Some things always stay the same in a league that moves as fast as the WPBL. Pocatello staking their presence at the top, teams like the Truckers and Atoms on the hunt, and a revolving door of other teams looking to meander through the short WPBL regular season and challenge the WPBL’s pre-eminent contenders at the top. But then and again, we do see change. With the recent expansion of the WPBL to Gillette and Coeur d’Alene or even the move the Ospreys took to Great Falls, we have constant reminders of the change that *does* take place in our world of baseball. However, of all the things that will never change, it is the annual WPBL entry draft that we look to, a chance, and an excuse for some, to look towards to the future of the WPBL. As the league nears a decade in age, we can start to look to some shining examples of how 8 years of drafting have led to the league we have today. From the league’s early days come stars such as Geoff Healy, and Danny Schumacher and Gregg Herfurth, the twin aces of the Lake Tahoe Mustangs and coming from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 drafts respectively. However, the early drafts stood out for a lack of star power and have largely led to a league made up of former International Free Agents, but in recent times, we’ve seen rapid changes. In the last season alone, 8 of the top 20 hitters by WAR were of the age 25 or younger, and this has presented a youth movement of sorts in the WPBL, and in this 2028 draft, we largely saw a continuation of this trend, as this draft has presented a level of depth that we have never seen before, in names such as Dane Wheeler, Logan Kellenberger, Jayden Anderson, George Matthews, and even 2nd and 3rd round talent of the likes of Jeff Pistone and Jon Oney. This is a changing league, and the draft is at the forefront of that change. We are only beginning to see the start of that change. Of things that do never change, Astoria Fighting Chinooks are picking first overall.
Astoria Fighting Chinooks - 1: 2B/OF Dane Wheeler - A+
The Astoria Fighting Chinooks are a team with a devastating habit of passing on a high ceiling for a high floor, even from first overall. However, for the first time in ages, it feels as though they have bucked the trend, making what seems like the best possible pick at the top of the draft. Dane Wheeler has enviable talent if that wasn’t clear. His frame will surprise most scouts, as he stands 6 feet and 2 inches tall weighing only 160 lbs, but don’t let that mislead you because Dane “Daddy O” Wheeler can do it all. Scouts around the league are in love with Wheeler’s bat, and most project him to have a near-perfect ability to hit the ball, put it in the gaps, and pull it out of the park, as his pull-heavy swing is perfect for hitting line drives, and his hitting upside is near unprecedented in WPBL history. Apart from his potential 80-grade ability to hit for contact, gap, and power, scouts also project that he will be able to be a very patient hitter at his peak, capable of walking at plus rates and keeping K’s decent low. Additionally, the defensive versatility that Dane Wheeler provides makes him an incredibly alluring pick, especially for a team like Astoria that is loaded in the outfield as things stand. At his peak, he can probably contend for gold gloves at second base and the corner outfield spots, while likely being able to provide plus defense at the center field position. However, despite his incredible range in both the outfield AND infield, Wheeler’s arm will probably prevent him from being able to play shortstop, the hot corner, or gold-glove-caliber defense in center field.Apart from his arm, the biggest weakness that shows in Dane Wheeler’s game is his baserunning. Though he does possess lightning-quick speed, scouts have expressed that he is far from natural on the bases, and that may lead to mindless errors on the basepaths and poor base-stealing metrics. As for his floor, while his defensive versatility gives him a chance even if his bat doesn’t reach its fullest potential, he is far from ready, and will likely have to spend two years in the minors before being considered for a call-up to the bigs. Nonetheless, I feel justified in saying that Dane Wheeler very well may be the highest-upside draft prospect in the history of the WPBL, potentially capable of breaking records at his peak with his incredible offensive and defensive upside. Dane’s a hard worker, and for a man like him, such heights seem just a bit more possible.
Comparison: Prime Joey Hoffman
Potential Slash Line: .330/.390/.550
Crescent City Kodiaks - 2: SP George Matthews - A-
Crescent City GM Seth had a lot of directions that he could’ve gone on draft night, but I reckon this was his best option. George Matthews is a young high school southpaw out of North Hempstead, NY, and in a lot of ways, he is reminiscent of some past high school pitching prospects. Some of the bigger names that come to mind are J.J. Brown, Taylor Simkins, or Danny Schumacher, but when I look at George Matthews, I think his prospective journey compares best to Shawn Simpson. Sure, Matthews is a southpaw, but both have similar profiles and will need to beat similar challenges if they want to scale the peaks of Mount WPBL.To start simply, Matthews sports a 4 pitch mix consisting of a fastball, sinker, changeup, and a menacing slider, the weapon that many scouts look at as his best pitch. His arsenal, though not incredible, has been described by many as “enough”, even though he isn’t a power pitcher, like most of WPBL’s elite arms. Instead, scouts project that Matthews’ pitches possess incredible movement and believe that he can duel major league hitters with his pinpoint accuracy and ability to keep the ball on the ground, a fact that will be well aided by his plus-plus sinker. His arsenal is well-developed, especially for an arm of his age, but scouts around the league have expressed that he is a project, as he still has a long way to come in regard to his command and movement potential. However, “Goofy”’s most prominent upside may come in his ability to pitch extremely deep into games and keep men on base from running, an ability that gives him an extremely promising ceiling if he does reach his full potential.In essence, if George Matthews is able to reach the lofty ceilings that league scouts have projected for him, he could very well become the league’s best pitcher, possessing decent strikeout stuff, pinpoint accuracy, and a penchant for being able to mow through lineups, all game long. However, Matthews, who frustrates easily, has a long journey ahead of him, and he and the Kodiaks organization need to be able to navigate through injury concerns to develop him safely into a stud starting pitcher.
Comparison: Gregg Herfurth Performance Projection: 2.75 ERA, 105 IP, 9.5 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.65 HR/9
Great Falls Black Eagles - 3: LF Jayden Anderson: C+
There’s no denying Jayden Anderson’s obvious talent, but in a draft as deep and loaded with defensively viable players as this one, the pick of Jayden Anderson falls a little bit short, to be honest, especially considering the lack of pitching and defensively strong players in the WPBL. To start with the positives, Jayden Anderson is a young, switch-hitting phenom with a ton of room to grow into his frame. He only weighs 195 pounds but scouts profess that his bat packs quite a punch, with many believing that his flyball-oriented swing can carry balls to the warning track and beyond at an extraordinary rate, with scouts rating him as a potential 75-grade power hitter. However, that isn’t all with Anderson, as he should also be able to spray the ball across the outfield for hits, with a projected 80-grade hit tool being among the best of his skills. Additionally, unlike many of the other DH specs in this draft, Anderson has a plus-plus eye, and should likely be able to draw more than 30 walks a season if he reaches his projected WPBL peak. Though Anderson currently possesses a tremendous ability to hit the ball into the gaps, a skill that should help him thrive in the lower minors, his three true outcomes approach at the plate should limit the usefulness of that ability in the major leagues. Undoubtedly, if Anderson reaches his true offensive potential, he could contend for silver sluggers at a crowded DH/LF position leaguewide.However, that’s where it ends with Anderson. Despite his glowing potential with the bat, scouts have expressed some disappointment when it comes to his baserunning abilities, as his poor speed and instincts on the basepaths may prevent him from being able to stretch singles into doubles and may cause errors on the basepaths, something which may prevent him from being able to take advantage of the league’s humongous parks. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, Anderson likely projects at the DH position, as though he has an incredible outfield arm, his poor offensive range and figurative “hole” in his glove could pose a problem in the WPBL’s aforementioned gigantic parks that often require strong defenders at the corners. However, his height at 6’3 and growing frame may open up a spot for Anderson at first base, which could give him a home outside of the DH slot if absolutely necessary.
Comparison: Prime T.J. Ketchum
Potential Slashline: .310/.420/.555
Gillette Bison - 4: LF Tommy Flute: C-
The pick of Tommy Flute is pretty similar to that of Jayden Anderson, but it’s also different. Let me explain why. At first glance, you see a lot of the same things that one can see from Anderson, just entirely from the left side of the plate. Thunderous power and ability to smoke line drives. An incredible ability to just walk, possibly better than even the aforementioned Jayden Anderson. An incredible stroke for getting on base. In the best of Tommy Flute’s high school at bats, scouts saw a kid that could hit the ball better and harder than anyone else at the high school level, and many do in fact believe that it could translate extremely well to the bigs. However, if you couldn’t already tell where this was going, here it is. Even though Tommy Flute has a near-incredible amount of power for his age, there’s just one problem with him at the plate, and it’ll only hurt even more as he begins to face professional, minor league, and then major league hitters. He just can’t stop striking out.Despite the glowing projections for the other parts of his offensive toolkit, scouts have highlighted his propensity for striking out as one major red flag, a part of why I found this pick so surprising at #4. As is, in high school, Tommy Flute struck out in 10% of his at-bats, and scouts believe that he will have a hard time improving that portion of his offensive skillset, as even at his projected ceiling, he is expected to strike out nearly 30% of the time, meaning that Flute will likely be an extremely streaky hitter, and when facing some of the WPBL’s many power pitchers, he will likely have a hard time getting bat on ball.This, along with his lack of defensive ability that will almost certainly limit him to the DH position, will serve as the greatest hurdle in his path to the major leagues. If Tommy Flute is able to reach the heights that scouts have projected for him, he will likely be a talented, though streaky hitter. However, it’s clear that the hitting coaches down in Las Cruces will have to work hard to get Tommy started on his journey toward becoming a big-league hitter.
Comparison: Ben Bush
Potential Slashline: .285/.420/.520
Walla Walla Farmers - 5: 1B/2B Brett Flop-Hopkins - B-
Following the draft live, this is one of the picks that I found particularly perplexing. Brett Flop-Hopkins may very well be the most unique draft prospect that we’ve seen in WPBL history. That isn’t a remark on how good or how bad he may be, just one on his player profile as a whole.Flop-Hopkins is a switch-hitting high school infielder out of Chattanooga, TN, and scouts absolutely rave about his ability to hit the ball. Speaking to young Flop-Hopkins, it’s pretty clear that his mind is on just one thing when he’s at the plate, as he embodies the philosophy of “see the ball, hit the ball” to its absolute max.At the high school level last year, Flop Hopkins averaged an incredible .567 BA at the plate, a mark that is probably a high-school record but I’m not going to bother checking that. It’s safe to say that this mark has impressed scouts league-wide at an incredible rate, as while Dane Wheeler and George Matthews were absolutely dominating the headlines in the leadup to the draft, Flop-Hopkins was the man most-capable of stealing them, and his ability to just get hits could be considered Rose-like (yeah I know he doesn’t exist in WPBL, I don’t really care), as he has a remarkable ability to hit perfect line-drives into the gap as if it’s his second nature, and his remarkable speed and confidence on the base-paths could make him an extra-base hit wonder, even if he doesn’t project to hit more than a handful of home runs every season. Though his ability to steal bases hasn’t exactly garnered headlines, his pure speed on the bases has, and Flop-Hopkins very well may be the high school spec in this draft with the highest floor, as he’s already excelling at the single-A level, hitting .389 at the plate, even though he’s currently going through a rough patch, striking out 23% of the time. It is genuinely safe to say that we do not know just how good Flop-Hopkins could be someday. Hell, could he be the one to hit .400? We just have to wait and see. Now, the only thing that brings his overall outlook down for me is his defense, a story that we’ve seen with the last 3 picks now. Flop-Hopkins’ enviable speed certainly gives him decent infield range that should play at second base, but it is clear that he has a ton of work to do in cleaning up his glove there, as he is error-prone, has a weak arm, and often struggles to convert double plays. Nonetheless, in a league that is as weak in the infield as the WPBL, Flop-Hopkins will likely still find a defensive home at 2B if his bat really does manage to meet all the projections.
Projection: I don’t care if I’m breaking the WPBL “wall” here, Pete Rose, Rod Carew, etc The WPBL just hasn’t ever seen a guy with his kind of profile and upside before
Potential Slashline: .360/.400/.500
Victoria Geese - 6: LF Logan Kellenberger - C+
I know we’re all starting to get weary of me giving low grades to DH picks before singing their praises, but what can I do? Yet again, Logan Kellenberger is a bomber from the right side of the plate, and just like the many other DH bats to precede him in the first round, he’s got an incredible power stroke and a strong ability to get on base, with scouts projecting him to have an 80-grade hit tool. End of the day, he can absolutely slug the ball, and unlike the other DH prospects in this draft, he went to college, and as you might expect, he raked there. He doesn’t quite have the most patient approach at the plate, but he isn’t bad, as he should walk at about an average rate. Like Tommy Flute, Logan Kellenberger also has his struggles when it comes to strikeouts, but he’s already some improvements in that regard in his short stint in single-A ball, and unlike Flute, his projected upside with strikeouts is enough for him to avoid the struggles that the 4th of the draft will have to endure. Kellenberger, though listed at left field, is considered by scouts to be best at 1B, where many projected that he will be average and should be able to limit errors there, to an extent. Because of his defensive abilities at first base, he will likely have a home outside of the DH position, but if he does somehow struggle with injuries in his career, his bat will certainly still carry and contend for silver slugger awards at the crowded designated hitter position. As mentioned earlier, Kellenberger is a college bat, and some scouts believe that he could be ready for the major leagues as soon as next year or the year after.
Comparison: Prime Alejandro Castillo
Potential Slashline: .280/.350/.580
Walla Walla Farmers - 7: SP Devonte Mobley - A+
With their second pick in the draft and the 7th overall, the Walla Walla Farmers finally broke up the trend of picking DHs by selecting Devonte Mobley, a high-upside high school arm out of Grantsville, UT. Even more than George Matthews, Mobley is an arm that devoured his high school competition, amassing 9.8 WAR in 121.1 IP in his senior year of high school. If that isn’t an indication of just how much upside Devonte Mobley possesses, why not listen to what the scouts have to say? Mobley possesses a traditional three-pitch arsenal consisting of a fastball that tops around 94 MPH, a curveball, and a slider, all of which have been projected by scouts to be plus or plus-plus pitches at Mobley’s peak. Devonte is capable of painting the strike zone with pitches that have extreme break, and many believe that he has extraordinary command over his arsenal, possessing extreme talent and the ability to sit batters down with Ks or mis-hit ground balls. Mobley did an incredible job of limiting the long ball in his high school career, only allowing 2 in his 121.1 IP this season, and though he has struggled a bit in his first professional campaign in A-ball, his struggles aren’t unusual for high school arms. Mobley’s simple arsenal and effective approach on the mound gives him near-limitless upside as an arm, but he definitely has to put in the work to reach the major level. Though he does benefit from not having to develop a changeup, many scouts and coaches have complained of a “holier-than-thou” attitude, an unwillingness to put in work, and an unwillingness to get along with teammates, and if he is to make the bigs, executives around the league have stated that his first steps will need to be self-improvement.
Comparison: Bryan Daniels
Performance Projection: 2.85 ERA, 100 IP, 9.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 0.8 HR/9
Coeur d’Alene Striking Miners - 8: RF Mike King - A-
Unlike some of the other names that went ahead, Mike King is one that flew somewhat under the radar, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t as good. Scouts are relatively polarized when it comes to the likes of King. Everyone definitely sees his talent, with the general league-wide consensus being that he can definitely hit, but maybe not beyond the point of maybe a potential 120 OPS+ hitter. Would Coeur d’Alene be happy with that? Maybe it’s not that ideal outcome, but ultimately, a well above-average hitter with great defense in the corners is much, much better than what most first-rounders end up becoming, and if King can hit on that, there isn’t a reason why the Striking Miners front office wouldn’t be happy.However, this is where the nuance, and a bit of that polarization, starts to come in with Mike King because while he was one of the surprises of the first round, a handful of scouts around the league and a couple of organizations believe that he might just be one of the best late bloomers we’ve seen in our near-decade of WPBL drafting. As mentioned earlier, the consensus is that he’s pretty damn good, but some organizations, who have likely paid more attention to King than others, seem to believe that he might just be one of the best players of the draft, and one more than worthy of his draft slot, and insiders from the Astoria Fighting Chinooks organization have expressed that they saw a lot in Mike King and actually considered trading up to pick him around the time that King was still on the board, with both Chinooks scouts and presumably Miners scouts believing that the young right-hander possesses a sweet pull swing that some scouts have rated as high as 80-grade for contact and 80-grade for power. Add that to his ability to actually play proficiently in the outfield, and it’s clear that the Striking Miners believe that they have struck gold with their pick of Mike King. Now, though the fog of war on Mike King has left different organizations feeling very differently about the rapidly improving high school prospect, it is clear that King definitely has 4 to 5 years of development ahead of him, and he is one of the rawest hitting prospects in the entire draft, and it has shown with his early struggles in his first 15 games of single-A ball, slashing just .163/.234/.209 early on. Nonetheless, King’s past improvements and further willingness to improve could help him match the expectations that some of the loftier scouts around the league have projected for him.
Comparison: Righty John Wolverton
Potential Slashline: .285/.335/.525
Elko Truckers - 9: Willy Wontee - C-
When it comes to picks that are hard to grade, in my 5 seasons of draft grading, I don’t think I’ve ever spent as much time just pausing with the name typed in, as I just did two minutes ago. You know, when looking at Willy Wontee, there’s a lot, and I mean a LOT to like. It doesn’t take a scout to see that Wontee can hurl the baseball, and on his best nights, that ball is never getting out of the infield or shallow outfield, as he can sit hitters down faster than anyone else. Being a southpaw, his 4-pitch arsenal is devastating to both lefties and righties and in the LHB-heavy WPBL, Wontee should not have a hard time finding success at the major league level.I mean, in all fairness to Wontee, he’s a great guy. Coaches have vouched for his strong work ethic and incredible baseball IQ, and though Wontee looks incredible on paper, he probably has the worst curse possible for a relatively raw high-school arm with a frame like his. Fragility. If I’m his coach, I don’t want him falling, because I just about liken him to vase. At the major league level, fragility can be dealt with. Quick hooks, giving the guy a rest day every now and then, pitch counts, et cetera. However, at the minor league level, Wontee and Elko Truckers organization are going to have to be extremely careful, a fact that could certainly get in the way of the young southpaw’s development. Fragile prospects often don’t have the best track record and you can’t really blame Wontee, as he has clearly tried his best to get this far, but he’s going to have a clear challenge ahead of him, much greater than Mobley, Matthews, or any of the other arms in the draft. High school arms, as-is, can usually be considered gambles, but the gamble that Elko has taken with Wontee is a huge one.If he does reach his potential, he’s probably going to be one of the best arms in the league on his nights, but extra rest, quicker hooks, and other necessary injury-prevention mechanisms could prevent him from taking the next step. If he doesn’t get this far, Wontee will probably end up like the dozens of high-school pitching prospects from years prior, languishing in the minor leagues.
Comparison: Prime Javier de Santiago injured as much as a Prime Jorge Ordonez
Performance Projection: 3.45 ERA, 75 IP, 8.5 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.35 HR/9
Pocatello Old Timers - 10: SP Vernon Lummis - B-
Buzzsaw ain’t bad. I definitely think there’s a lot to this pick. Towering frame at 6’4”, and throwing 92-94 MPH, he definitely stands to see serious gains if he can get his cutter ticking up to 95 or 96 MPH. With the frame that Vernon Lummis has, I think he has room for some serious growth, and being a hard-working southpaw in a Pocatello farm system known for churning out giants, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lummis become one of the league’s best lefty arms in the next decade. He sports a decent 4-pitch mix consisting of a hard cutter, a curveball, a slider that scouts believe has a ton of untapped potential, and a changeup. Though his individual pitches don’t really seem to catch one’s eye, for someone such as Lummis, it’s about how he uses the pitches, and his pitch-mix should be extremely effective in the lefty-dominated hitting landscape of the WPBL, and in a draft class chock-full of high-school southpaws, Lummis is clearly the second best in the class, following only the #2 pick, George Matthews.However, more than just his age, the one issue that could ail Lummis is his changeup. As Lummis doesn’t really have a truly defined arsenal of pitches, with all 4 being of equal importance and just about being equally good, if Lummis struggles to develop his changeup, an issue that has afflicted many other pitchers in the history of the sport as a whole, he may have definite problems striking opposite-handed hitters out, and that problem would almost certainly limit him to the mid-rotation.
Comparison: Danny Schumacher
Performance Projection: 3.15 ERA, 85 IP, 9.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.75 HR/9
Bandon Barons - 11: SP Brandon Weiss - B
Being the youngest pick of the first round, Brandon Weiss has been proving people wrong for some time now, and he certainly doesn’t plan on stopping now. He’s part of what is probably one of the best pitching prospect classes in league history, but he hasn’t let that faze him, with his adaptability earning plaudits from leaguewide observers.In a fashion that feels eerily similar to the other arms of the class, scouts project that Weiss could possess a near-generational ability to keep the ball in the park, with many giving him between a 70 and 80-grade movement ability on his pitches, and it definitely shows in the young sinkerballer’s results so far, as his first two starts at the single-A level have seen him post a 2.40 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, no walks, and 0.5 WAR in his first 15 IP. Is he likely to keep those numbers up? Probably not. But for the young high-schooler whom no one expected to do well at the A-ball level this early, it’s just another example of how he loves to prove the naysayers wrong.His arsenal isn’t anything special, anyone can tell you that, but in the WPBL, if you know how to limit the long ball and not issue walks, there’ll always be a place for you, and for Brandon Weiss, that’s a tantalizing possibility. For Bandon at this position, if the Barons were looking to go for an arm, this is about as well as they could’ve done. Obviously, as is the norm with high school arms, Bandon will have to keep a close eye on Weiss’s progress, as nothing is a done deal, but professional baseball is just another challenge for Weiss to ace.
Comparison: Luis Diaz
Performance Projection: 3.35 ERA, 80 IP, 8.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.35 HR/9
Lake Tahoe Mustangs - 12: LF Trey Bortner - D+
For a draft that had gone pretty close to expectation, this was the first pick to get me out of my seat. It’s pretty confusing. Trey Bortner is definitely a decent prospect, but that’s just about all he is. A decent prospect. I mean, with the names on board like Chris Wolfe, Josh Collier, Vince Sanford, Jeff Pistone, or even the Mustangs 2nd round pick, Jon Oney, this pick felt like a definite stretch.But while we’re at it, let’s get to Trey Brotner. Left-handed high school bat out of Chelsea, MI, Bortner has a tall, lanky frame, and scouts project that he can be a pretty decent hitter, with most of them projecting him to be a 65-grade power bat and above-average contact bat. He isn’t the most patient at the plate, but he’s barely below average in that regard, and altogether, he looks pretty decent at the plate, probably a .260 hitter type who can hit maybe a dozen bombs a year at his peak. Again, not bad, just not what you’d expect in the first round or with the aforementioned names still being on the board.What makes this pick genuinely confusing is that Bortner is truly positionless, and his best hope probably lies at first base, a position that he definitely has the frame and skills to play, but he just hasn’t had any experience there so far.Could Bortner be, in some ways, similar to the polarizing Mike King pick that divided scouts leaguewide? He could be, and I’d genuinely like to believe that Bortner does have some kind of untapped potential that was only visible to teams that took a closer look, but for the time being and from my perspective, this pick is and will remain perplexing.
Comparison: Miguel Algarin Potential Slashline: .250/.320/.465
Well, that does it for these draft grades, but in a draft as deep as this one, I’d like to briefly cover some of the other picks later in the draft that I found to be steals:
R2P1 - Astoria - C Chris Wolfe - A
R2P4 - Gillette - SP Josh Collier - A+
R2P9 - Elko - 3B Jeff Pistone - A+++ (definite first round talent)
R2P12 - Lake Tahoe - SP Jon Oney - A+
R3P4 - Gillette - RF Magnus Barnhouse - A
R3P12 - Lake Tahoe - 2B Bobby Harms - A+
As always, I want to thank everyone who read this far, and I most certainly cannot wait to see how these draft grades age as the years go by. Thank you!
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