‘Way Too Early’ Look At The Top 10 Picks

Yeah, yeah, we know, we know.

We are crazy for doing this “way too early” mock draft for the 2023 class the day after the 2022 draft ends. We said it last year, and we said it the year before that and the year before that. We’ll keep saying it. We know we’re crazy!

That’s what we do here at Baseball America. Go crazy over prospects.

Here’s our look at the top 10 picks of the 2023 draft class a year in advance. Keep in mind the top of the 2023 draft will be determined by a lottery for the first time. For this exercise we are simply using the reverse order of the current MLB standings. 

1. Nationals — Dylan Crews, OF, Louisiana State

Crews had first-round talent out of high school in 2020 but withdrew from the draft just before it kicked off. He has only cemented himself as a first-round talent in his first two years at Louisiana State, showing an exceptional blend of power, hitting ability and athleticism in the outfield. He is a strong righthanded hitter with plenty of bat speed who shows easy plus power in batting practice and has homered 40 times already in just 125 games. Crews will be the focal point of an LSU team that should be one of the most talented in the country and he matches the sort of now-physicality and tools that the Nationals have coveted—and recently acquired in the case of 2022 and 2021 first-round picks Elijah Green and Brady House. Whoever is picking first in the 2023 draft might have to think long and hard before passing up Crews’ righthanded bat.

2. Athletics — Max Clark, OF, Franklin (Ind.) Community HS

The top-ranked player on our recently updated 2023 draft list, Clark heads a group of strong outfielders that includes the previously mentioned Crews and fellow high school product Walker Jenkins. Clark might be one of the toolsiest all-around players in the 2023 class on top of being one of the best pure hitters. He has a center field profile and has turned in 70-grade run times from home-to-first consistently and has earned Jacoby Ellsbury comparisons from scouts—though his arm strength is quite a bit better than that already.

3. Reds — Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee

The 2022 draft should show how much teams crave college pitching at the top of the first round, even in a down year for the demographic. Dollander currently stands as the top overall pitcher in the 2023 class and has exceptional now stuff to go along with advanced pitching ability. His fastball is routinely around 95 mph and is likely to touch…