These are the players who are gonna get on base. A lot.

SHARE













San Diego Union TribuneCalvin Mitchell has one of the most advanced hit tools in the class

WIth the draft slowly but surely approaching, it's time to take a look at what players have the best tools in the 2017 MLB Draft class. In addition to giving you the players with the top tools, we'll give you a look at what scouts take a look at when they're looking for those aforementioned tools.

A quick note on these: For these rankings, we're talking about top 150-200 prospects. There certainly will be players who have top of the scale -- or 80 grade -- tools, but without the necessary other skillsets to take seriously as a "legit" prospect.

First up, the hit tool.

What the hit tool is:

In a nutshell, the hit tool is determining whether or not the player is going to be able to hit for average at the big-league level.

What scouts look for:

Bat speed: If a player can't get the bat through the zone quickly, it's difficult for him to make the hard contact necessary to hit for average

Plane: Scouts like to see a swing that stays in the hitting zone with little wasted movement.

Pitch-recognition: If a hitter is able to recognize secondary pitches -- curves, sliders, etc. -- he's much more likely to be able to hit that pitch. Obvious? Perhaps. Important? You betcha.

Hand-eye coordination: This sort of goes hand-in-hand with pitch-recognition, but a hitter who is able to see pitches well and make contact on difficult pitches has a much better chance of hitting for average. It's very difficult to project someone to have a higly-rated hit tool if the player swings and misses.

Approach: Maybe the most important portion. If a hitter swings at pitches outside the zone, they're going to make a lot of weak contact. Weak contact = weak hit tool. It's not just about taking pitches. If a hitter is willing to go the other way, the chances of hitting for average go up considerably.

Applying the 20-80 scale

The following scale comes directly from an MLB scouting director:

Grade Average 20 Below .200 30 .200-.220 35 .220-.230 40 .230-.250 45 .250-.260 50 .260-.270 55 .270-.280 60 .280-.290 65 .290-.300 70 .300-.315 80 .315+

The Top 10

Rank Player Grade 1 Keston Hiura, OF/2B, UC Irvine 60 2 Brendan McKay, 1B, Louisville 60 3 Cal Mitchell, OF, Rancho Bernardo HS (Calf.) 55 4 Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia 55 5 Justin Yurchak, 3B, Binghamton 55 6 Royce Lewis, SS/OF, J Serra HS (Calif.) 55 7 Nick Pratto, 1B/LHP, Huntington Beach HS (Calif.) 55 8 Nick Allen, SS, Parker HS (Calif.) 55 9 Michael Gigliotti, OF, Lipscomb 55 10 Luis Gonzalez, OF, New Mexico 55

You'll notice that there are only two players here with plus hit tools. This number might seem low, but hitting for average is hard, and a plus hit tool is rare. The difference between an above-average and plus tool is not negligible, but it certainly doesn't prevent a player from having a long, succesful career.

Hiura ranks at the top, and some scouts believe he could have a 65-70 hit tool when it's all said and done. He's a smart, selective hitter who makes a ton of hard contact from the right side.

Right behind Hiura is McKay, who is putting up bonkers numbers in 2017, and has the swing to suggest it's not a fluke. I still think he ends up a pitcher, but more and more teams are starting to look at him as a hitter.

Mitchell ranks at the top of the prep scale, and with good reason. There are some positional concerns -- same with Hiura, for the record -- but I haven't spoken with anyone who doubts he can hit.

We haven't had a chance to talk about Yurchack, but we should. He came into last weekend hitting a whopping .545, and while Binghamton will face inferior competition the rest of the way, he's faced some quality competition in the early year. He can really hit, and a few area guys have mentioned him as a day one selection.

Pratto is a two-way prospect like McKay, but unlike McKay, there aren't many debates about where he'll spend his professional career. He's likely liomited to first base, but he's an excellent defender there, and he rips line drives all over the park.

He was one of my favorite hitters of the Area Code Games, and he's the rare prep hitter that could move quickly because of his advanced offensive ability.