The Sharp & The Fish: Round Seven
A series where we pick out the best and worst picks in each round
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Picks 90-105 as we bust into triple-digits!
Here’s what the sharps and the fish are doing in round seven.
SHARP: TYLER SODERSTROM
Tim and I talked about him a good bit in the first base podcast from this week. And he’s in the Athletics preview, of course! But to be brief, he gives you a really strong AVG + HR floor with oodles of upside with the age and with the room for growth he has.
He’s one of my favorite picks in the draft for the second year in a row.
FISH: SPENCER STRIDER
It’s tough to forget the Strider revolution from 2022-2023. The man made 52 starts with a strikeout rate closer to 40% than it was to 35%. It was absurd stuff.
But since that 2023 season ended, he has a 24.6% K% with a 9.6% BB% and a 1.47 HR/9. He’s not been good. The pivot point was… You guessed it… ELBOW SURGERY!
There are examples of dudes having elbow surgery and coming back as mostly the same dude. But there are also examples of dudes who are never the same after the surgery. And you know what the problem is with human memory? We remember the first group a lot more than the second group.
Check out Strider’s fastball usage and velo:
So he’s lost almost 3mph from the peak there, a huge number, and his lack of other pitches has him still having to throw the pitch 51% of the time.
Can he get the velo back? Sure, is that the best bet? Not at all. And without a good fastball, he’s a one-tricky pony with the slider, and that does not work.
It’s as simple as this, I think. If he doesn’t come into 2026 with a massively improved heater, he’s a legitimately bad pitcher that you’re picking in the top 100.