The cycle of evaluating prospects for the MLB draft in July is beginning to heat up, even as the college baseball season won’t start until next weekend.
Clemson Tigers outfielder Cam Cannarella is going to be one of the most evaluated college players in this cycle. To some evaluators, he’s a potential first-round pick.
At MLB.com, their prospect evaluation staff put together what it called its All-MLB prospect squad, a collection of the 11 best college players in the country.
Cannarella made the list in the outfield, along with Jace LaViolette, who to many is the No. 1 overall college prospect in this draft, and Brendan Summerhill. Cannarella is MLB.com’s No. 15 prospect in this draft cycle.
The scouts at MLB.com gave him an overall grade of 55, which is on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale, with 80 being perfect. Among his tools as a player, he earned 60s for both his running and his fielding.
If the left-handed hitting center fielder is drafted in the first round, he could become the highest-drafted Tiger in program history. At the moment, the honor of being the highest-drafted player in Tigers history is shared by Billy Spiers (1987) and Tyler Colvin (2006) at No. 13.
He had offseason surgery for a torn labrum and revealed that he played last season with the injury after suffering it on the campaign’s opening weekend.
With the injury, he put together an incredible season, which became more impressive given the circumstances that no one was aware of until after the Tigers’ final game.
With the torn labrum, he batted .337 with 16 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, 60 RBI and 58 runs. He had a .417 on-base percentage in 58 games. He also led the team with 29 multiple-hit games as he secured status as an all-American and all-ACC player.
In his two-year collegiate career, Cannarella has batted .363 with 32 doubles, six triples, 18 homers, 107 RBI, 130 runs, with a .440 on-base percentage and 24 steals in 117 games. During his first year he was named All-ACC Freshman of the Year.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are getting plenty of national attention going into the season, the results of going 44-16 with a 20-10 record in the ACC and reaching the super regionals.
Clemson will head to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, to open the regular season on Feb. 14 to play in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown against Oklahoma State, Arizona and Ole Miss.
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