Nolan Watson

Watson was impressive but not overwhelming when scouts and recruiters saw him last summer, but he's taken a significant step forward this spring. He largely sat at 85-88 mph during his junior season and bumped that up to sit in the upper 80s last summer in showcases. This spring he's generally been sitting 90-93 mph with his fastball, touching 96 at his best. He also features a promising low-80s slider and has shown some feel for his developing changeup. His delivery shows no obvious red flags and he's generally around the strike zone. If Watson's stuff had remained at the level he showed last summer, he would likely have been the type of pitcher who heads off to school (Vanderbilt in his case), gets stronger and rockets up draft boards in three years after his stuff sharpens. But Watson's big step forward has happened much more quickly to where he's gone from a projectable righthander with an excellent frame (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) to having present stuff. Now he may go early enough in the draft to consider forgoing his college commitment.