Jake Latz

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #361 prospect in 2017 draft
  An 11th-round pick of the Blue Jays out of high school, Latz is one of the tougher scouting calls of the 2017 draft. He's ineligible to play this year for Kent State after transferring from Louisiana State and he's barely pitched in the past three seasons. He was redshirted in 2015 because of a stress reaction in his elbow that required surgery and threw only 8.1 innings in 2016. So a team drafting Latz will be basing it off of workouts and bullpens and simulated games he's thrown at Kent State. But those bullpens are really good, as he's sat 90-93 mph with flashes of an average slider, curveball and changeup. A team picking Latz will probably treat him as an abbreviated draft-and-follow, watching him pitch in the Cape Cod League before deciding whether to spend on potential. As such, he could be taken slightly after the tenth round.
• Ranked #208 prospect in 2014 draft
  Latz formed an electric prep battery with Mike Papierski, and both are committed to Louisiana State. Latz may not get there after a strong finish to a dominant spring campaign. The slender 6-foot-2, 185-pounder is growing into his body and has added velocity this spring. After sitting in the 84-88 mph range last summer on the travel ball circuit, Latz topped out at 92 mph early and popped some 93s as the season wore on. He has a feel for spinning his slider and has shown the ability to land it for strikes. He's needed just two pitches to overmatch Illinois prep competition and could use some polish, but he has athleticism. If he doesn't sign, he could pitch in the weekend rotation for LSU as a freshman.