Alex Kielar | June 11th, 2020
Round one of the Major League Baseball Draft went down last night with a few surprises and some very solid picks being made. I will give my top three best (value) and top three worst (reach) picks while also looking at the best available players going into round two which picks up at 5 pm ET.
Best Picks
1. Pick 20 – Milwaukee Brewers: Garrett Mitchell, OF, UCLA
I had Mitchell going to the Angels at the 10th overall pick and he was in the top ten in most mocks. He has very good five-tool potential and the only real reason he fell to the 20th pick is because of his Type 1 Diabetes, and possibly because of the leg injury he suffered following his sophomore year. His speed earned him a 70 grade by MLB.com and he had 28 stolen bases at UCLA, while he has plenty of pop to still tap into. Check out our profile on Mitchell here.
2. Pick 10 – Los Angeles Angels: Reid Detmers, RHP, Louisville
I originally had Detmers to the Rockies at pick number nine and he possibly has the highest ceiling of all the pitching prospects. With the Angels having a huge need for some more pitching, they needed to grab someone here, but I thought the top four pitchers were going to be gone. They get a guy who has a great understanding of pitching and has a 72 mph curveball that fools hitters with a 20 mph difference from his fastball. Detmers had 284 strikeouts and just 73 walks over 191 innings pitched at Louisville. He and Griffin Canning will make a great one-two punch at the top of the Angels’ rotation in the future. Check out our profile on Detmers here.
3. Pick 9 – Colorado Rockies: Zac Veen, OF, Spruce Creek High School (FL)
Veen was a top-four player coming into the draft, and I, among other people, had him going to the Royals at four. He falls to the Rockies where he will thrive at Coors if he can get there. Veen has an outstanding pure hitting ability and while he only hit four homers in high school, he will only get stronger and tap more into his power. He hits for contact, and the home runs will come. Playing in high-altitude Colorado would only help in that right and he also has speed with 26 stolen bases. Check out our profile on Veen here.
Worst Picks
1. Pick 2 – Baltimore Orioles: Heston Kjerstad, OF, Arkansas
Pretty much everyone and their mother had the Orioles drafting Austin Martin here, and it was the smarter pick. Kjerstad is a one-trick pony with great power, and he was worth an 8-10 pick at best. Martin is the best all-around player in the draft, with great pure hitting ability, speed, and versatility to play multiple positions. Kjerstad has been far too aggressive at times, trying to hard to hit homers and striking out. Not that he won’t be good, but when drafting you should go the best overall player especially when rebuilding. Check out our profile on Kjerstad here.
2. Pick 13 – San Francisco Giants: Patrick Bailey, C, NC State
I guess the Giants are trying to have every catcher in existence. Just two years ago, they selected Joey Bart with the second overall pick and he was thought to be the catcher of the future. I guess like when the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL Draft and they said they want to be the “Quarterback Factory”, the Giants are trying to be the “Catcher Factory.” That might be the only explanation. Check out our profile on Bailey here.
3. Pick 17 – Boston Red Sox: Nick Yorke, 2B, Archbishop High School (CA)
Who? I mean seriously, who? I had to look Yorke up when this pick happened as I had not gone that far in my player research. But who knows, maybe the Red Sox know something that no one else did, as Yorke was ranked around 140th coming in. It could be something to do with that he wasn’t going to sign unless he was a first-rounder; he is expected to sign for less than the recommended value of $3.61 million. I just see so many other guys they could have went with and used a first-round pick on, but we really won’t know for sure how it works out for four to five years, just like most of these picks.
30 Best Available
- Jared Kelly, RHP, Refugio (TX)
- Cole Wilcox, RHP, Georgia
- Chris McMahon, RHP, Miami
- Dillon Dingler, C, Ohio State
- Casey Martin, SS, Arkansas
- Daniel Cabrera, OF, Lousiana State
- Carson Montgomery, RHP, Windermere (FL)
- Blaze Jordan, 3B/1B, DeSoto Central (MS)
- Clayton Beeter, RHP, Texas Tech
- Daxton Fulton, LHP, Mustang (OK)
- Logan Allen, LHP, Florida International
- Cole Henry, RHP, Lousiana State
- Alika Williams, SS, Arizona State
- Seth Lonsway, LHP, Ohio State
- Tanner Witt, RHP, Episcopal (TX)
- Burl Carraway, LHP, Dallas Baptist
- J.T. Ginn, RHP, Mississippi State
- Kevin Parada, C, Loyola (CA)
- Cade Horton, RHP/SS, Norman (OK)
- Masyn Winn, RHP/SS, Kingwood (TX)
- Jake Eder, LHP, Vanderbilt
- Alex Santos, RHP, Mount St. Michael Academy (NY)
- Jeff Criswell, RHP, Michigan
- Justin Lange, RHP, Liano (TX)
- Kyle Nicolas, RHP, Ball State
- Cam Brown, RHP, Flower Mound (TX)
- Isaiah Greene, OF, Corona (CA)
- Daniel Susac, C, Jesuit (CA)
- Tommy Mace, RHP, Florida
- Drew Bowser, 3B, Harvard-Westlake (CA)
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