority of their top-10 ranked recruiting class to campus.