Bradfield, Morales highlight strong group of local prospects in this year’s MLB Draft
Enrique Bradfield Jr.’s game is speed.
Yohandy Morales’ calling card is power.
Bradfield played his high school ball at a private school (Plantation’s American Heritage).
Morales went the public-school route (Braddock).
Bradfield went away for college (Vanderbilt).
Morales stayed home (Miami).
On Sunday night, both of these baseball stars expect to hear their names called in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft, which will be held at Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Sunday’s first two rounds will be televised by ESPN and MLB Network, starting at 7 p.m.
Both Bradfield (Hialeah) and Morales (West Dade) grew up in the Miami area, graduating from high school in 2020. Bradfield has Panamanian roots. Morales has Cuban ancestry. From age 11 to 12, they were even teammates on a travel team called “Team MVP.”
Bradfield, an elite defensive center fielder, is projected by ESPN and CBS to get selected as high as ninth. Other projections have him getting drafted as low as No. 32.
MLB.com ranks Bradfield as the fastest player in the entire draft. In three years at Vandy, he stole 130 bases in 143 attempts – an astonishing 90.9 success rate while playing in the SEC, the nation’s top league.
There is some question if Bradfield will hit enough, but he is a prototypical leadoff batter who slugged 11 triples in three years, making just four errors in that span.
Former MLB outfielder Bruce Aven, who coached Bradfield at American Heritage, raves about his former star player.
“He’s been a leader on every team he’s been on from high school to college,” Aven said. “People gravitate toward him. He impacts people.
“Defensively, he reads the ball off the bat faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, and I think he will be a more effective hitter than people realize. Enrique is the perfect outfielder.”
Morales, a third baseman, is projected by The Sporting News to get selected as high as 15th, with ESPN (No. 20), Fangraphs (27) and MLB.com (28) offering different opinions.
But there is no question about the thunder in Morales’ bat. In 61 games as a junior this year, he hit .408 with 20 homers, 13 doubles, 70 RBIs and a 1.187 OPS.
His 49 career homers rank fourth in Hurricanes history, trailing three players who were drafted in the first round at some point in their careers: Phil Lane, Pat Burrell and Yonder Alonso.
Morales also finished with stellar career numbers in batting average (.343) and OPS (1.048).
“In more than 20 years of coaching, he’s the best I’ve ever worked with,” said former Canes hitting coach Norberto Lopez, who is now at UCF. “Most superstars are stubborn. But (Morales) is open to learning.
“He’s going to be a franchise player because he’s a great human being. He lights up a room.
“On Father’s Day, he called to say he misses me. My son (nine-year-old Mason) was at a Miami camp recently, and (Morales) called me to say Mason was going to be a Cane and not a (UCF) Knight.
“(Morales) is a special talent. He has mental toughness. His teammates called him ‘Playoff Yohandy” because of the way he came through in the clutch.”
If Morales had a weakness, it was defense. But Lopez said that’s no longer the case.
Indeed, Morales made 11 errors as a freshman and had a .903 fielding percentage. He cut that down to eight errors (.933 percentage) as a sophomore. This year, he was above average defensively, making six errors (.954).
“He played shortstop his whole life,” Lopez said, “and switching to third base in college wasn’t easy.”
Besides Morales and Bradfield, three other players with South Florida ties figure to get drafted in Sunday’s first round:
▪ Florida Atlantic first baseman Nolan Schanuel is projected to get selected between picks 13 and 23.
▪ Gulliver Prep shortstop/third baseman George Lombard Jr. is projected between 26 and 31.
▪ Doral Academy shortstop Adrian Santana is projected between 33 and 35.
The draft will last three days, with rounds 3-10 on Monday and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit – in that order – have the top three picks. Outfielder Dylan Crews and pitcher Paul Skenes – both from national champion LSU – could go in the top two picks.
Outfielder Wyatt Langford, who starred for national runner-up Florida, is expected to get picked third.
