New Mock Draft from MLB Pipeline has Same Name for Pirates

John Dreker

MLB Pipeline posted a mock draft last week that had Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis alternating first round picks. In that article, they (Callis) went with Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter with the first overall pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In this new mock draft, Mayo got the opinions from scouting directors and put together his own list. They also came up with Leiter going to the Pirates. There isn’t much overall change from last week’s attempt, but there is a difference in the top five picks.

The top five in this newest mock draft reads:

  1. Jack Leiter
  2. Jordan Lawlar
  3. Kumar Rocker
  4. Marcelo Mayer
  5. Brady House

Rocker and Mayer flipped spots in this mock draft compared to the previous one. That’s two college right-handed pitchers and three high school shortstops in the top five spots.

I planned to post about Leiter today anyway for two reasons, but this mock draft made the article easier. The first reason is just because he’s rated top overall by multiple sources now and the Pirates have the first pick, though we are still 11 weeks away from the draft starting, so a lot can change. The second reason is his pitching match-up on Saturday versus Mississippi State had an interesting opposing pitcher. Will Bednar is considered to be a late first round pick possibility, which makes him a possible target for the Pirates with their second pick in the draft at 37th overall. He’s also the brother of current Pirates pitcher David Bednar. The younger Bednar took the win with eight strikeouts and one run over five innings on Saturday night. Leiter had his first rough outing of the year, allowing four runs in five innings on six hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.

As you can imagine with Leiter’s performance, there weren’t many highlight videos posted, but he did pick up his 100th strikeout of the season

Here are four straight strikeouts from Bednar

2021 Draft
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