Quality crops of high school and college position players and a stunning number of sidelined pitching prospects could lead to a first round of the Draft that’s much more one-sided than usual.
It’s possible that the first 10 picks — or more — could be spent on hitters, something that never has happened since the Draft began in 1965. It’s also likely that no college pitcher will crack the top 15 selections for the first time since 1969, when the rules were much different and many collegians were diverted to January drafts or a secondary phase in June.
“I can’t remember anything like this,” said a scouting executive with an American League club, noting that the 2019 Draft led off with six straight hitters but featured impact college arms such as Nick Lodolo, Alek Manoah and George Kirby later in the first round. “There’s no one like that this year. This is truly unprecedented.”
Top 10:
Druw Jones, OF (Wesleyan, Ga.)
Elijah Green, OF (IMG Academy, Fla.)
Termarr Johnson, 2B (Mays, Ga.)
Jackson Holliday, SS (Stillwater, Ok.)
Brooks Lee, SS (Cal Poly)
Jacob Berry, 3B/OF (Louisiana State)
Jace Jung, 2B (Texas Tech)
Kevin Parada, C (Georgia Tech)
Dylan Lesko, RHP (Buford, Ga.)
Daniel Susac, C (Arizona)
Complete list »
High school bats occupy the first four spots on MLB Pipeline’s newly updated Draft Top 150. Wesleyan HS (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) outfielder Druw Jones, the son of five-time All-Star Andruw Jones, remains at No. 1 with tools reminiscent of his father’s and a more consistent…