Jacob Zibin

A Canadian-born righthander who is one of the youngest players in the 2022 class, Zibin will be 17 on draft day and doesn’t turn 18 until January 2023. Zibin has a strong 6-foot-3, 180-pound frame that still has more physical projection remaining, and an exciting fastball/changeup combination. He throws a fastball that sits in the low 90s, but the pitch has been up to 96 this spring. Zibin’s best secondary is a low-80s changeup, which he shows advanced feel to spot at the bottom of the zone. The pitch comes out of his hand with fastball arm speed and features plenty of arm-side fading action that keeps it off barrels. It’s a real swing-and-miss pitch at times when it falls off the table in addition to moving arm side. Zibin’s feel for spin is a bigger question. He throws a breaking ball with sweeping action in the upper 70s and lower 80s, but the pitch can back up at times and flatten out up in the zone. Zibin has a strong lower half and a workable delivery that should allow him to improve his strikes as he ages. He is committed to Kentucky, but—like Calvin Ziegler before him—would be again eligible in the 2023 class if he doesn’t sign in 2022.