Every season Juco transfers find a new home at a four-year college, and every season many of those immediately impact their new team. Last spring there wasn’t a Juco transfer who had a greater impact in his first season with his new club than Alabama’s Gage Miller. The everyday third baseman made an immediate difference for the Crimson Tide, batting in the middle of the lineup and slashing .381/.474/.702 with 18 home runs. He was selected in the third round, 92nd overall by the Marlins. Other top five round hitters in 2024 who were coming off their previous season in junior college included Florida State’s Marco Dinges (4th round; Brewers) and Coastal Carolina’s Sam Antonacci (5th round; White Sox).

This spring season impact Juco transfer hitters are more numerous than ever. If the draft were held this week, no less than six would likely be selected within the top five rounds. Here’s the breakdown on those with top five round potential, as well as a few more who have elevated their draft value from just a season ago in junior college.

Colin Yeaman, SS, UC-Irvine (College of the Canyons, Calif.)- Yeaman continues to rise as he rakes. He’s physical at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, moves well and has a strong arm. Likely a third baseman at the pro level, Yeaman has committed eight errors in 147 chances (.946) this season. There’s a slight pause between catch and throw and he can struggle with throwing accuracy when rushed. At the plate the righthanded hitter has a relaxed setup before getting into a consistently strong hitting position and unleashing his barrel with both strength and speed. He uses all fields with authority and combines bat-to-ball (.395 average) with power (14 doubles, 12 home runs, .337 ISO). His max EV this season is fringe-grade at 108 mph and there is mild concern about his 16.8% Z-Whiff (48th percentile) and his decreased production against higher velocity fastballs (93+), batting just .284 (3-for-13) compared to .446 (33-for-74) against fastballs 92 or slower. But, those are small sample sizes and there’s much more season to play. Late second to early third round seems to be his current landing spot.

Ryan Wideman, OF, Western Kentucky (Georgia Highlands)- Wideman continues to raise eyebrows throughout the scouting industry. Currently batting .418 with 18 doubles and six home runs, he’s a toolshed who combines size (6-foot-5, 215 pounds), speed (70-grade straight line) and other hard to find physical abilities. What separates him from others his size is that his speed plays. He accelerates quickly and can steal bases (35-for-45 this season). A concern among analytics is his chase rate of 40% (1st percentile) and a 45th percentile Z-Whiff (in the zone swing/miss). However, he’s only struck out at a 15.1% clip (74th percentile) so there’s obvious ability to adjust with two strikes. There’s certainly risk involved with his chase and whiff rates, but he's an elite athlete with all-star potential if it all clicks. There will be plenty of interested parties to select his talents, likely starting in the third round. More on Wideman from Week Six of College Crosscheck.

Richard Bonomolo, OF, Alabama (Wabash Valley, Ill.)- It appears that the Crimson Tide has pulled another top round pick from the Juco ranks two years in a row. Bonomolo is strong-bodied at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds and shows all five tools. His plus-plus straight line speed allows him to run balls down gap-to-gap for plus defense and he’s stolen 15 bases in 16 attempts. At the plate his max EV is 45-grade (108 mph) with strong in-game power to his pull side. He will chase the fastball a bit out of the zone (22.5% Chase rate – 28th percentile), but he’s tough to strike out (14.6% SO rate) and has a 90.1% contact rate on pitches in the zone. To date he’s put together a .344/.439/.569 production slash with 22 XBH. It’s a little surprising that Bonomolo made it to Tuscaloosa after two high production seasons at Wabash Valley where he showed speed (105 SBs), power (21 HR), defense and arm strength, but there’s no doubt that he’s further maximized his value into the top three-to-four rounds at Alabama.

Brent Iredale, 3B, Arkansas (New Mexico): Iredale got off to a smoking hot start this spring. He has cooled a bit in SEC play, but overall he’s fulfilled the high accolades. The righthanded hitter had an eight RBI game vs Portland in March and eight more in the three-game series against South Carolina before enduring an 0-for-19 slump at the plate in mid-April. He has too much in the zone swing/miss (48th percentile Z-Whiff), but has continued to adjust throughout the season and is currently batting .297 with 20 XBHs. It’s been a bit of an up/down season so far, but with a strong finish, Iredale could be selected in the top three-to-four rounds.

Jake Munroe, 3B, Louisville (John A Logan, Ill.)- Munroe has made an immediate impact in the middle of Louisville's lineup. There are few, if any, questions about his bat. He’s fourth in the ACC in runs (51), seventh in hits (61) and batting average (.370), and 13th in RBIs (44). His strikeout rate is solid (15%), his max EV is 111 mph and both his Whiff and contact data measure up really well. He’s also deceptively fast. At 6-foot-2, 225 pounds he looks like a below average runner, but he can move once underway. On my watch against Florida State, the righthanded hitter had a slower first step out of the box, but ran a 4.29 on an infield single. Defensively, Munroe has fringe hands and below average range with a slower first step and delayed reactions at times. He’s a work-in-progress at third base and will need to continue to work hard, but he’s shown improvement while at Louisville and there’s now a chance he can remain in-position moving forward. Currently, the fourth-to-fifth round is a likely landing spot.

Riley Nelson, 1B, Vanderbilt (Yavapai, Ariz.)- A rarity as a Juco transfer at Vanderbilt, Nelson was a late addition (mid-July) to Vanderbilt’s recruiting class last summer. He was early to impress area scouts this spring with six hits in 13 at-bats opening weekend. He continued to square it up with four hits (three doubles) in nine at-bats against Texas A&M during the second weekend of SEC play and hasn’t slowed. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound lefthanded hitter is now a national crosschecked prospect after ballooning from a relatively unknown out of the Arizona desert in Yavapai to a top five round prospect for this year’s draft. He combines strong contact ability with a max EV of 112 mph (55/60-grade). Nelson reminds many in the industry of Sean Casey for his good bat-to-ball skills and the ability to drive the baseball, especially to the opposite field. He leads Vandy with a .367 batting average, .487 OBP and .533 SLG and he’s walked (29) more than he’s struck out (28). More on Nelson from Week Ten of College Crosscheck.

Chris Arroyo, 1B, Virginia (Pasco-Hernando, Fla.)- Arroyo has anchored the cleanup spot for the Hoos throughout the spring. His top tool is his 70-grade raw power to go along with above-average hit ability. Although he hasn’t fully tapped into his raw power, he has banged nine home runs this season while striking out at a low clip (13.5%) and hitting for a solid average (.315). He’s also shown improvement as the season has progressed with his in-zone swing/miss which currently sits in the 42nd percentile at 18.2%. More on Arroyo from Week Seven of College Crosscheck.

The top five rounds might be a slight stretch, but it’s not a particularly deep draft and four more outfielders are on the cusp for this area of the draft.

Brayden Fraasman (NC State), Sam Christiansen (Oklahoma), Bryce Fowler (Alabama) and Josh Wakefield (Grand Canyon) are all very good athletes with tools and strong performance this spring. Wakefield was originally recruited as a two-way player from Iowa Western, but has only made one appearance on the mound this season. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound lefthanded hitter is cruising along with a .372/.459/.431 slash. There’s not much pop in his stick, but he’s a bat-to-ball machine with an 85th percentile in-zone contact rate of 93.7% against the fastball. He’s also stolen a dozen bases in 13 attempts. Christiansen’s father, Jason, is a former 11-year veteran of the Major Leagues as a lefthanded pitcher. Sam, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound lefthanded hitter, excels in the batter’s box by working the count and getting on base; he’s walked 43 times this season and has a .478 OBP. He also has 16 XBHs in 129 at-bats with developing power. He’s an above average runner and defender, and never underestimate his big league bloodlines. Fowler began his college career at Southern Miss before heading to Pearl River (Miss.) for his sophomore season. He has five tool potential showing power (six doubles, five home runs), patience (30 BB vs 29 SO) and speed (11 stolen bases in 13 attempts). Fraasman is another high level athlete who is just coming into his own. A converted catcher from Lincoln Trail JC (Ill.), he was having a solid season before exploding for five hits with two home runs and seven RBI last Thursday against Clemson. At the plate he is overly aggressive (just a 7.6% walk rate) and chases too often, especially the righthanded slider. But, he makes up for it with a good two-strike approach (just a 14% K rate), a max EV of 110.8 and solid in-game power to his pull side (20 XBHs and .261 ISO).