Keith Law from The Athletic posted his top 100 draft prospects list on Saturday. Kiley McDaniel from ESPN posted his top 150 draft prospects list earlier this week. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the seventh overall pick in the draft on Wednesday. Law has New Mexico State second baseman Nick Gonzales rated seventh, while McDaniel has Georgia right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock at seventh best.
While these aren’t mock drafts, they do have two players we have seen go to the Pirates in recent mock drafts. Most recently for Gonzales, it was the latest Baseball America mock draft on Wednesday. Hancock’s most recent was Baseball America’s mock draft a week earlier. For the record (for those who don’t have subscriptions to both/either site), Law has Hanock ranked sixth, while McDaniel has Gonzales ranked fourth.
Here are our Draft Prospect Watch articles for the two players.
Just for fun, the Pirates have the 31st overall pick on Wednesday. Law has Jared Kelley rated #31, who I think the Pirates would be ecstatic to get at that spot, since he was mentioned in very early mock drafts as their choice at seventh overall.
McDaniel has Jared Shuster, who hasn’t been covered here yet, but is in an upcoming article. He’s a lefty pitcher from Wake Forest, who McDaniel says has a good chance to start in the pros thanks to three solid pitches and improved stuff over the summer.
Here’s a video from 2080 Baseball from earlier this year for Shuster
