Thirty hats and ‘every kid’s dream’: Tucker Toman prepares for MLB Draft moment

Days before the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft, Tucker Toman was in a familiar spot — taking swings in the batting cage.

The Hammond High School standout infielder went through several rounds of fine-tuning his swing Monday at Carolina Playmakers. The Northeast Columbia facility, which was started by the late Charles Peterson — a former major league scout — and is now run by former major-leaguer Bryan Anderson, is one place Toman has frequented over the years as he’s grown into the state’s top prospect for the MLB Draft.

“I just keep telling him, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Anderson, a fourth-round pick in the 2005 MLB Draft who played five seasons in the majors for three different teams.

Toman, 18, is signed to play college baseball at LSU, but that’s unlikely to happen if he goes early in the draft as expected. The draft begins Sunday night with the first round and competitive balance picks (38 total).

The draft is the culmination of years of hard work and a lifetime of dreams — and a year-long process of meeting someone from all 30 MLB teams. And still, Toman said, it’s very much a starting point for what’s to come.

“I’m just living out every kid’s dream. It has been a fun time and I’m taking it day by day,” Toman told The State. “I’m just forever grateful to all the people who have helped me along the way.

“July 17 is just a check mark of my career. It is the start of my career. After July 17, it doesn’t matter where you get selected. It matters how hard you work and see how fast you can make it (to the majors).”

Tucker Toman draft projection

Over the past three years, Toman has spent a lot of time at Carolina Playmakers honing his swing. He was there until midnight one day recently along with Anderson and his former Hammond teammate, Bentley Yeatts, who will be a freshman on UNC Asheville baseball team. Monday’s visit coincided with an open house event that attracted other high school and youth baseball players.

In between swings Monday, young players approached Toman for an autograph and a picture, something he will have to get used to in his professional career.

If Toman is taken in the draft’s first round, he’ll be the first S.C. high school player picked that high since Conway’s Grant Holmes was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. The last Midlands player taken out of high school in the first round was Lexington’s Nick Ciuffo, who was picked by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2013 draft.

Toman is ranked as the 35th-best prospect in the draft, according to MLB Pipeline. He is a versatile infielder, having played second base, shortstop and third base during his high school or summer league career.

In the latest MLB Mock Drafts, MLB Pipeline and Prospects Live have him going to the Chicago White Sox at No. 26.. ESPN has him at No. 29 to the Tampa Bay Rays.

“We have him ranked 35th, but he is going to go a little higher than that,” MLB Pipeline and MLB.com senior writer Jim Callis told The State. “He is one of the best all-around bats in high school. He has grown up around the game, has a great feel for it and is a great kid.”

Slot values for first-round picks range from $8.8 million with Baltimore at the No. 1 pick to $2.4 million with the San Francisco Giants at No. 30. Teams can pay draft picks above or below slot value, money that equates to a signing bonus.

Toman is also a switch-hitter — and a better hitter from the left side — but Anderson said he has really improved at the right side in the time they’ve been working together.

During his senior season at Hammond, Toman hit .487 with seven homers and 27 RBI and .887 slugging percentage. He walked 25 times in 103 plate appearances.

Draft plans for Toman

Toman was one of 35 players invited to attend the draft in Los Angeles, but he’s opting to watch it instead with friends and family at his grandparents’ house near Florence, about 90 minutes away from Columbia.

A camera crew will be there for the broadcast, which will be carried on MLB Network and ESPN. Toman said MLB is sending him 30 hats so he can have the right one ready when his name is called. As for his draft night attire, Toman’s girlfriend helped him decide what clothes to wear.

“I’m having it there because I want to be with my teammates and family. It is a special day, and I want to be with special people that I have surrounded myself with,” Toman said. “I am forever indebted to those who have been around me and surrounded me, taking me to games and practices. Bryan Anderson at Carolina Playmakers has been awesome to me, and I can’t say enough about my parents and grandparents who have been with me since I have been born.”

Toman has spent most of his life preparing for his draft moment. He grew up playing baseball at a young age alongside brother Charlie Mac, who plays for their father, Jim Toman, at Middle Tennessee State. Jim Toman, a former South Carolina assistant and Liberty head coach, joked there aren’t many fields in South Carolina or Virginia where they haven’t taken batting practice or played a game.

By the time he was 9 or 10, it was evident Tucker Toman had a chance to be pretty special.

“I was basically born into baseball, and there is nothing that is going to separate me from it. I’m a baseball rat and I love to play,” Tucker Toman said.

He spent much of May and June traveling across the country, meeting with and working out for MLB teams. He got to work out in Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs and at the spring training facilities for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. Toman worked out for the Kansas City Royals at Segra Park in Columbia and the Red Sox at Fluor Field in Greenville.

His workouts concluded with a trip to California for workouts with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Anaheim Angels. Toman also attended last month’s MLB Combine in San Diego where he worked out again for scouts and sat down for meetings with all 30 teams.

“It can be overwhelming, but it is not because you are enjoying it,” Toman said. “... I got to hang out in some big-league parks. We got to meet a lot of good people and see a lot of great places during this time over the past year. This is everything people dream of. It is a lot of fun. I’m very fortunate to be where I am at. Whatever happens, it is the Lord’s plan.”

Draft prospects with SC connections

Listed with MLB Pipeline ranking

• 35. Tucker Toman, INF, Hammond

• 46. Tristan Smith, P, Boiling Springs High School

• 63. Eric Brown, SS, Coastal Carolina

• 66. Max Wagner, 3B, Clemson

• 133. Logan Wagner, 3B, P27 Academy/Lexington

• 176. Michael Knorr, P, Coastal Carolina

• 179. Mack Anglin, P, Clemson

• Geoffrey Gilbert, P, Clemson

• Braylen Wimmer, 3B, South Carolina

• Noah Hall, P, South Carolina

• Josiah Sightler, 1B/OF, South Carolina

• Zander Buchan, C, AC Flora High School

• Jacob Maton, P, Coastal Carolina

• Robert Evans, P, P27 Academy/Lexington

How to watch 2022 MLB Draft

When: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

TV/stream: Sunday’s selections will be on ESPN and MLB Network beginning at 7 p.m. Day 2 and Day 3 begin at 2 p.m. each day and will be streamed at Mlb.com. Day 2 will be Rounds 3-10 with Day 3 including Rounds 11-20.

MLB Draft: SC high school players

A list of SC high school players taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft over the years

• 2014: Grant Holmes, Conway HS, Los Angeles Dodgers

• 2013: Nick Ciuffo, Lexington HS, Tampa Bay Rays

• 2011: Taylor Guerreri, Spring Valley HS, Tampa Bay Rays

• 2009: Chris Owings, Gilbert HS, Arizona Diamondbacks (Supplemental 1st round)

• 2008: Jordan Lyles, Hartsville HS, Houston Astros (Supplemental 1st round)

• 2006: Jason Place, Wren HS, Boston Red Sox

• 1995: Reggie Taylor, Newberry HS, Philadelphia Phillies

• 1995: Corey Jenkins, Dreher HS, Boston Red Sox

• 1994: Jacob Shumate, Hartsville HS, Atlanta Braves

• 1993: Charles Peterson, Laurens HS, Pittsburgh Pirates

• 1992: Preston Wilson, Bamberg-Ehrhardt HS, New York Mets

• 1992: Brandon Cromer, Lexington HS, Toronto Blue Jays (Supplemental 1st round)

• 1991: Pokey Reese, Lower Richland HS, Cincinnati Reds

• 1989: Earl Cunningham, Lancaster HS, Chicago Cubs

• 1982: Billy Hawley, Brookland-Cayce HS, Cincinnati Reds

• 1971: Jim Rice, TL Hanna HS, Boston Red Sox

• 1970: Mike Martin, Olympia HS (Columbia), Philadelphia Phillies

• 1969: Mike Anderson, Timmonsville HS, Philadelphia Phillies

• 1969: Don Hood, Southside HS (Florence), Baltimore Orioles

• 1969: Gorman Thomas, James Island HS, Seattle Pilots

• 1967: Terry Hughes, Dorman HS, Chicago Cubs

• 1965: Michael McCall, Greenville HS, Boston Red Sox