Jake Rucker

Rucker has started since his freshman season for Tennessee and in 2019 hit .273/.358/.339 but had a better average (.303) during SEC competition. He tapped into a bit more power in the shortened 2020 season and showed good plate discipline to go along with it. After another strong performance this spring, there should be plenty of teams interested in Rucker on the second day of the draft. He hit .323/.393/.494 with a career-best seven home runs in 63 games, though that additional power also came with the highest strikeout rate of his college career (21%). Rucker has solid-average tools almost across the board, with scouts seeing an average hitter and an average defender who has played all over the infield for Tennessee but is likely best suited for the hot corner at the next level. That defensive profile could be a bit tricky, as some teams don’t think Rucker’s below-average power is enough to profile there. Rucker showed more swing and miss this season and expanded the strike zone on breaking stuff down, but he did post an OPS over 1.000 against 93-plus mph fastballs, per Synergy. Rucker might have the defensive versatility to become a utilityplayer who moves all over the infield and to the outfield corners, but his ultimate upside likely depends on the amount of power production he’s able to tap into without his strikeout and walk rates getting out of hand.