OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Prep Baseball Report recently released its Top 100 Junior College prospects rankings for the 2020 Major League Draft and two members of the Johnson County Community College baseball team were listed among the Top 20 on the list.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Drew Garrett came in at No. 18 on the list, and sophomore infielder Arkansas signee Brady Slavens was ranked 20th.
Garrett (Hickman HS/Columbia, Mo.) made six starts on the hill for the Cavaliers this spring. He finished 4-1 with 53 strikeouts and allowed just four hits and five runs in 22.2 innings pitched, giving him an earned run average of 1.99. His four hits allowed rank as the second fewest recorded in a season in team history. His 53 strikeouts led the Kansas Jayhawk Conference and ranked 12th in the NJCAA, and his 21.04 strikeout per nine inning ratio led the nation.
Slavens batted .507 (38-for-75) with a NJCAA-leading 14 home runs and 47 RBI through 22 games this season. He also had nine doubles, two triples, 13 multiple-hit and 12 multiple-RBI games. He led the conference in hits, home runs and RBIs, and tied for second in doubles. Slaven was named the Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week three consecutive times in last February and early March. In the final week of the season, he was named the NJCAA National Player of the Week when he went 7-for-11 with four home runs, 15 RBI and seven runs scored in four games.
The top of this year's JUCO Top 100 was Connor Phillips from McLennan College.
PBR reported that this year MLB Draft looks to be loaded with junior college talent, after 103 NJCAA prospects were taken in the 2019 MLB Draft. The 2020 MLB Draft will take place July.