We are just two days away from the 2020 MLB draft, which will be broadcast live on MLB Network at 7 PM on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the seventh overall pick and the latest mock draft from Fangraphs has them going the college route, though there are plenty of names mentioned here.
Eric Longenhagen has the Pirates going for Georgia right-hander Emerson Hancock. He mentioned that the Pirates are a hard team to nail down and they could also be interested in college catcher Patrick Bailey, college outfielder Heston Kjerstad, high school right-hander Mick Abel and local prep outfielder Austin Hendrick, which would be a popular pick because he could be at PNC Park within a half hour after being selected. All four players have rated in this general area during a deep year for talent.
Longenhagen also mentions that Mississippi State second baseman Justin Foscue could be a potential underslot pick to save money for later picks. Foscue isn’t a huge reach, but he’s usually rated in the 20-25 range.
If you missed it from yesterday morning, we had a complete recap of the mock drafts posted by top sources over the last six months. This is the second one that has predicted Hancock, with him first going to the Pirates two weeks ago in a Baseball America mock.
Here are links to reports/videos for all of the players mentioned above:
If anymore mock drafts get posted today, we will add them to this article and change the title.
In case you missed it this morning, we looked at the strengths and weaknesses of this draft class.
UPDATE: Baseball America has an updated mock draft and they’re going with Emerson Hancock as well. They believe that he will be the best player available when they pick, so they won’t pass on him. Makes sense.
