Brock Jones and the Top 10 MLB Draft Prospects at the 2022 College World Series

The 2022 College World Series is officially underway!

This year's field of teams is made up of Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Stanford, Texas and Texas A&M, and there is plenty of future pro talent on those eight rosters.

Ahead we've provided a rundown of the top 10 prospects for the 2022 MLB draft who will be in action at this year's College World Series.

Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez (2023) and Stanford outfielder Braden Montgomery (2024) have a chance to be early picks in the next two draft classes, but our focus was solely on the 2022 event.

One of the more intriguing two-way players in the class, Jack Brannigan has seen the bulk of his action at third base for Notre Dame this spring.

The 21-year-old junior is hitting .296/.361/.557 with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and 46 RBI, and he's been a solid defender at the hot corner.

However, he holds more pro appeal on the mound, where he can dial his fastball up to 100 mph and backs it with a wipeout slider that can be a true plus pitch when it's on.

The 6'1" right-hander didn't pitch a ton this season, having posted a 7.36 ERA in 14.2 innings, but he racked up 28 strikeouts and tallied two saves, and there's simply no teaching his arm strength.

It's been a trying spring for Robert Moore, who has hit just .223 in 278 plate appearances as the starting second baseman for a stacked Arkansas squad.

However, he hit .283/.384/.558 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI as a sophomore, and despite his low batting average this spring, he has still posted a .366 on-base percentage thanks to a healthy 13.7 percent walk rate.

The son of Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore, he also has many of the intangibles often associated with young players who grew up around the game.

While he has likely slipped out of the top two rounds because of his downturn in production, Moore still has a high floor as an offensive-minded utility player capable of handling both middle infield spots.

Pete Hansen finished 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 91 innings as a draft-eligible sophomore last season, but he went undrafted.

A soft-tossing lefty who pitches off an excellent slider and a quality curveball that both help his upper-80s fastball play up, he has shown a bit more swing-and-miss ability this spring while anchoring the Texas Longhorns rotation.

The 6'2", 205-pound southpaw has gone 11-2 with a 3.40 ERA and 1.01 WHIP while raising his strikeout rate (7.9 to 10.0 K/9) and lowering his walk rate (2.3 to 1.7 BB/9) relative to his sophomore campaign.

"He has a high floor as a back-of-the-rotation starter who might not need much time to reach the majors," wrote MLB.com.

With a 6'1", 263-pound frame and limited athleticism, Auburn's Sonny DiChiara looks as though he'll spend the bulk of his time penciled into the DH role in the pros.

However, there is no ignoring the numbers he has put up this season while playing in the SEC, one of the toughest conferences in college baseball.

The Samford transfer is hitting .392/.560/.809 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI in 58 games, and he has tallied more walks (68) than strikeouts (51) en route to his NCAA Division I-leading .560 on-base percentage.

His senior status and his limited defensive profile take a bite out of his draft stock, but there is no doubt he has the bat to make a pro impact.

One of the best defensive catchers in the country, Texas' Silas Ardoin has taken his offensive game to another level this year, and his draft stock has climbed considerably.

A 36th-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2019, he hit just .239 with one home run in 238 plate appearances during the 2021 season, though he did show the ability to work a walk with a solid .389 on-base percentage.

This spring, he's hitting .276/.399/.526 with 20 doubles, 12 home runs and 50 RBI, raising his slugging percentage by more than 200 points.

With a 60-grade arm and 60-grade receiving skills, he can have an MLB future with even average offensive production, and there's something to be said for grabbing a player who is still on the upswing offensively.

The right-handed hitting, first base-only profile has a long history of risk.

For every Pete Alonso success story, there are a dozen guys who wind up being little more than Quad-A depth after tearing the cover off the ball in college.

That said, it's impossible to ignore what Texas' Ivan Melendez has done this spring.

The 6'3", 225-pound slugger is hitting .396/.516/.888 with an NCAA Division I leading 32 home runs in 65 games.

Beyond the gaudy power numbers, he has also raised his walk rate by 3.3 percentage points and lowered his strikeout rate by 10.4 points, becoming a more complete offensive player. The Miami Marlins took him in the 16th round in the 2021 draft, but he returned to campus and has likely played his way into the top 100 picks.

A classic floor-over-ceiling college left-hander, Jake Bennett has been one of the breakout pitchers of the spring after struggling to a 6.34 ERA in 55.1 innings as a sophomore.

The 6'6", 234-pound southpaw has gone 9-3 with a 3.53 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 120 strikeouts in 104.2 innings this season, and he has one of the best changeups in the draft, which helps him keep right-handed hitters at bay.

He can reach back for upper-90s heat on his fastball but generally sits in the low 90s and mixes his pitches well with a good slider to go with his fastball-changeup combination.

A 39th-round pick out of high school where he was teammates with current Washington Nationals prospect and fellow Oklahoma Sooner standout Cade Cavalli, he now seems like a safe bet to hear his name called in the first five rounds.

After a 14-homer freshman season at Arkansas last year and a solid run in the Cape Cod League last summer, Cayden Wallace has solidified his status as one of the top hitters in the nation this spring.

The draft-eligible sophomore is hitting .299/.393/.554 with 17 doubles, 15 home runs and 57 RBI, and he has also stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts

He still has some swing-and-miss concerns and a strikeout rate hovering around 20 percent over his two college seasons, and he can get a bit pull-happy at times in his approach, but his power is among the best in the college ranks this year.

He stands to benefit as much as anyone with a strong run at the College World Series.

Undrafted out of high school, Peyton Graham made an immediate impact as a freshman at Oklahoma during the abridged 2020 season, hitting .358/.457/.612 with 11 extra-base hits and eight steals in 18 games.

After a modest sophomore season, he has taken a huge step forward this spring and enters the College World Series firmly in the mix to be taken at the back of the first round.

He's hitting .336/.416/.660 with 16 doubles, 20 home runs, 70 RBI and 32 steals in 34 attempts, and he's done it while successfully shifting from third base to shortstop. He also saw time in the outfield in the Cape Cod League, and that defensive versatility should carry over to the pro level.

There is still room for him to grow into his 6'3", 185-pound frame, and while he does have some swing-and-miss with 62 strikeouts in 62 games this year, his well-rounded skill set and budding power give him a ton of long-term upside.

Brock Jones played football and baseball at Stanford as a freshman before turning his full attention to the baseball field, and he is one of the best all-around athletes in the 2022 draft class.

After posting a 1.099 OPS with 18 home runs and 62 RBI as a sophomore, he has been even better this spring, hitting .327/.455/.665 with 20 home runs and 15 steals in 20 attempts while manning center field.

His 24.4 percent strikeout rate is higher than you'd like to see from a potential first-round pick, and he doesn't have much room for growth physically, but his mix of power, speed and center field defense is still extremely enticing.

With a solid showing on the big stage at the College World Series, he could solidify his status as a first-rounder.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and the Baseball Cube and accurate through Thursday's games. Prospect tool grades via MLB.com.