In a draft class loaded with high schoolers at the top, the top college prospects are easy to overlook.
One of those is LSU’s Jacob Berry, who finds himself in an unusual situation. Scouts and experts still believe Berry lacks a true position, which spells trouble for any draft-eligible player who hopes to hear his name called early. Berry, a draft-eligible sophomore, transferred from Arizona to LSU after his freshman season.
But Berry isn’t buying that analysis. He should be chosen in the first round, with some mocks having him as high as No. 1 overall to the Orioles. As far as the question of where he ends up defensively, the LSU slugger dispels the notion that he’s destined to be a designated hitter.
“I can play anywhere at the big league level,” Berry said on Glenn Clark Radio June 30. “I’m not really worried about what anybody has to say about that. I know I’m going to be a good defender in a few years and in the big leagues.”
Despite his proclamations, Berry’s future position is a legitimate question and one that may prevent him from going first overall no matter how good his bat is. He played primarily third base for LSU in 2022, logging 39 games at the hot corner. He also got some run in the outfield, with 14 games in right field and two in left.
“The Tigers have tried him at third and both outfield corners, and he’s been bad everywhere,” The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in his latest draft rankings update. “That lack of a position limits how valuable he can be.”
The hit tool, which Law says is one of the best in the class, could ultimately be what saves Berry. The 6-foot, 212-pound switch-hitter slashed .370/.464/.630 in 53 games in easily the toughest conference in college baseball. He was named an All-American by several publications.
Elite amateur hitters have been hindered by question marks defensively before, and Berry figures to be next in that line. In a mock draft published in May, Law projected Berry first overall to Baltimore. In Law’s next edition published in late June, Berry fell to Colorado at No. 10.
“I view myself as a third baseman in the big leagues someday,” Berry said. “I started playing good defense toward the end of the year when I started playing more. I just see myself getting better each day I go out there.”
Wherever Berry ultimately ends up in the draft, which begins on July 17, he knows he’ll have to prove why the defensive questions shouldn’t have existed in the first place. The bat can play, but whether the glove does or not may make or break Berry’s career.
“They can say all they want now, but in a few years it’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, remember when we said he wasn’t any good?'” Berry said. “It just makes working toward the goal a little bit easier when somebody’s kind of rooting against you.”
If the Orioles do make him their top choice, he’d be the second-ever LSU player taken by Baltimore first overall (Ben McDonald in 1989). Now a broadcaster for MASN and the SEC Network, McDonald often chatted with Berry this past year, although the topics of conversation almost exclusively stayed on fishing and hunting and not the pressures of being a first overall draft pick in Baltimore.
“Whoever gets picked will be a big part of their team,” Berry said on the possibility of becoming an Oriole. “Great ballclub, they’ve had some great draft picks over the last few years and you see them in the big leagues emerging. They’re going to be in contention here within the next few years.”
For more from Berry, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of LSU Athletics