The MLB Draft begins tonight at 7 PM on MLB Network. The Pittsburgh Pirates will make the seventh and 31st overall picks tonight. We are going to have one article for all of the mock drafts today. When a new mock draft is posted, we will update the article and change the title. Many sources will release multiple mock drafts as they get more information today. For every player mentioned here, I’ll link to their Draft Prospect Watch article on the site, which has scouting reports and videos. We have the first two mock drafts right now, with many more to come throughout the day. Here’s our Morning Report, which is a primer for today.
We start off this morning with MLB Pipeline, which has mock drafts from both Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo. They both have the Pirates going with a college bat, though they have different names. Mayo has them going with Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad, while Callis believes that they will select New Mexico State second baseman Nick Gonzales. Both also mention that Georgia right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock is a possibility here, though Callis has him going sixth overall. They will have another mock draft tonight.
Kiley McDaniel from ESPN has a final mock draft this morning. He has the Pirates going for prep outfielder Zac Veen. He mentioned Kjerstad, Gonzales and Hancock as possibilities, though neither Gonzales or Hancock are on his board still when the Pirates pick. He here’s the Pirates could go the college bat route, but he also mentions prep pitcher Mick Abel as another possibility.
McDaniel also went through two full rounds, and has the Pirates taking Miami right-handed pitcher Chris McMahon 31st overall and Florida State right-handed pitcher CJ Van Eyk with the 44th overall pick. Both have been covered here.
Baseball America has what they call their final full mock draft, though they left open the possibility of some tweaks throughout the day if anything pops up. They have the Pirates going with the aforementioned Nick Gonzales. BA mentions Kjerstad, Veen, Hancock and Abel as well, so the same names are popping up today.
Keith Law has his best guesses and he has the Pirates taking Nick Gonzales as well. The title says it’s his final first round projection. He is the second person today to mention North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey, so I’ve included his draft report/video link
Fangraphs was the last site in with their first mock draft of the day and they have the Pirates going for Nick Gonzales. They also mention Bailey and Abel here, but Gonzales is the best name left on their board.
There should still be some more updates.
