Only two players from last season's first round have already made impacts on the major-leagues level, Detroit's Jeff Weaver and St. Louis' J.D. Drew. Their early success evokes memories of other early bloomers such as John Olerud and Jim Abbott. Other 1998 first-rounders making a strong impact at the pro level are listed below.

Jeff Weaver(AP)

Jeff Weaver might be the most unlikely rookie to ever make this much of a splash in the major leagues. This is a guy who was nearly cut on the first day of tryouts at Fresno State. From his beginnings as a walk-on, he blossomed into a star, making the Olympic team in 1996. The White Sox drafted him in the second round that year but couldn't sign him. Detroit picked him 14th overall last season and gave him a $1.75 million contract. Little did the Tigers know what a deal they were getting.

As bad as Tigers are, at 20-28, they would be off the baseball map completely without this hotshot rookie. In nine starts, Weaver has posted a 6-3 record with a 2.89 ERA. He's failed to last through the fifth inning only once.

Weaver's most impressive quality is his control. He posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 33-1 in his five pro starts last season. In the majors, where the strike zone shrinks to the size of a gnat, he has walked only 15 while striking out 42 in 53 innings.

J.D. Drew(Allsport)

Few rookies ever had the expectations J.D. Drew faces. Of course, he only has himself to blame. Drew refused to sign with Philadelphia as the second pick in 1997, played in an independent league for a year and re-entered the draft in 1998. This time, Philly passed him over and he fell to fifth, where the Cardinals scooped him up and shelled out the lucrative contract he wanted.

Despite being slowed by injuries this year, Drew appears well worth the money. At Florida State, he was college baseball's first 30-30 player, and he hit five home runs in only 14 games with St. Louis last season. Moreover, he has the mental toughness to overcome the animosity of other major leaguers toward him for demanding such a huge contract right off the bat.

Drew looks and acts like a bona fide major leaguer. He has a picture perfect swing and the batting eye of an old pro. By the end of the season he should be back on track for superstardom.

Here's a look at other 1998 first-rounders who are off to good starts in pro ball. They may not be the as phenom-enal as the two listed above, but they are as close to sure-fire major leaguers as you'll find anywhere:

• Pat Burrell, No. 1 overall, Philadelphia: Burrell has made it to Double-A Reading of the Eastern League since being the first player chosen last season. Although he hasn't displayed the awesome power numbers he showed in college, Burrell's impressive batting average of .325 has translated into a team-leading 29 runs scored.

• Mark Mulder, No. 2 overall, Oakland: Tall, hard-throwing lefties don't come around often. Mulder registers in the 93-94 mph range with his fastball. Combined with his NBA-like height of 6-foot-6, he could be the next Randy Johnson. Plus, Mulder has impeccable control for a youngster, having walked only 13 in 54 innings this season in Triple-A Vancouver.

• Jeff Austin, No. 4 overall, Kansas City: Austin spent time with the big-league club in spring training but now is in Single-A Wilmington, where he is doing fairly well. He's notched 50 strikeouts and only 54 hits allowed in 64 innings.

• Carlos Pena, No. 10 overall, Texas: Although still in Single-A Port Charlotte, Pena has shown decent power as he leads the team in home runs (8) and doubles (15) after 197 at-bats. He's got three triples to boot. The only downside so far is a .234 batting average.

• Kip Wells, No. 16 overall, Chicago (AL): Wells is tearing up Class-A hitters at Winston-Salem. With 76 strikeouts compared to only 25 walks in 65 1/3 innings, Wells should be moving up soon.

Compiled by SportsLine Baseball Staff.