Pittsburgh Pirates: New Mock Draft Has Movement At The Top

The Pittsburgh Pirates still do not seem close to making a decision with the first overall pick, with the Draft being about two months out.

One thing this Draft year has provided is much uncertainty, especially after Kumar Rocker was the heavy favorite to go first overall in the draft.  Some players are rising up the board (Marcelo Mayer and Henry Davis) while some players are sliding (Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter) with some regaining the status they had last spring before the pandemic (Brady House).

Baseball America released a new mock draft recently that focuses on these movements, and it’s much different than past mocks.  The mock has the Pirates taking high school shortstop Jordan Lawlar, which seems to be a theme in mock drafts recently.  The site has the following writeup:

"“Lately we’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about high school shortstops being tied to the top three teams… Louisville catcher Henry Davis is a possibility as well.”"

Henry Davis fits as a fast riser that is an advanced college bat that will likely come in at below slot value and allow the team to spread their pool around.  What’s interesting is the high school shortstop connections.  We’ve seen Lawlar and Mayer connected, but Baseball America has Brady House (a high school shortstop from Georgia) going third overall to the Detroit Tigers.  House is the youngest of the three, which could make him more attractive with the first pick (he’d also likely be below slot).

Additionally, Leiter falls to fourth (Red Sox) in this mock with Davis (Orioles) fifth and Rocker seventh (Royals).  High school shortstops are selected with the first three overall picks with another high school shortstop Kahlil Watson, going sixth to Arizona.

Given where Baseball America projects Leiter and Rocker, it appears that the Pittsburgh Pirates are leaning heavy to go high school shortstop with either Lawlar or Mayer being the pick.  Catcher Henry Davis is not out of the mix, but looks to be the most focussed on college player for the Pirates.  Things are still changing and the draft will happen in a month and a half, so a rebound in the College World Series by Leiter or Rocker could again change things.