MLB Draft prospects 2016: Alec Hansen has breakthrough start, Matt Krook strikes out career-high 12

Perhaps Oklahoma RHP Alec Hansen's start on Saturday against UCLA is where he gets back on track to being a top MLB Draft prospect. In his longest outing so far, Hansen struck out 11 over 6⅓ innings and walked just two batters. The Bruins didn't get to Hansen until the seventh inning.

Hansen had his fastball and slider working on Saturday, which Baseball America's Teddy Cahill details in his write-up of the start. In that article, UCLA's manager John Savage favorably compares Hansen's 98 mph fastball to current Rockies pitcher Jon Gray, but goes one step further by saying he wasn't just throwing it, he knew how to pitch with it. I want Hansen to string together a few more solid starts, but I wouldn't downgrade his draft stock just yet after three trips to the mound.

We've got some video of Hansen from Prospect Pipeline that covers the first two innings. Hansen struck out five over that span.

Season line: 3 GS, 0-2 W-L, 5.23 ERA, 10⅓ IP, 7/6 R/ER, 17 K, 8 BB, 2 WP, 2 HBP

Matt Krook, LHP, Oregon

Krook threw six no-hit innings on Saturday and struck out 12 (of 24 batters faced) while walking just two batters. He also had trouble keeping the ball from crossing into the batter's box, hitting four UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. All of that led to a high pitch count and an early hook from the game (the Ducks lost 1-0 in 14 innings).

Season line: 3 GS, 0-0 W-L, 1.59 ERA, 17 IP, 5/3 R/ER, 26 K, 10 BB, 2 WP, 5 HBP

A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida

Puk continued to show his ability to strike out batters, racking up four against Dartmouth on Saturday, but he walked four and threw a wild pitch that scored one of the two runs he allowed. The other run scored on a home run to left field in the second inning.

Final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 4K, 4 BB, 1 WP, 77 pitches
Season line: 3 GS, 0-1 W-L, 3.09 ERA, 11⅔ IP, 9/4 R/ER, 15 K, 5 BB, 2 WP, 2 HBP

Related: RHP Logan Shore struck out eight over seven innings of one-hit ball to start the series against Dartmouth. He threw 53 of his 76 pitches for strikes. The junior has allowed just one run over 21 innings and is on a 17⅓ scoreless inning streak.

Others of note

Corey Ray, OF, Louisville -- Ray cooled off in the weekend series against Princeton, but hit his fifth home run of the season and has 12 steals in 13 attempts. His season line is .409/.491/.909 with five doubles, five home runs, and 14 RBI.

Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer -- Lewis is another top-10 college draft prospect who mashed the ball over the weekend, garnering Southern Conference player of the week honors. Over Saturday and Sunday, the right-handed hitter went 6-for-9 with two home runs, three doubles, and seven RBI. He's hitting .447/.574/.851 with four doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI and 13 walks.

Connor Jones, RHP, Virginia -- Jones held Monmouth to two runs on six hits in 7⅓ innings. While he struck out five, he walked five and threw a wild pitch. Jones has a 2.79 ERA over three starts (19⅓ IP), with 17 hits allowed, six runs allowed, six walks and 21 strikeouts.