Baseball America has started a series looking at the 2020 draft by the strength of each position. They have covered five positions already, with only middle infielders left to mention, so we will look at the other five all in one group. (UPDATE) The middle infielders article was posted today, so I added it below.
I’ll add the usual caveat that you don’t draft for position in the MLB draft because what could be a strength in your system one year, could be totally different by the time a draft pick is ready for the majors. That being said, here are the links to each article and a brief summary. The articles include a chart of their tool grades for easy comparison within each position. I’ve linked our Draft Prospect Watch articles for each player to save on time.
This is a very interesting one, as you know if you’ve been following our draft coverage. Asa Lacy from Texas A&M will probably be off the board by the time the Pittsburgh Pirates pick seventh overall. Reid Detmers from Louisville and Garrett Crochet from Tennessee have both been mentioned as possibilities for the Pirates, going to them in mock drafts. BA does a comparison of Detmers and Crochet, looking at each of their pitches, control and “x-factor”, which is this case is Detmer’s edge in experience and his track record. The article also notes that seven other lefties rank among the top 75, making this a strong year for left-handed pitching.
This position isn’t deep, which isn’t unusual for just first base, but when you add in third base, it’s usually a little better. BA has an interesting comparison between two 70-grade power hitting high school players in Blaze Jordan and Jordan Walker. The only first round possibility definitely won’t be around when the Pirates pick. Spencer Torkleson from Arizona State is so good that I didn’t even both mentioning him here in our draft coverage. We have mentioned Jordan Walker though, as he’s a good fit for the 31st overall pick (Pirates second pick). We have also covered Tanner Witt, who profiles well at either #31 or #44, where the Pirates make their third pick.
Zac Veen and Garrett Mitchell are the two players being compared here by BA. Putting outfielders in one pile instead of splitting it up between corner outfielders and center fielders makes this a very strong group. Besides Veen and Mitchell, we have covered the following players, who all rank among the top 17:
Heston Kjerstad (link also includes Daniel Cabrera, a second round talent)
Robert Hassell and Pete Crow-Armstrong (ranked 16/17, we covered them in the same article)
The BA comparison for catchers works out well for us. Austin Wells and Patrick Bailey were covered by us in the same article. BA gives Wells the hitting edges and Bailey the defensive edges here. High school backstop Tyler Soderstrom also ranks as a first round talent according to BA (and most others). In the second round, Drew Romo ranks 38th. He was covered in the article with Soderstrom. Dillon Dingler was just mentioned in our Saturday Draft Prospect Watch. BA calls him a second round talent.
The comparison here is between Mick Abel and Jared Kelley, two pitchers ranked right below where the Pirates pick. Right-handed pitching is always going to be a position of strength in the draft, whether it’s top-end talent or depth or both. So it goes without saying that we have covered many of the top pitchers here already. Here are those links, along with their BA rank:
10. Max Meyer
19. Nick Bitsko
22. Cade Cavalli
23. JT Ginn
** I haven’t mentioned it here yet (because I didn’t see this before yesterday) but the first day of the draft (June 10th) will include the first 37 picks only. It will be televised on MLB Network, starting at 7 PM. Day two (June 11th) will include the rest of the picks and it will also be televised, starting at 5 PM on MLB Network.
BA has four middle infielders rated as first round talent, led by Nick Gonzales in the top spot at fifth overall. It drops down to 20th overall for the next player with Ed Howard. At 27th overall, they have Casey Martin, who was just covered here on Saturday. You also have Jordan Westburg at #33. He was in the Nick Gonzales article.
