Yesterday we posted about the new top 100 draft prospects list from MLB Pipeline for the July 2021 draft. They followed up that article with another one from Jim Callis, posting a very early top ten mock draft. The mock draft doesn’t follow the top ten from yesterday’s list exactly the same pick-by-pick.
I mentioned yesterday that a recent podcast featuring Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis had the two going back-and-forth will their choices for a mock draft. Mayo selected Texas high school shortstop Jordan Lawlar with the first overall pick. Callis chose next and selected Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker with the second pick, noting that it was basically an obvious choice with him still being there at the second spot. In this new mock draft posted late yesterday, Rocker is going first overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates, much to the surprise of no one. It’s also the most popular choice for fans right now. Unless you live under a social media rock, you probably saw the #TankforKumar hashtags often. He’s clearly the top choice among Pirates fans, as an advanced pitcher and a potential ace added to all of the young pitching possibilities in the minors right now for the Pirates.
As I mentioned, this is just an early take, no surprise right now, but we will be following to see if Rocker holds that top spot throughout the seven months now before the draft.