MLB Draft Notebook: Opening Weekend

The upper-70s curveball is a true hammer, tunneling nicely off the fastball and displaying significant depth (~thirteen inches of vertical break) with little hump out of the hand. He landed it for strikes and pitched backwards off of it at times.

The fastball was 94-96 MPH throughout the outing, reaching back for 97 MPH when necessary, with IVB marks consistently over twenty inches. This gives him over thirty inches of vertical separation between the two pitches, an excellent figure to have.

Flukey filled up the zone with both pitches, tending to locate the heater gloveside consistently and attacking inside to lefties. The curveball was located on both sides of the plate, and it played best below the zone for whiffs.

Flukey flashed a tighter slider in the 83-84 MPH range that featured shorter break with late lateral movement, introducing it later in the outing to give hitters a different look.

It’s closer to average, though it flashed above-average, especially when he located it down and in to left-handed bats. He threw one mid-80s change-up that was left inside in the second inning.

With two plus pitches, polish, and strike-throwing prowess, Flukey’s profile has a safer floor than someone like Jackson Flora, and his ability to repeat his mechanics with elasticity stands out.

His projection gives him another feather in the cap, too. It’s hard to bet against him being a first-rounder at this point.

OF Dean Mihos, Coastal Carolina

Final Line: 5-13, 3 RBI, 1 HR, 1 2B, 0 BB, 1 K

In 2025, Mihos became a legitimate catalyst for the Chanticleers down the stretch, culminating in an All-Tournament Team honor in Omaha after recording a hit in all five games played. He enters the 2026 campaign as the team’s lead-off man and center fielder, and he looks stronger.

He’s not the most imposing figure in the box, standing at five-foot-nine and 170 pounds, but he’s filled out his jersey a bit more than a year ago. Mihos displayed more bat speed than on previous visits this weekend.

While power will not be the strongest asset at the plate, it’s an encouraging sign to see his exit velocities creep into the upper-90s and 100s more consistently. He pulled a home run down the left field and hit a laser double in the LCF gap at 103.6 MPH.

He is an aggressive hitter with a tendency to expand the zone, reaching out to make contact with spin away from his body.

His swing decisions must improve this spring to alleviate some woes with contact against breaking balls, though he’s shown the ability to handle fastballs well, posting an 85% contact rate against them in 2025.

The glove in center looks solid, where he makes quality jumps off the bat and has good range. His best play of the weekend was throwing out a runner at third base during the first game of the doubleheader, showcasing good accuracy and arm strength.

Mihos is more on the “tweener” side, but the strength uptick may help him. He figures to be a solid senior follow and may help a team in the middle rounds save money, or receive a bonus past the tenth round.

RHP Ross Norman, Coastal Carolina

Final Line: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (74 Pitches)

A transfer from Georgia State, the lanky right-hander is transitioning into a starting role for the Chanticleers this spring, and he’s undergone some mechanical changes to iron out the rough edges.

An athletic arm with whippy arm speed, Norman is generating slightly more extension, inching closer to the seven-foot barrier, and his release height has dropped a couple of inches. Coastal Carolina has been able to unlock a bit more athleticism, as well.

Norman primarily pitched with his fastball/slider combination, which he mixed well against Fairfield’s offense. His fastball sat in the low-90s throughout the outing, touching 95 MPH, with solid carrying life and slight tail through the zone. He tended to pitch in the bottom half of the zone, locating well across the horizontal axis, and showed feel to elevate and miss bats.

The slider came out of a similar slot as the heater and flashed well across the entire outing. There were a few times when the pitch jumped out of his hand, but when he located it, batters struggled to smother it and swung over the top.

Sitting in the low-80s, it’s a two-plane breaker with some depth, though it averaged ten inches of lateral sweep during the outing. It needs a bit more power to unlock another grade or two, but it was comfortably average and flashed above-average at its best.

Norman did a good job of peppering the strike zone, though his command did get a bit scattered from time to time. He is throwing with more intent, with some violence at release, plus he missed armside with the heater a few times.

However, this is a more polished look than what was on the mound in 2025. He projects more as a reliever at the next level, though if he pitches well this spring, he could find himself picked in the middle rounds of Day 2.

OF Matt Bucciero, Fairfield

Final Line: 3-10, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 2 HBP, 0 BB, 1 K

The twin brother of Daniel, the A’s ninth-round selection last summer, Matt returns to Fairfield after having significant interest from teams for his power prowess.

That power was on full display on Friday, as he took an outer-half heater from Flukey over the massive batter’s eye and left the stadium.

This home run left the bat at 106.2 MPH, but it was not his hardest-hit ball of the weekend. Bucciero recorded four batted balls with a higher exit velocity on Saturday, including a 111.3 MPH flyout to left field in the final game.

He stays synced up throughout his operation and separates his hips and shoulders well, allowing the bat to fly through the zone with authority. The swing can get a bit steep, leading to grounders, but the ability to sting the baseball repeatedly is impressive. Bucciero whiffed just four times throughout the weekend, too.

Given his size, stiffness, and lack of speed, he likely fits best at first at the next level, which does put immense pressure on the bat to perform. He manned the bag in the first two games before trotting out to right field for the final affair.

He should be one of the better senior follows to watch in the Northeast.

Next Weekend’s Destination: ECU/UNC