As the 2021 MLB regular season winds down, the Arizona Diamondbacks find themselves in one last dubious race in which no team wants to participate. That race — as we have lovingly referred to as TANK SZN on the PHNX D-backs Podcast — is to see which team will end the year with the worst record in baseball and earn the No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
With no concise No. 1 pick this year like when Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg were drafted first overall, baseball pundits’ and experts’ top 10 lists have fluctuated throughout the season.
However, one name that was consistently at the top of everyone’s boards and someone whom we have discussed coveting quite a bit is a 6-feet-3, 225-pound outfielder/right handed pitcher Elijah Green.
Green, who currently attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, has been called the best prep prospect in the MLB Draft since Jo Adell in 2017. His athleticism and size at the age of 17 have impressed scouts across baseball.
It’s no surprise to his father, former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Green. While he would have loved to see his son continue the family business of football, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’s happy Elijah is blazing his own path.
“We’re here to support him, and I know he’s happy with what he’s doing,” Eric Green said. “He’s having success with it. It’s a family thing for us. We’re relishing the moment, and we’re very proud of him.”
What makes Green such a highly sought-after prospect is how complete his game already is as a high school player. As an outfielder, he has drawn comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr. with his ability to read and react to the ball and make dynamic plays consistently. Green has admitted to modeling his game after Mike Trout, another player to whom he has been compared defensively.
Simply put, there isn’t much that gets past him in centerfield.
His transitions from catching to throwing in the field are already at a major-league level, with an arm velocity clocked at 95 mph. He runs a 6.16-second 60-yard dash and has the ability to play all three outfield positions.
Despite all of the talk about his defense, his explosive hitting steals the show.
“I take lots of pride in my hitting,” Green told ProspectsLive.com in a 2020 interview. “I feel like I hit the ball really well and can consistently hit for power.”
A whopping 73.7% of his batted balls had exit velocities over 95 mph in 2021, with a maximum exit velocity of 103.8 and an average of 90.3. He’s a monster who can hit the ball a country mile.
His barrel delivery is described as short and quick with aggression, with a maximum barrel speed of 75 mph. By comparison, his class average is more than 10 mph less.
In his junior year of high school, playing against high level prep competition, Green is slashing .321/.449/.666 with an OPS of 1.116 and six home runs in 78 at bats.
He can hit the ball to all fields well and he even hit one off the infamous catwalk at Tropicana Field.
Other comparisons were made by scouts to recent superstar level talents such as Fernando Tatis Jr. and Carlos Correa in regards to just knowing a kid is going to be a special player at an early level.
With the MLB Draft as complex as it is, you can never predict how things are going to go. For now, the D-backs are on pace for the No. 1 pick and Green, while committed to the University of Miami, will be eligible for the 2022 MLB Draft.
Unlike the immediate impact that drafted players can make in other sports like football and basketball, it will still be a number of years before we will have any confirmation that Green can live up to all of this hype and these comparisons. But if there is a possibility that he can be a franchise altering player for the team that drafts him and a “generational talent” as he’s been labeled, Arizona cannot let this opportunity pass.
