10 Early Breakout Stars of the 2016 MLB Draft Class

Unlike in the other major professional sports, there is no instant return for MLB clubs with their draft picks. Teams have to wait for their amateur selections to work their way through the minor league ranks before showing what they can do against big league competition.

That said, all draft picks aren't created equal—and some move through their respective teams' farm systems faster than others. While college-age players typically move the quickest due to their maturity, both mentally and physically, it's not unheard of for a player drafted out of high school to follow suit.

It's why you'll find a mix of college and prep stars on the slides that follow.

Selections are based on statistics that jumped off the page. Considering how many players heard their names called during the 2016 draft, it's possible some worthy candidates for inclusion fell through the cracks.

Which 10 recent draft picks have stood out from the pack thanks to torrid starts to their professional careers? Let's take a look.

Ian Anderson, SP, Atlanta Braves

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Five starts. That's how long 18-year-old Ian Anderson's career with Atlanta's Gulf Coast League affiliate lasted.

"They told me right after I came out," Anderson told the Daily Gazette's Michael Kelly. "Usually, all the coaches shake your hand after you come out, and [this time] they pulled me aside and the manager told me that when you don't give up any runs in the GCL, they move you up."

Anderson, who tossed 18 scoreless innings for the GCL Braves, walking four and fanning 18, will remain in rookie ball, joining the Appalachian League's Danville Braves for the rest of the season. That kind of performance makes it easy to understand why MLB.com ranks him as Atlanta's fifth-best prospect.

Corbin Clouse, RP, Atlanta Braves

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Corbin Clouse will be the first to tell you he wasn't a great pitcher at Grand Ledge High School in Michigan.

"My senior year, yeah I was good, but I wasn't that good," he told Brian Calloway of the Lansing State Journal after signing with the Atlanta Braves, who took him in the 27th round of the draft out of Davenport University. "After three years of working with college coaches at Davenport, they just turned me into the pitcher that I am today."

The pitcher he is today is one who looks like he could move quickly through the Braves farm system. It took only four rookie ball appearances with the Appalachian League's Danville Braves for the 21-year-old to get the call to the South Atlantic League's Rome Braves, Atlanta's Single-A affiliate.

Clouse has allowed only two earned runs and seven hits over 21.2 combined innings of work, walking eight while striking out 39. If he can keep this up, it wouldn't be surprising to see him working out of the big league bullpen at some point in 2017.

Lucas Erceg, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee used its second-round pick on Lucas Erceg, a talented third base prospect with "big time off-field questions," according to ESPN.com's Eric Longenhagen. When pressed about what those questions were, Longenhagen didn't elaborate, only mentioning Erceg's transfer from the University of California to Menlo College in Atherton, California, as part of a bigger picture.

Roughly two months into his professional career, the only question is whether the other 29 teams that passed on the 21-year-old regret that decision.

Erceg has already made the jump from rookie ball to full-season Single-A, hitting a combined .358 with 19 extra-base hits (three home runs), 33 RBI and a .923 OPS in 44 games. As he explained to Travis Sarandos of Disciples of Uecker, Erceg is relishing the chance to prove his worth.

"It feels great. I definitely feel like there are some eyes on me, and for me personally, I hold very high standards for myself," Erceg said Monday. "It goes along with the 'high draft pick' that hey, you know, top-three-rounder or whatever, you have to put the numbers up."

Jacob Heyward, OF, San Francisco Giants

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Fairly or unfairly, Jacob Heyward is always going to be compared to his older brother Jason. But his big league bloodlines had little to do with San Francisco's decision to use its 18th-round pick on the University of Miami outfielder.

"He was judged on who he is and his abilities, not on his brother's," John Barr, the Giants director of scouting, told MLB.com's Chris Haft. "It's him that we took. It's him that we think can be a big leaguer. It's him that we think can contribute. He stands alone on that."

If his play in the Arizona League is any indication, Barr is right—Jacob is his own Heyward.

The 21-year-old leads the league in on-base percentage (.486), slugging percentage (.613) and OPS (1.098) while hitting a solid .338. More than half his 27 hits thus far have gone for extra bases (nine doubles, five triples and a home run), while he's collected 19 RBI over 23 games.

Eric Lauer, SP, San Diego Padres

San Diego envisions its third pick of the first round, Kent State University southpaw Eric Lauer, will move quickly through its farm system, according to MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. It's a vision Lauer shares with his new employer.

"My goal is to be up and helping the big league club by next year, if I can," Lauer told Cassavell. "I don't have too in-depth of a timeline, but as soon as possible."

After a shaky start to his professional career, allowing three earned runs and seven hits over his first four innings of work, Lauer has begun showing the kind of stuff that could find him a legitimate candidate to help the Padres at Petco Park at some point in 2017.

Since being promoted to Single-A Tri-City in the Northwest League, the 21-year-old has tossed nine scoreless innings over three starts, scattering five hits and two walks while striking out 10 batters. On the season, he's got a 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with three walks and 17 strikeouts over 13 innings of work.

Mickey Moniak, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Less than two months after Philadelphia made him the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, two things have become evident about Mickey Moniak: He's got all the tools to become a beast of a ballplayer—and he appreciates the chance to do so.

"It's definitely a grind," Moniak told Baseball America's Josh Norris earlier this month about his first taste of the professional ranks, "but when you're going out and playing baseball every day for a job, you can't beat it. You've just got to enjoy it."

With the way he's been swinging the bat, it's easy to enjoy what you do for a living.

Hitting .327 with an .855 OPS for the Gulf Coast League Phillies, the 18-year-old has reached base safely in all but six games and put together two impressive hitting streaks. The first, a seven-game stretch, lasted from July 13 to July 22. The second, a nine-game tear, began on July 25—and has yet to conclude.

Once Moniak's first professional season comes to an end, he'll have more reason to celebrate. His hometown of Encinitas, California, has proclaimed Sept. 14 as "Mickey Moniak Day."

Heath Quinn, OF, San Francisco Giants

Heath Quinn, San Francisco's third-round pick, has wasted little time making me look good for naming him the biggest steal of the draft.

Named the Northwest League's Player of the Week to end July, the 21-year-old leads the NWL in OPS (.920) and is among the league leaders in multiple categories, including batting average (.323), doubles (11), home runs (four) and slugging percentage (.511).

Even when he doesn't collect a hit, Quinn finds a way to contribute. While he's gone 0-for-6 in his last two games, Quinn managed to reach base safely by drawing three walks, swiping a base and scoring two runs in the process.

Blake Rutherford, OF, New York Yankees

You have to go back to 1992 to find the last New York Yankees first-round pick that blossomed into a legitimate star in pinstripes. The pick? A high school shortstop out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, named Derek Jeter.

While two of the team's most recent first-round picks, outfielder Aaron Judge (2013) and right-handed starter James Kaprielian (2015), look like they too could be stars in the big leagues, neither has the kind of upside that Blake Rutherford does.

Selected 18th overall by the Yankees, the 19-year-old outfielder has put up the kind of numbers you'd expect from a top-10 pick. Over 29 games with two different rookie level teams, Rutherford is hitting .366 with 14 extra-base hits and a 1.010 OPS.

He's been especially impressive with the Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League, with whom he's hit .408 with 12 extra-base hits and a 1.104 OPS over 21 games.

Pulaski manager Tony Franklin praised Rutherford to MiLB.com's Bob Sutton:

"

Hitting seems to come easy to him. That's pretty much a gift. Left-handed pitchers, right-handed pitchers, fastball, slider. ...

He's made it easy on us. His approach to the game is pretty much even-keel. That kind of approach seems to be pretty present in him. He's mature. He has come in and fit in very well and not seemed overwhelmed by any of this. There's a lot going on every day.

"

Aaron Schnurbusch, OF, Chicago White Sox

Most folks had stopped paying attention to the draft long before the Chicago White Sox announced their selection of University of Pittsburgh outfielder Aaron Schnurbusch in the 28th round, but the 22-year-old is making everyone take notice of him now.

Statistically, Schnurbusch has had one of the most impressive professional debuts of any member of the 2016 draft class, putting up a ridiculous .389/.497/.569 triple-slash line with 16 extra-base hits (three home runs) and 10 stolen bases over 39 games for Great Falls in the rookie-level Pioneer League.

"All I do is worry about seeing the ball and putting the bat on it," Schnurbusch told MiLB.com's Josh Jackson in July about the impact the Great Falls coaching staff has had on him. "That seems to be working."

Nick Senzel, 3B, Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds selected Nick Senzel from the University of Tennessee second overall in the draft. Tennessee head coach Dave Serrano compared Senzel, considered one of the best college hitters in the draft, to another former Volunteer—Todd Helton—per the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans.

So far, the 21-year-old has lived up to the billing.

Across two levels of Cincinnati's farm system—most of it with the Single-A Dayton Dragons in the Midwest League—Senzel has hit a combined .284 with 18 extra-base hits (six home runs), 26 RBI, an .887 OPS and 15 stolen bases in 20 attempts. In fact, those numbers trump what Helton did in his first taste of the pros.

"He's been outstanding since he got here," Dayton hitting coach Luis Bolivar told MiLB.com's Tyler Maun. "He has a good work ethic. He keeps his routine down. He looks very, very mature when he's at the plate, taking good pitches. He's not rushing. The game isn't too fast for him at all. He made a big adjustment coming from school to the professionals. He gets it."

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and MILB.com.

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