Michael Gupton

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #238 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Rolesville (N.C.) HS Committed/Drafted: North Carolina State
  Age At Draft: 18.8
  Gupton was voted by scouting directors as the fastest runner in the 2022 high school class, and it’s likely that he’s the fastest runner in the class overall. He’s an elite track runner who has turned in top-of-the-scale run times in the 60-yard dash. He has an ideal running stride and absolutely floats on the baseball field, with game-breaking speed that should be an asset defensively in center field and on the bases. The questions with Gupton will be how often does he get on base and what sort of hitter is he going to become? He has plenty of strength now in a 5-foot-11, 190-pound frame, with hand speed and solid raw power in batting practices, but he doesn’t have a lengthy track record as a pure hitter. He tweaked a hamstring on the showcase circuit and played in fewer games than scouts would have liked, and some evaluators think he’ll be a well below-average hitter. Because of that, many teams could be inclined to let him make it to campus at North Carolina State—which has done an excellent job developing hitters in recent years—while a few teams seem higher on his hit tool evaluation and enamored with his speed and disruptive potential.