Pittsburgh Pirates: Major League Baseball to Host Draft Combine

Major League Baseball will host a draft combine later this month as a showcase for over 100 college and high school prospects.

Major League Baseball will be hosting a draft combine on June 21st through the 28th in Cary and Raleigh, North Carolina . This will be the first time MLB will have a draft combine. Over 100 high school and college prospects are expected to attend, as well as many former Major League players, scouts, general managers, and other front office personal. This will give the Pittsburgh Pirates a great opportunity to scout players further ahead of next month’s draft.

As of now there are a handful of former Pittsburgh Pirates expected to attend the draft combine. Among them are former outfielder Rajai Davis, catcher Erik Kratz, and former coaches Ray Searage and Jeff Bannister.

The combine could be an important event for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they have the number one overall selection. This is an opportunity for them to get a good look at players they may be consdiering to take with that pick. The two most prominent names right now, Marcelo Mayer and Jordan Lawlar, are two high school shortstops.

There will be many differnent events for the players while there. Most notably, there will be a showcase tournament for the high school prospects on June 22 through the 26. On June 24 and 25, the combine will host a pro-style showcase workout. They will also have a strength and conditioning, and PDP assesements these days to go with the showcase. The combine will also include an educational segment where players can learn how they can prepare themselves for a career in professional baseball.

Usually, the MLB draft would be around early June, but this year the draft will take place during All-Star game festivities. This will give the draft more attention as there won’t be any games for the first day of the draft. Days two and three will fall on the home run derby and the All-Star Game. The draft will also take place in Colorado as the new site of the All-Star Game.

Only time will tell how much this will impact drafting decisions. The number one overall pick has been a revolving door the last handful of months. Around this time last year, many sources had Kumar Rocker was seen as the best prospect avaible. He was eventually surpassed by his teammate and Vanderbilt co-ace Jack Leiter. Now Mayer and Lawlar are seen as the best players available. Now, Mayer appears to be the frontrunner for the pick.

With college and high school seasons being cut extremely short in 2020, and still a whole lot of restrictions in different states across the US, scouts haven’t been able to get a good look at prospects that will be going into the draft this year. This will be a way for teams to get an idea of what they could be drafting before July.