With the 2018 MLB Draft quickly approaching, many teams are gearing up to select the player they hope can prosper into a star, and get them a World Series title. Teams can find anything from rare gems in the later rounds to busts in the first round. In this Last Word On Baseball Draft Profile, we take an in-depth look at pitcher Mason Denaburg.
Last Word On Baseball 2018 MLB Draft Profiles: Mason Denaburg
Denaburg, a right-hander out of Merritt Island High School in Florida, shows tremendous upside. This is assured by the fact that Denaburg played in the 2017 All American Classic, and is a member of the 2018 Rawlings-Perfect Game All-American First Team. Denaburg has also committed to the University of Flordia to play for the Gators. In various mock drafts, Denaburg is either projected to go in the middle or end of the first round, or not in the first round at all. Some of the big question marks around Denaburg include his commitment to being a pitcher or a position player, if he would want to play both football and baseball at Florida, and how his recent biceps injury could affect him in the future.
Strengths
Denaburg’s best pitch is easily his fastball, which has been recorded as hitting 97 miles per hour with little effort by Perfect Game. His mechanics also look to be quite impressive already at his age according to Perfect Game. He has also been compared to Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz by MLB Pipeline because of his strong body in terms of his mechanics, which is a pretty nice compliment and means that Denaburg is capable of tremendous potential.
Weaknesses
According to MLB Pipeline, his curveball is a pitch that he still struggles with, and he also didn’t throw a single curveball during the 2017 National Showcase, which could mean Denaburg isn’t as confident with that pitch just yet. This could also be said about his changeup as it is ranked as Denaburg’s worst pitch by MLB Pipeline. However, Pipeline does say in their scouting report that his changeup is not too far away from becoming a solid pitch in his arsenal.
Final Thoughts
Mason Denaburg is certainly an interesting prospect to watch coming up in the draft. Some mock drafts across the web have Denaburg going in the first round, and some have him falling out of the first round. The main thing that may scare teams away from Denaburg is his biceps injury. To get back into the first round, the 6’4″ pitching prospect will need to prove that he can stay healthy. But if Denaburg can come back fully healthy, he has a very good chance to go in the first round. There are plenty of pitcher needy teams that could consider drafting Denaburg.
The first potential spot that Denaburg could go is at number 13 to the Miami Marlins as predicted by Sporting News. Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline predicts Denaburg to be selected by the Washington Nationals with the 27th overall selection in his latest mock draft.
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