Derek Curiel

An extremely well known prep bat for years, Curiel elected to head to LSU and quickly established himself as a force at the top of that lineup as a freshman, a true table setter and one of the better pure contact hitters in all of college baseball.

Curiel has a chance to develop into one of the best pure hitters in the 2026 draft class. He's got a lengthy track-record of performance against high level compeition, and a swing that will play at the next level. It's a simple, direct left-handed stroke with few holes. Curiel has elite bat-to-ball skills both inside and outside the strike zone paired with a mature approach at the plate. He's a calm, relaxed hitter, who never looks to do too much at the plate. It's easy to slap a plus on the hit tool at this stage.

Most people when trying to poke a hole in Curiel's game will point towards his underwhelming power numbers. He hasn't slugged much really at any stage in his career, with only 13 career collegiate homeruns to his name and an ISO under .200. There's not a ton of twitch and torque at the plate and the swing is relatively stiff with little feel to lift the baseball. Even with the surface numbers not being very impressive, Curiel's exit velocities have still increased year over year. His peak exit velocities now sit north of 110 mph, so there may be a little more unlocking for a pro org to do in-terms of power production.

While less toolsy on the defensive side, Curiel has a chance to develop into a solid center fielder further down the line. He takes great routes to the ball and figures to be servicable there long term. Curiel is one of the higher floor college bats in the class, a guy who could end up being a first round pick and hit his way quickly through the minor leagues.