Michael Gupton

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #472 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: Samford Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21.7
  
  Gupton was a top-10-rounds talent coming out of high school because of his top-of-the-scale speed and impressive raw power. He didn’t get drafted and made it to campus at NC State, where he had just seven plate appearances, before transferring to Gulf Coast Community (Miss.) JC in 2024 and Samford in 2025. Now listed at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, Gupton remains a high-end runner who regularly turns in 80-grade run times and can homer to the pull side. He is limited by an extremely raw offensive approach with below-average contact skills, but he did hit .333/.401/.630 with 15 homers through 55 games in 2025. Gupton too frequently gets himself out by expanding the zone on bad pitches and struck out at a 28% clip. Gupton’s swing is also long enough that his home-to-first times will play down from his true speed. He’s an above-average center fielder whose speed should be more than enough to stick at the position, but he’s never stolen the amount of bases that his raw running ability might suggest.
• 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.