2023 MLB Draft: The Guys That Shouldn't Be Available at 13 for the Chicago Cubs

Starting today and continuing every Friday until the MLB draft on July 9th, we’ll be breaking down the top college hitters that the Chicago Cubs should consider taking with the 13th overall pick. Other writers may choose to write about high school bats or pitchers in either the college or high school ranks, but as I posited earlier this week, the safest and highest upside play in the first round over the last 20 years has been to draft the college hitter so that’s what I’m going to hone in on. 

The two hitters we’re looking at this week should not be available when the Cubs pick. That being said, players fall all the time for one reason or another and if either of these two ended up on the North Side then Cubs management (and fans) should be ecstatic. 

Next week we’ll look at four players that could be there when the Cubs pick at 13. The last week in June we’ll dive into potential underslot options that will almost assuredly be there for Chicago to consider and finally the week prior to the draft we’ll post a piece that has a smattering of the writers from Cubbies Crib weigh in on the pick they want to see the Cubs make. 

For now, here are two players that will almost certainly go in the top five of next month’s draft, but it would be a ton of fun if they fell: