Wednesday - MLB Draft Notebook: Ben Hess, Charlie Condon, Pirates mock drafts

Alabama righty Ben Hess struggles continues in conference play, Charlie Condon continues to dazzle and some Pirates' picks from recent mock drafts.

When it comes to college pitching, the tiers of those involved are starting to separate more and more, especially now that we are in conference play.

Chase Burns and Hagen Smith have separated themselves as the cream of the crop. Both have had fantastic seasons that could have them entering the top five before too long.

There’s the next tier of pitchers that should compete for a mid-to-late first-round pick - Trey Yesavage and Jonathan Santucci among those we’ve talked about on here.

One we haven’t gotten to yet is Alabama right-hander Ben Hess.

He currently ranks 24th on Baseball America, 45th on MLB Pipeline, and 33rd on Future Star Series (FSS). When Baseball America recently conducted a mock draft, they had Hess going to the Atlanta Braves with the 24th overall pick.

There’s a lot to like about Hess; he has a four-pitch mix and has a frame that you want to see out of a pitcher - standing at 6’5” and 255 pounds.

The fastball is in the mid-90s and has reached 99 before, and both of his breaking pitches should be at least ‘50’ grade offerings, with the slider trending toward being plus.

It’s been a little more challenging since getting into conference play. After two starts, Hess has allowed nine earned runs on nine hits and six walks while striking out 12 across 7.2 innings pitched.

His last start against Georgia was the first time I saw him pitch, and things probably couldn’t have started worse.

Hess needed nearly 40 pitches to get through the first and had allowed four earned runs before recording an out. He started the game by allowing a home run, hitting a batter, a single, and another home run.

There were some control issues, more than the one walk would allude to, but Hess battled hard in that outing.

While obviously, you want to see a better overall performance, the fact that Hess could keep things in line for the rest of the outing was impressive. Now and again, when you don’t have your best stuff, you still have to find a way to get outs, and Hess still went four innings.

The fastball was 95-96 in the first inning, and the curve was the best of his two secondary pitches that day.

It wasn’t the best first watch, but he battled, and that first inning seems like the worst we will see of him.

With his four-pitch mix and ideal frame for a starting pitcher, Hess has some upside; it will just be a matter of how well he commands his pitches.

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It’s been crazy watching Charlie Condon this year. In a year where there wasn’t a clear-cut option at the top of the draft, he’s slowly starting to separate himself.

Reading reports on him at the beginning of the season mentioned potential swing-and-miss issues and not having a defensive home.

Not only has he cut back the swing and miss, but he’s also flashing a potential plus hit tool.

Maybe he won’t be this versatile in pro ball, but he’s shown some athleticism and played third base and center field this year. He made a nice sliding catch against a wall earlier in the season while playing left field.

He answers every question anyone could have had for Condon going into the season, and as he continues to mash in the SEC, he only continues to solidify his status as the top player in the draft.

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Few players can hit what seemed to be a harmless flyball the other way over the fence, but that’s what Jac Caglianone did on Tuesday in Florida’s midweek game against Florida State.

Going back to the LSU series over the weekend, Caglianone has gone 5-15 in his last four games. Four of those hits have been for extra bases (three home runs), and he has driven in six runs.

His raw power is out of this world, and it looks effortless when he swings. If he keeps trending in the right direction when it comes to the chase rate, he’s the guy who can push Condon right now.

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Talking about the Pirates for a minute, Future Star Series and Baseball America each recently conducted mock drafts. Baseball America conducted the first 30 picks, while FSS extended to the comp round, which includes the Pirates’ second choice.

Baseball America had the Pirates taking Konnor Griffin, the top high school player in the draft. They do mention he doesn’t feel like a Pirates type of pick, but he is without the best player available at that point.

As far as FSS, they had the Pirates going with Braden Montgomery at pick nine, then Luke Holman at 37. They say Montgomery has an All-Star upside and maybe has the least defensive-related questions about him among those who could go in the top 10.

Holman has emerged as the Friday night starter for LSU. They like his floor, with an upside that could climb if he gets more swings and misses in the strike zone.