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Law: One college pitcher whose first-round draft stock is rising

Big-framed Alek Manoah is seeing his stock rise on MLB draft boards. Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire

This year's college pitching crop is the weakest I've seen in the 18 drafts I've witnessed either at ESPN or as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays front office. That's going to be a little scary for teams that tend to flee to the safety of college players in the mid- to late first round when it comes time to make an actual selection and pay someone $2 million. That presents opportunities for the few good college arms in this draft class, including West Virginia right-hander Alek Manoah, who pitched like someone who wanted to go in the top five picks on Friday night against Texas Tech.