Cole Wilcox

Wilcox was part of an extremely talented Georgia prep pitching class in 2018 along with current Indians prospect Ethan Hankins and Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker. Wilcox was seen as a first-round talent out of high school, but the depth of the class and his strong commitment to Georgia caused him to slide. Two years later, Wilcox is again a potential first-round pick and one of many impressive draft-eligible sophomores in the 2020 class. Wilcox has worked with Georgia’s strength and conditioning coach, Ryan Gearhart, to add significant muscle to his 6-foot-5 frame in his two years at school. He’s now listed at 232 pounds and is one of the more physically intimidating pitchers in the country. Wilcox's stuff matches his size. He attacks hitters with a fastball that sits 93-96 mph, frequently gets into the 97-98 range and has touched 100 mph. His mid-80s slider gives him a second plus pitch, and he also throws a mid-80s changeup that could be an average or better third offering. After spending most of his time as a reliever in 2019, Wilcox entered the 2020 season as the Bulldogs’ Saturday starter and was off to a great start with a 1.57 ERA and, most importantly, 32 strikeouts against just two walks in 23 innings. That walk rate is encouraging for teams who were skeptical of Wilcox’s strike-throwing ability after he walked close to six batters per nine innings in 2019. Scouts would have liked to see him continue that trend against Southeastern Conference batters, as Wilcox has a tendency to get scattered and miss the zone, but his stuff is overpowering enough that hitters still chase out of the zone. Wilcox was already a potential first-round talent entering the year, so how much a team buys into his improved control will determine how high he goes. As an eligible sophomore, Wilcox will have more negotiating leverage than most college players and could be a costly sign.