Bryan Hudson

Hudson was the Midwest's popup player, for though he was on scouts' radars, he was not expected to take a leap up draft boards as he had this spring. A Missouri recruit, Hudson had done little nationally in terms of showcases aside from pitching in Jupiter at the World Wood Bat event, and at 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, he starred as a center for his high school basketball team. He's learned to leverage his size and has the body control to repeat his delivery, gaining confidence as the spring progressed. Hudson's calling card is his hard breaking ball, a curveball that scrapes the low 80s. His arm action is clean and he throws plenty of strikes, especially for a tall pitcher, with a fastball consistently in the upper 80s that reaches 92-93 mph consistently. Hudson doesn't throw a changeup yet, as he has dominated prep competition with just two pitches. Tanner Houck pitched in the same conference last year and got to Missouri, but scouts don't want to let Hudson get away, and he had plenty of helium as the draft approached.