The Dynasty Digest: June 27, 2024

Chris breaks down live looks plus all the top performers across the minors from yesterdays action.

Live Looks

Back for more live looks at Greenville and Hickory last night. But this time was more exciting because I caught Kohl Drake’s first High-A start and he was quite good.

Kohl Drake, LHP, TEX, 23, A+

Drake made his debut with Hickory on Wednesday and was highly impressive. He took a perfect game into the fourth inning before allowing a 106 mph single to Miguel Bleis up the middle. He later allowed a home run to Jhosytnxon Garcia, but was otherwise very good as he allowed just two hits and one earned run across five innings of work.

He did not walk a batter and struck out five while landing 66 percent of his pitches for strikes. He generated ten swinging strikes, with the majority coming on fastballs but also got some ugly swings with a nasty curveball. He added 11 called strikes for a 31 percent CSW.

Drake sat in the 93-95 mph range with his fastball most of the night before ticking down to 92-94 in the fifth. The pitch registered between 15 and 18 inches of IVB with nice horizontal run. Drake’s curve was his second most used offering, sitting in the low-80s with -15 inches of IVB and sweeping action as well.

He did mix an 82 mph changeup with right that played well off his fastball and a slider in the 85-87 mph range.

The former 11th-rounder in 2022 should fully be on radars at this point. He has a 2.37 ERA across 49.1 innings pitched with 79 strikeouts and 15 walks. Drake throws strikes at an above average rate and misses plenty of bats, having a strong arsenal.

Alejandro Osuna, OF, TEX, 21, A+

Every time I see Osuna play live he rakes. No exaggeration, in five games I have seen him live this year, he has 14 hits. Last night, Osuna became the first player in Hickory Crawdad history to hit for the cycle, going 5-5 with 5 RBI. He blasted a fourth inning home run that left the bat at 104 mph before adding a triple off the 420 foot center field wall in the eight inning.

Osuna sprays line drives to all fields well, but he also can get loft and get to the pull side home run power. After having a delayed start to the year, Osuna has played 45 games to this point where he is slashing .272/.339/.486 with nine home runs and ten stolen bases.

While being smaller in stature, Osuna runs well and gives 100 percent effort on every play. He is passionate and plays bigger than his 6’0” frame.

Sebastian Walcott, SS, TEX, 18, A+

Another day, more Walcott love. I have tried to caution people against being low on Walcott all year despite the early season struggles. Seeing him for the seventh game this year was no different than what I have seen all year, other than the fact he left the yard. Considering he turned 18 years old in March, Walcott has been holding his own just fine and has actually been rather dominant over his last month of games.

On Wednesday, Walcott had just one hit, a double, but was robbed by Miguel Bleis who climbed the wall and scorched several other balls. He had four batted balls over 100 mph, topping out at 111 mph. homered and tripled and continues his torrid pace. While a .236/.335/.406 slash line with a 27 percent strikeout rate does not jump off the page, over his last 23 games, Walcott is slashing .323/.356/.570 with three home runs and 14 extra base hits.

Despite what you may think looking at the surface numbers, Walcott makes strong swing decisions and actually makes good contact on pitches in the zone. That doesn't mean he has not been eaten up on good breaking balls, but Walcott has all the traits you want to see in a top prospect. A 6’4” frame, elite bat speed and power, and solid speed as well. If your league mates are down on him, buy. This looks like a top 25 prospect to me.

Jhostynxon Garcia, OF, BOS, 21, A+

Garcia, better known as “The Password” thanks to some great people on Twitter like InsideFastball and Dukeswasmyguy, left the yard for the eight time in 21 games since joining the Drive. He is up to 13 home runs on the year in 45 games.

Garcia has easy power and controls the barrel well. He lifts the ball with ease and rarely puts the ball on the ground. The contact rates are average and he handles fastballs extremely well. He has quite a filled-out frame, and I wonder if he will be able to handle the outfield long term. With Miguel Bleis in Greenville, Garcia has moved to a corner or DH’d.

The profile is a lot of fun and the power outburst this year has been a welcomed sight after he hit just four last year. The home run last night left the bat at 108 mph, showing the real juice he has.

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