A Look At the #1 Overall Picks in the MLB Draft in the 2000s

Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Monday, June 12 is the MLB Draft. Who were the best players taken with the first overall pick in the 2000s?

Tomorrow, on June 12, the MLB Draft will begin. We will have a live thread that evening here at Call to the Pen with instant analysis of the selections from our own Benjamin Chase throughout the first night.

As we prepare for the draft, here is the schedule for some draft information to get you ready for the big day when the MLB draft kicks off next Monday night:

Monday, June 5 – A look at the #5 picks of the 2000s
Tuesday, June 6 – A look at the #4 picks of the 2000s
Wednesday, June 7 – Mock Draft 6.1
Thursday, June 8 – A look at the #3 picks of the 2000s
Friday, June 9 – A look at the #2 picks of the 2000s
Saturday, June 10 – A look at the #1 picks of the 2000s
Sunday, June 11 – Final Mock Draft: What Ben Would Do
Monday, June 12 – Live Draft Thread!

2001. Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins, 50.8 bWAR

In a draft that turned out to be one of the better first rounds, the Twins nabbed the best #1 pick of the millennium, at least thus far, by sticking with the home town boy.

Mauer was from St. Paul, Minnesota and recruited heavily to play both baseball and football at Florida State before going to the Twins. In his draft season, he showed the type of bat skills he had, hitting .400/.492/.491 with the Twins' advanced rookie level team. Baseball America ranked him the #7 overall prospect in the game after that season.

Mauer spent his first full professional season with Quad Cities in the low-A Midwest League, where he hit .302/.393/.392 with 23 doubles and an impressive 61/42 BB/K ratio. He jumped up a few notches in BA's rankings to #4.

In 2003, Mauer split his season almost evenly between high-A and AA, combining to hit .338/.398/.434 with 30 doubles as a 20 year old. His impressive play moved him up all the way to the #1 prospect in BA's list.

Mauer struggled with injuries in 2004, but he still showed enough to earn a 35-game audition with the big league team, where he impressed with a .308/.369/.570 line, keeping him as the #1 prospect in the game with BA.

Mauer took over the Twins starting catcher duties in 2005, and his bat was arguably the best that's ever appeared behind the plate, in terms of pure contact ability. In 2013, it was announced that, after 3 seasons where Mauer had struggled to stay on the field due to injuries and concussions received at the catching position, he'd be moving to first base.

Mauer was considered among the elite in the game throughout his time behind the plate, selected to six All Star games (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013), winning 3 Gold Gloves (2008-2010), and winning 5 Silver Slugger Awards (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013). His best season by far was 2009, when he won the "slash line triple crown", leading the league in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage on the season. He was selected the MVP that season.

Over his career, Mauer has hit .308/.390/.444 with 134 home runs, and he should cross the 2,000 hit plateau very soon. To realize how rare that 2009 slash line triple crown truly is, in the last 50 years, it has only been done 9 times by 8 players.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Florida Marlins, 43.6 bWAR

Gonzalez was a rare first base prospect that was so overwhelmingly good that he was the top prospect in the draft season, especially a high school first baseman. The Marlins took him first overall out of high school in California.

The Marlins started him with their GCL club, and he made a late-season run at the New York-Penn League, hitting .297/.404/.365, showing his advanced approach at the plate, with everyone assuming his power would come naturally. He was ranked as the #89 prospect in baseball by Baseball America.

Gonzalez spent his first full season with the low-A Midwest League, where he exhibited excellent skills, hitting .312/.382/.486 with 37 doubles and 17 home runs. This bumped him up to the #31 prospect with BA. The next season was spent as a 20 year old in AA, where he hit .266/.344/.437 with 34 doubles and 17 home runs, and he remained at the #31 overall prospect.

2003 saw Gonzalez change organizations for the first time in his career. He was traded to the Texas Rangers as the key piece of the deal that sent closer Ugueth Urbina from the Rangers to the Marlins on the Marlins' way to a World Series title.

Gonzalez spent the next two seasons at the Rangers' AAA level, getting late call ups each season to the major leagues, not exactly blowing away the team with power, but hitting with good contact skills and doubles. In the offseason before the 2006 season, he was moved to his third organization, the San Diego Padres.

The Padres inserted Gonzalez into their lineup as their starting first baseman in the 2006 season, and he rewarded them with a .304/.362/.500 season with 24 home runs. He would not finish with under 30 home runs in any other season he played in San Diego. His best season with the Padres came in 2009, when he made a legit case for the MVP, hitting .277/.407/.551 with 40 home runs, leading the league in walks, but the Padres team was not very good, and his MVP argument was not heard well.

The Padres traded Gonzalez in the offseason after the 2010 season to the Boston Red Sox for four players, including Anthony Rizzo. The Red Sox immediately gave Gonzalez a contract extension, however, he never quite performed to the level that the Red Sox seemed to desire, in spite of leading the league in hits in 2011 and hitting .321/.382/.513 in his time in Boston.

The Red Sox dumped a significant amount of salary in a 2012 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, sending Gonzalez along with other highly paid players Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto for a collection of prospects.

Gonzalez will see his contract with the Dodgers end in 2018, and it will be interesting to see what his next step is. The Dodgers seem to have his future replacement in Cody Bellinger, and at age 36 when his contract runs out, Gonzalez will need to consider either retirement or moving to the American League where he can spend some time as DH.

Over his career, Gonzalez has hit .289/.361/.489 with 309 home runs. He has been selected to 5 All Star games (2008-2011, 2015), 4 Gold Gloves (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014), and two Silver Slugger awards (2011, 2014).

Bryan Bullington, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates, -0.2 bWAR

Bullington was the 37th round selection out of high school by the Kansas City Royals but chose instead to attend Ball State University, where he worked himself into the #1 overall selection in 2002 with Pittsburgh. Due to his draft pedigree, Baseball America had him rated as the #52 overall prospect.

He opened 2003 with low-A Hickory, throwing so well that he moved up to high-A with Lynchburg in the Carolina League. Combined on the season, he made 25 appearances, 24 of them starts, throwing 142 2/3 innings, posting a 2.52 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 38/113 BB/K ratio. His solid performance had him ranked the #97 prospect in baseball by BA.

From there, things went to a more "mediocre" spot. In 2004, he threw 145 innings at AA, but with a 4.10 ERA. He then moved up to AAA in 2005 and while he posted a good ERA, he wasn't getting swing and miss, striking out 77 over 104 1/3 innings. He did get a call up to the big league club, though he then injured his elbow, requiring Tommy John surgery.

When Bullington returned in 2007, the Pirates had him spend most of the season in AAA before he got a call up to finish the season, but the surgery had stripped out his velocity beyond what was already a less impressive profile as far as dominance was concerned.

The Pirates moved on in 2008, waiving Bullington in July. He was claimed by the Indians, who then also waived him in October of 2008. He spent a season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009 before finding his way in 2010 to the Kansas City Royals, where he got more major league playing time than with any other organization. After the 2010 season, he asked for his release from the Royals in order to pursue a contract in the Japanese Leagues, where he pitched through 2015.

His major league totals were 26 games pitched, 10 starts, 81 2/3 innings, 5.62 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, and a 31/54 BB/K ratio.

Delmon Young, OF, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 2.5 bWAR

With brother Dmitri Young in the midst of an All Star campaign, Tampa Bay took Delmon first overall out of high school in California. At just 17 years old, the Devil Rays sent Young to the Arizona Fall League, and he showed well enough that he was ranked as the #3 overall prospect by Baseball America entering 2004 season.

Young spent 2004 with low-A Charleston, where he hit .322/.388/.538 with 26 doubles, 25 home runs, and 21 stolen bases at age 18. He remained as the #3 prospect in the game at that time with BA.

At just 19, Young worked up through AA to AAA in 2005. He totaled .315/.354/.527 with 26 doubles, 26 home runs, and 32 stolen bases. He moved up to the #1 prospect with BA.

Young opened 2006 with AAA Durham, earning a promotion at the end of August. He hit .316/.341/.474 in AAA and .317/.336/.476 in the majors over 30 games. BA ranked him as the #3 prospect in the game.

In 2007, Young drove in 93 runs and hit 38 doubles for the Devil Rays, but one of the concerns in his minor league career began to show up stronger, as he had a 3.82% walk rate and 18.65% strikeout rate.

In the offseason of 2007-2008, Young ended up being a key piece to the rise of the Rays to contenders when he was traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of a package that brought back starter Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett, two integral parts of the 2008 Rays team that made it to the World Series.

After three seasons with the Twins where his lack of plate discipline led to him hitting .292/.328/.443 with a total of 43 home runs and 90 doubles over the three seasons, posting a 4.54% walk rate, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He lasted one more year in Detroit, where he was allowed to leave as a free agent after 2012, in spite of being selected as the ALCS MVP.

Young bounced around the next three years to the Phillies, Rays, and Orioles as a bench bat before being out of the league in 2015 at age 29.

His final career line was .283/.316/.421 with 218 doubles and 109 home runs. He posted a career 4.1% walk rate over his career.

Matt Bush, SS, San Diego Padres, 2.4 bWAR

One of the more positive redemption stories of the recent draft, Bush was an incredible talent when selected out of high school in San Diego by his home town Padres, with incredible talent both off the mound and as an elite shortstop bat.

He struggled out of the gate with the Padres' Arizona Rookie League team and their Northwest League team in Eugene, hitting .192/.296/.252. In 2005, the bat continued to struggle at low-A Fort Wayne in the Midwest League, hitting .221/.279/.276.

After struggling in 2006 and 2007 with getting the bat on track, the Padres put Bush onto the mound, where he found some success, but his off field issues soon began to derail his career, and Bush did not make an appearance in affiliated baseball in 2008 or 2009.

The Tampa Bay Rays offered Bush a lifeline in 2010, and he attempted to make his come back as a pitcher, but after a year of dominating strikeout rates in 2011 at AA, he once again did not pitch in affiliated ball until 2016 when he surfaced with the Texas Rangers.

Bush spent time in prison, and his off field story is a post all its own that we won't cover here, but he immediately jumped to AA Frisco with the Rangers in 2016, showing excellent ratios as a reliever. The Rangers brought him to the major league club, and he was dominant as a reliever, making 58 appearances, throwing 61 2/3 innings, posting a 2.48 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a 14/61 BB/K ratio.

Bush was counted on to be the primary setup man in Texas to open 2017, but after closer Sam Dyson's struggles, Bush moved into the closer's role. In 23 appearances and 22 1/3 innings, Bush has posted a 2.42 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and a 8/24 BB/K ratio.

Justin Upton, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks, 28.9 bWAR

The Diamondbacks selected Upton 1st overall out of high school in Virginia three seasons after his brother B.J. Upton had gone 2nd overall. Without having played at all at the professional level, Upton was ranked the #2 prospect by Baseball America.

At age 18, Upton was sent to low-A South Bend in the Midwest League, where he hit .263/.343/.413 with 12 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He was ranked the #9 prospect with BA and #29 prospect with Baseball Prospectus after that first season.

Upton opened 2007 at high-A, where he only stayed for 32 games before moving up to AA. He finished with 43 games in the major leagues. He hit .319/.410/.551 across the two minor league levels with 18 home runs and 19 stolen bases.

He was the opening day starter for the Diamondbacks in 2008 at 20 years old, missing some time due to injury, hitting .250/.353/.463 with 15 home runs.

Upton has been an All Star three teams (2009, 2011, 2015) and been a Silver Slugger award winner twice (2011, 2014). Still not 30 until the end of August, Upton has a career line of .268/.347/.473 with 233 home runs.

Luke Hochevar, RHP, Kansas City Royals, 3.1 bWAR

Drafted initially in the 39th round by the Dodgers in 2002 out of high school, then also in the 1st round in 2005 by the Dodgers out of the University of Tennessee. Hochevar chose not to sign and to re-enter the draft, where the Royals drafted him #1 overall.

After making 4 starts in low-A, Hochevar went to the Arizona Fall League, though he did struggle there with getting hit pretty hard. He was rated the #32 prospect by Baseball America and #23 prospect by Baseball Prospectus.

Hochevar threw 152 innings between AA and AAA in 2007 with a 4.86 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and a 47/138 BB/K ratio. He made his major league debut that September, throwing 12 2/3 innings, throwing very well, to the tune of a 2.13 ERA. BA ranked him as the #63 prospect and BP ranked him as the #72 prospect.

Hochevar made the opening day rotation in 2008, but he struggled, posting a 5.51 ERA over 129 innings. 2009 was even worse, as he posted a 6.55 ERA over 143 innings. The Royals and Hochevar tried the rotation for 3 more seasons, never having an ERA under 4.50.

He moved to the bullpen in 2013, and he posted a tremendous season, making 58 appearances, throwing 70 1/3 innings with a 1.92 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and a 17/82 BB/K ratio before he ended up injuring his elbow and missing the 2014 season.

Hochevar returned to the major leagues in May of 2015, and he was solid in the bullpen, but he ended up having to have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery in August of 2016, and he is still a free agent as of this writing.

His career line is currently 929 1/3 innings thrown, with 279 total appearances, 128 of them starts. He has pitched to a 4.98 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 299/702 BB/K ratio.

David Price, LHP, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 32 bWAR

Price was selected by the Dodgers out of high school in the 19th round of the 2004 draft. He chose instead to go to Vanderbilt, where he became the top pitcher in the country, the top pick to the Rays in 2007. Before he'd ever thrown a professional pitch, Price was ranked #10 by Baseball America and #6 by Baseball Prospectus.

In 2008, Price opened with high-A Vero Beach in the Florida State League, then moved up to the AA Southern League before making a handful of starts for AAA Durham. He finished with time in the bullpen for the Rays as they worked their way to the playoffs. In his minor league time, Price combined to make 19 starts, throwing 109 2/3 innings, with a 2.30 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 32/109 BB/K ratio.

In the MLB, he threw 14 innings, posting a 1.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and a 4/12 BB/K ratio. In the postseason, Price made 5 appearances, throwing 5 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run and posting a 4/8 BB/K ratio as the Rays worked their way to the World Series.

At the end of May in 2009, Price came up from AAA Durham to stay in the rotation with Tampa Bay, and he's been one of the best starters in all of baseball since. Arguments could be had over his best season between 2012 and 2014. In 2012, he posted a 20-5 record with a 2.56 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and a 59/205 BB/K ratio over 211 innings. In 2014, between the Rays and the Tigers Price's record wasn't pretty at 15-12, but he posted a 3.26 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 38/271 BB/K ratio over 248 1/3 innings.

Price was selected as an All Star 5 times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015) and he was selected the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner. On his career, he's thrown 1,688 2/3 innings with a 3.24 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a 428/1,615 BB/K ratio.

Tim Beckham, SS, Tampa Bay Rays, 2.8 bWAR

Drafted as the Rays were on their way to the World Series in 2008, Beckham's incredible athleticism rocketed him to the top of the draft boards out of high school in Georgia where the Rays got him first overall.

The Rays assigned Beckham to their Appy League team, where he showed all his athleticism before spending two games in the New York-Penn League. Combined, he hit .246/.309/.350 with 2 home runs and 6 stolen bases. He was ranked the #28 prospect in baseball by Baseball America and #15 prospect by Baseball Prospectus.

Beckham was sent to low-A Bowling Green in the South Atlantic League. He struggles with his raw skill set, hitting .275/.328/.389 with 33 doubles, 5 home runs, and 13 stolen bases. He was ranked the #67 prospect by BA and #56 prospect by BP.

Beckham didn't really take off over the next couple of seasons but continued to flash his skills at moments. Beckham worked his way up to the majors for the first time in 2013. In 2015 and 2016, Beckham worked off the bench, earning less than 250 plate appearances each season.

In 2017, Beckham has broken through, already having more plate appearances than he's had any other season. He's hitting .279/.321/.446 with 10 home runs, playing plenty of shortstop while filling in this season.

Stephen Strasburg, RHP, Washington Nationals, 20.6 bWAR

After going undrafted out of high school, Strasburg went to San Diego State University, where he grew into his 6'4″ frame and saw his velocity sky rocket to the point where he was touching triple digits with his fastball, leading to him being a consensus #1 overall selection. The Nationals sent him to the Arizona Fall League against some of the best prospects in the game, and he flashed dominating stuff, striking out 23 batters in 19 innings.

Strasburg opened at AA Harrisburg in 2010, moving quickly to AAA Syracuse, finding little resistance at either stop before moving up to the major league club. He made 11 minor league starts, throwing 55 1/3 innings, with a 1.30 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 13/65 BB/K ratio. With the Nationals, he made 12 starts, throwing 68 innings, posting a 2.91 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 17/92 BB/K ratio.

Strasburg's 2010 season was ended by injury, however, as he required Tommy John surgery. He returned to the minor leagues in June of the next year and was able to make 5 major league starts.

The Nationals made headlines trying to manage Strasburg's innings on their playoff run in 2012, and his build up to a full starter's load has been documented well. Strasburg has struggled to hold a full starting load with injuries. He's only made more than 30 starts once in his 8 major league seasons and only thrown more than 200 innings just once as well.

Strasburg has made two All Star games in his career thus far and, as an exceptional athlete, he's even won a Silver Slugger as the best hitting pitcher in 2012. Over his 8 year career, he's made 168 starts, throwing 1004 1/3 innings, with a 3.14 ERA, 1.09 WIP, and a 258/1173 BB/K ratio.

In 2017, he's having one of his best seasons thus far, having made all of his starts with 80 1/3 innings pitched, a 2.80 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 22/89 BB/K ratio.

Bryce Harper, C, Washington Nationals, 24.1 bWAR

Storied for his ridiculous power in high school, Harper graduated early and went to JuCo at College of Southern Nevada in order to be draft-eligible a year early with a year of wood bat experience. The Nationals sent Harper immediately to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .343/.410/.629 as a 17 year old against the best prospects in the game.

The Nationals moved Harper out from behind the plate to the outfield and he opened 2011 with low-A in Hagerstown, moving to AA Harrisburg after 72 games. He went to the Arizona Fall League for a second season. In the minors, he hit .297/.392/.501 with 17 home runs and 26 stolen bases. In the AFL, he hit .333/.400/.634.

Harper opened 2012 in AAA with Syracuse, but he was called up to the majors after just 21 games. As a teenager, he hit .270/.340/.477 with the Nationals in the major leagues with 22 home runs and 18 stolen bases.

Harper plays the game with the abandon and effort that many old-school guys wish for, even though that was the reason why he was attacked by a teammate at one point, claiming he wasn't running out a ground ball hard enough. Harper's high effort led to multiple injuries that led to Harper not playing over 150 games in a season until 2015.

Once he did get that full season in, he was absolutely dynamic, hitting .330/.460/.649 with 38 doubles, 42 home runs, and leading the league in runs scored.

Harper struggled in 2016 to repeat his success, though he still put together a 20/20 season. He's hitting along the same lines as 2015 this season, with a .322/.431/.623 line with 15 home runs over 54 games.

Harper has been selected to four All Star games (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016), 2012 National League Rookie of the Year, a 2015 Silver Slugger, and the 2015 NL MVP.

Gerrit Cole, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates, 9.9 bWAR

Cole was drafted in the 1st round out of high school by the Yankees, but he chose instead to go to college at UCLA, and it paid off as he was the #1 overall selection in 2011 by the Pirates. The Pirates sent Cole to the Arizona Fall League, where he threw well over 15 innings. He was ranked the #12 prospect by Baseball America, #11 by MLB Pipeline, and #9 by Baseball Prospectus.

Cole opened 2012 at high-A, splitting his season primarily between high-A and AA, though he did make one start at AAA. Overall, he made 26 minor league starts, throwing 132 innings, allowing a 2.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 45/136 BB/K ratio. That got him ranked at #7 with BA, #9 with MLB, and #3 with BP.

2013 for Cole was split nearly even between AAA and the major leagues. He was up for good in 2014 after just a handful of starts in AAA, and he's become the Pirates ace, though injury has burned his last two seasons.

After posting a 19-8 record, 2.60 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 44/202 BB/K ratio over 208 innings in 2015, Cole only made 21 starts last season, and he's not appeared fully healthy this season as he's struggled to a 4.83 ERA and 1.34 WHIP.

Cole was an All Star in 2015, when he placed fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Over his career, he's made 107 starts, throwing 655 2/3 innings, with a 3.42 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 165/604 BB/K ratio.

Carlos Correa, SS, Houston Astros, 12.7 bWAR

Considered a cost-saving move, the Astros chose to select Correa #1 overall out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy over Byron Buxton, widely considered the top prospect in the draft.

In his draft season, he played with the Gulf Coast League and the Appalachian League, and he hit fairly well, posting a .258/.305/.400 line with 3 home runs and 6 stolen bases. He was ranked the #13 prospect in baseball by Baseball America, #30 by MLB Pipeline, and #26 by Baseball Prospectus.

Correa played all of 2013 with Quad Cities in the low-A Midwest League, where he hit .320/.405/.467 with 33 doubles, 9 home runs, and 10 stolen bases. His strong performance at just 18 in full season ball had him moving up the prospect rankings, to #7 with BA, #8 with MLB, and #5 with BP.

2014 saw Correa spend the entire season in high-A Lancaster in the Cal League. Correa took full advantage of the hitter-friendly environment, putting up a .325/.416/.510 line in just 62 games due to a broken leg ending his season in late June. At the time, he already had posted 16 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs, and 20 stolen bases. Even with the injury, he was ranked the #4 prospect with BA, #3 with MLB, and #3 with BP.

Healthy again in 2015, Correa made short work of both AA and AAA before making an impact with the Astros at the major league level. Over the two minor league levels, he hit .335/.407/.600 with 21 doubles, 10 home runs, and 18 stolen bases. With Houston, he hit .279/.345/.512 with 22 doubles, 22 home runs, and 14 stolen bases. His performance won him the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year.

Many were expecting Correa to extrapolate on his 2015 season over a full 2016, but instead, he hit .274/.361/.451 with 36 doubles, 20 home runs, and 13 steals, a solid performance, but not the step forward many were expecting.

In 2017, Correa has shown that step forward, and while he's still just 22, he's moving into the level of superstars of the game, currently hitting .300/.376/.514 with 11 home runs.

Mark Appel, RHP, Houston Astros, no major league experience

Considered one of the absolute elite pitchers to come out of college, Appel was drafted in the 15th round out of high school in 2009 by the Tigers. The Pirates drafted him with the 9th pick in 2012 out of Stanford, but he chose to return to school, and Houston picked him 1st overall in 2013.

The Astros started Appel with the New York-Penn League in his draft year before moving him up quickly to the low-A Midwest League. In 38 innings, he posted a 3.79 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 9/33 BB/K ratio. Baseball America ranked him as the #39 prospect in baseball, while MLB Pipeline ranked him #17 and Baseball Prospectus ranked him #21.

Appel pitched the 2014 season between the high-A Cal League and the AA Texas League. He was absolutely destroyed in high-A, but threw well in AA, finishing with a combined line of a 6.91 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and 24/78 BB/K ratio over 83 1/3 innings.

He finished his 2014 season in the Arizona Fall League, where he showed well in 7 starts, throwing 31 innings, allowing a 2.61 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 8/24 BB/K ratio. He ended up ranking as #31 with BA, #30 with MLB, and #35 with BP.

Appel opened 2015 with AA Corpus Christi before being promoted half way through the season to AAA Fresno. Combined, he totaled a 4.37 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 51/110 BB/K ratio over 131 2/3 innings.

The Astros traded Appel as part of the deal to acquire Ken Giles from the Phillies. He struggled with injuries in 2016, and has struggled to perform in 2017. He has posted a 5.65 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and a 36/37 BB/K ratio with Philadelphia's AAA team.

Brady Aiken, LHP, Houston Astros, no major league experience

The only top 5 draft pick in the entire millennium not to sign with his drafting team, Aiken was actually not signed due to the Astros stating that they found something in his medicals that indicated that he'd be a high risk for Tommy John surgery. Sure enough, when Aiken returned to school, his elbow popped, requiring TJS. The Indians ended up taking a chance on Aiken in the 2015 draft with the 17th selection.

Aiken did not make his professional debut until the end of June in the year after he was drafted, and he pitched sparingly, throwing only 46 1/3 innings on the season, struggling with performance, posting a 5.83 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, and a 21/57 BB/K ratio.

This season, Aiken is pitching with Cleveland's low-A team in the Midwest League. He's posted a 4.13 ERA and 1.71 WHIP, with a 38/32 BB/K ratio, struggling to locate his pitches, even though he flashes some of the elite stuff that once made him a top overall selection.

Aiken is only 20, so there is a chance that he could still recover the arm strength to make it all the way back.

Dansby Swanson, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks, 0.8 bWAR

Swanson was one of the lynch pins of the Vanderbilt championship in college and was part of three elite teams in with Vandy before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks first overall.

The Diamondbacks assigned Swanson to their Northwest League affiliate with Hillsboro, where he was playing well before a pitch hit his face, ending his season. Swanson hit .289/.394/.482.

In the offseason, the Diamondbacks used Swanson as a key piece to acquire the pitcher they felt they needed to get over the top in Shelby Miller, sending Swanson, outfielder Ender Inciarte, and pitching prospect Aaron Blair to Atlanta for Miller and a minor league reliever.

The Braves sent Swanson to high-A Carolina, where he was elite before moving up to AA Mississippi. Swanson posted a combined line of .275/.362/.426 line with 25 doubles, 5 triples, and 9 home runs, stealing 13 bases before being called up to the big leagues in August.

Atlanta saw Swanson establish himself as a future face of the franchise, hitting .302/.361/.442 over 38 games in the major leagues.

Swanson opened 2017 in Atlanta and struggled initially, but all the markers were there that his early season struggles were due to poor luck through BABIP as his hit rate was exactly what he'd want to be successful. Sure enough, he's picked things up recently, though his season line is still .215/.297/.341.

Mickey Moniak, OF, Philadelphia Phillies, no major league experience

In a draft without a clear #1 prospect, Moniak established himself in the summer before the draft with his elite defensive instincts and feel for contact. Many projected that he could grow into above-average power to go with his plus speed and elite defense.