Jordan Sprinkle

Sprinkle entered the year with a chance to be one of the first shortstops taken in the 2022 draft, but he suffered through a miserable season at UC Santa Barbara that cratered his draft stock. He began the year as the Gauchos leadoff hitter and was batting ninth by the end of the season as his approach, power and confidence all slipped. Sprinkle is one of the best pure athletes in the college class this year. He is a quick, twitchy defensive shortstop with the hands, range and actions to be a plus defender at the position. He frequently makes acrobatic plays and has the above-average arm strength to make jump throws from deep in the hole. Sprinkle has previously shown a fluid swing and above-average raw power at the plate, but this spring his swing path regressed, he struggled to hit the ball with any authority and he started guessing as he struggles mounted. He also took his struggles with him back to the field and made uncharacteristic errors. Sprinkle's athleticism and ability to play shortstop still have teams interested early on the draft's second day. His defense will buy him time to rediscover his swing in pro ball.