Jim Callis at MLB Pipeline decided to try his hand at a mock draft on Wednesday, making his current predictions for the top 30 picks in the 2022 draft, which takes place in two months. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the fourth overall pick, and we have heard multiple names in that spot during the early stages of mock draft season. Today we hear a familiar name, while we take a look at the order at the top of this draft class.
Callis has Druw Jones going first overall to the Baltimore Orioles. Not a surprise, as he has been first for a lot of people. The second pick is Elijah Green going to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s not always second, but he’s always near the top. In the third spot, Callis has the Texas Rangers going for Jackson Holliday. You can read about all three of those players in our Draft Prospect Watch articles linked here. They were our first three players covered in that same order.
The fourth pick going to the Pirates is Brooks Lee, who has been named for the Pirates numerous times. He’s a shortstop at Cal Poly with an advanced bat. In fact, that’s the reason that Callis has him in this spot. The Pirates went for two advanced college bats in the last two drafts, so he fits the mold. Obviously early results for Nick Gonzales this year aren’t encouraging, but they are for Henry Davis.
What is very interesting with this mock draft is the seventh pick. If you click that link above, it takes you to our last Draft Prospect Watch, which covered Termarr Johnson, who some consider to be the second best player in the draft class. Callis has him dropping to the Chicago Cubs. That would be a tough pass for the Pirates because his bat is special (he was getting Wade Boggs comps).
