MLB Draft 2013: Top Prospects Ready to Contribute Immediately

While some clubs can afford to wait for their 2013 MLB draft picks to develop, there are others that need their selections' services as soon as possible. Some top prospects will be in the big leagues before you know it.

There are certainly a couple of prospects that have enough experience and talent to rise through their respective organization’s ladder quite quickly. But teams will be sure not to rush anyone because coming up too quickly can plague a player’s future, as he may or may not be completely ready yet.

It’s important to keep in mind what immediately means in terms of prospects. If you ask MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds, he might tell you that a player will be in the majors in the next couple of weeks. That’s incorrect. At the earliest, immediately means toward the middle of the 2014 season, give or take a few months.

There are prospects that appear to be close to making their debut, but still need a bit of time to develop in the minors and get acclimated to life as a professional baseball players. Ahead are three top prospects that are well on their way to getting another big call in the near future.

Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford—No. 1, Houston Astros

As Reynolds said on the MLB draft broadcast, he believes that Mark Appel will be making his major league debut with the Houston Astros sometime in July. Not next July, though. July meaning in like two-and-a-half weeks. Sorry Harold, but that’s not going to happen.

Appel will, however, be in the big leagues before the majority of the players selected after him. He was the top pitcher in this year’s draft class and had just as much experience heading into the draft as any other prospect. The extra year of college—deciding against signing a pro contract a year ago—helped him progress.

In Appel’s four years at Stanford, he’s gone 28-14 with a 2.91 ERA in 71 games (50 starts) and 377.2 innings of work. Not many other pitchers in this year’s class have logged that many innings, if any. Playing for one of the top programs in the country, Appel has faced plenty of great hitters and should do just fine in the minors to start.

If you ask B/R MLB lead 2riter Zach Rymer, he’d guess that Appel gets promoted to the Astros in late 2014. I think that’s a fair timeline. He’ll likely pitch the rest of 2013 in Single-A or Double-A, move up a level next year and get promoted somewhere in August or September. He only needs about a year until he’s big league ready.

Dominic Smith, 1B, Junipero Serra (Calif.) HS—No. 11, New York Mets

Dominic Smith may just be graduating high school in the next couple of weeks, but don’t be surprised if you see him in Queens within the next year or so. The New York Mets desperately needed someone to play first base in the future and taking Smith with the No. 11 pick in the draft was a no-brainer.

New York has no one to play first base right now. Ike Davis has been absolutely horrible this season and is hitting just .164/.245/.262 through 54 games. The Mets only have two or three somewhat notable first basemen in their system. Smith now becomes the easy long-term solution.

Smith was one of the top high school bats in this year’s draft class, and if he continues to hit like he did as a prep player in the minors, the Mets may move him up quickly. Smith will likely go to the rookie ball or Single-A to finish out this year and depending how he does, could be in Double-A by July 2014.

The Mets know that Smith’s bat is likely ready to face major-leading pitchers, but New York can’t afford to risk anything with him. He’s their lone option. But if he continues to hit like I said and his glove improves a bit, the Mets will have no other choice to bring him up and see what he can do.

Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma—No. 3, Colorado Rockies

I doubt there was much of a conversation in the Colorado Rockies’ war room once the Chicago Cubs took Kris Bryant with the second overall pick in the draft. Colorado needed a star pitching prospect and there was no question that Jonathan Gray would be the Rockies’ guy.

Gray has gotten better and better with experience, pitching for the Oklahoma Sooners the last two seasons. He could’ve been the No. 1 overall pick, but Houston opted to go with Appel instead. Nonetheless, Gray is just as good of an arm and will be in Colorado starting rotation very soon.

What makes Gray such a good prospect who can move his way up the ladder quickly is his repertoire. He throws his fastball in the triple digits, he has a great slider and his changeup has been very good as well. He has three plus pitches that he uses to blow away opposing hitters.

We’ll have to wait and see how minor league batters fare against Gray in the coming months, but the Rockies should have a good feeling about what his future holds. With around a year of minor league experience, Gray should be ready to pitch at Coors Field. He’s about as close as anyone to playing in the majors. 

Complete First Round Results

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1	Houston Astros	Mark Appel	RHP	Stanford
2	Chicago Cubs	Kris Bryant	3B	San Diego
3	Colorado Rockies	Jonathan Gray	RHP	Oklahoma
4	Minnesota Twins	Kohl Stewart	RHP	St. Puis X HS (Houston)
5	Cleveland Indians	Clint Frazier	OF	Loganville (Ga.) HS
6	Miami Marlins	Colin Moran	3B	North Carolina
7	Boston Red Sox	Trey Ball	LHP	New Castle (Ind.) HS
8	Kansas City Royals	Hunter Dozier	SS	Stephen F. Austin
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	Austin Meadows	OF	Grayson (Ga.) HS
10	Toronto Blue Jays	Phil Bickford	RHP	Oaks Christian (Calif.) HS
11	New York Mets	Dominic Smith	1B	JSerra Catholic (Calif.) HS
12	Seattle Mariners	DJ Peterson	3B	New Mexico
13	San Diego Padres	Hunter Renfroe	OF	Mississippi State
14	Pittsburgh Pirates	Reese McGuire	C	Kentwood (Wash.) HS
15	Arizona Diamondbacks	Braden Shipley	RHP	Nevada
16	Philadelphia Phillies	J.P. Crawford	SS	Lakewood (Calif.) HS
17	Chicago White Sox	Tim Anderson	SS	East Central CC
18	Los Angeles Dodgers	Chris Anderson	RHP	Jacksonville
19	St. Louis Cardinals	Marco Gonzales	LHP	Gonzaga
20	Detroit Tigers	Jonathon Crawford	RHP	Florida
21	Tampa Bay Rays	Nick Ciuffo	C	Lexington (S.C.) HS
22	Baltimore Orioles	Hunter Harvey	RHP	Bandys (N.C.) HS
23	Texas Rangers	Alex Gonzalez	RHP	Oral Roberts
24	Oakland Athletics	Billy McKinney	CF	Plano West Sr. HS (Texas)
25	San Francisco Giants	Christian Arroyo	SS	Hernando (Fla.) HS
26	New York Yankees	Eric Jagielo	3B	Notre Dame
27	Cincinnati Reds	Phillip Ervin	CF	Samford
28	St. Louis Cardinals	Rob Kaminsky	LHP	St. Joseph Regional School (N.J.)
29	Tampa Bay Rays	Ryne Stanek	RHP	Arkansas
30	Texas Rangers	Travis Demeritte	SS	Winder Barrow (Ga.) HS
31	Atlanta Braves	Jason Hursh	RHP	Oklahoma State
32	New York Yankees	Aaron Judge	OF	Fresno State
33	New York Yankees	Ian Clarkin	LHP	James Madison (Calif.) HS

*For selections from all 40 rounds, check out MLB.com.