Lucas Erceg

Erceg dazzled as a two-way player in high school and hit and pitched for two years at Cal, though his bat took center stage. He was a first-team All-Pac-12 player as a sophomore, but Erceg ran into academic difficulty in Berkeley and wound up having to transfer to Menlo (Calif.), an NAIA school 25 miles from his home. Erceg had to pass 21 units to be eligible for Menlo, but he made the grades and had a strong spring, tying for fourth in NAIA nationally in home runs. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder didn't hit for as much average as might have been expected, batting .308 at Menlo after hitting .303 at Cal in 2015, but he did swat 20 home runs and slug over .600. Athletic and armed with excellent hand-eye coordination, contact almost comes too easy to Erceg, who struck out just 18 times this spring. He has the power and arm strength to profile well at third base, with tremendous arm strength. He's closed off and on for three years in college, hitting 97 mph at his best and even sitting at 92-94 mph in a seven-inning start in Menlo's final game, a hard-luck loss. The Bears miss Erceg's bat, glove and arm, and Erceg could have been the top-drafted Pac-12 bat; instead, he'll be the first NAIA player off the board, likely in the second round.