MLB Pipeline posted an update to their list of the top 200 draft prospects on Wednesday. They have prep shortstop Marcelo Mayer as their new number one overall prospect. On Thursday they posted a new mock draft to go along with the updated list. The rankings and mock drafts don’t always line up the same, but they do in this case, at least for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pipeline has the Pirates taken Mayer with the first overall pick in the draft.
Jonathan Mayo wrote up this article and he mentions that with over seven weeks still remaining before the draft, a lot could still change. That was based on his talks with numerous scouts. Yesterday’s updated noted that there are seven players in the mix for the Pirates, so there isn’t a lot of confidence behind this mock pick. However, it makes sense that you would mock the best player in the draft to the team with the top pick, especially when there has been grumblings of the Pirates going for a prep shortstop. With Mayer and Jordan Lawlar being ranked 1/2, that seems like a strong possibility, even though the two Vanderbilt starters have been getting most of the attention since February.
Lawlar goes second in this mock, followed by Louisville catcher Henry Davis, prep shortstop Brady House and then Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker go back-to-back with the 5/6 picks. It’s a bit interesting to note that the seventh overall pick here is also a prep shortstop, Kahlil Watson out of North Carolina. That means four prep shortstops could go in the first seven picks.
Our article linked at the very top has a video for Mayer, as does the second link for the Pipeline’s mock draft, so I recommend both of those if you haven’t watched him yet.
