Perfect Game released their final mock draft on Wednesday night. They had a seven man team contribute to the mock draft, with some pretty big names helping out, such as Kendall Rogers, Jason Parks and Allan Simpson. For the two early Pittsburgh Pirates picks, they went with shortstop Jacob Gatewood in the 24th spot and second baseman Forrest Wall in the 39th spot, both prep players.
Gatewood has been mentioned often for the Pirates recently. Most people believe the questions about his bat will cause him to slide down the draft charts, but a team like the Pirates won’t let him get past them due to his huge upside. At best, he is a power hitting shortstop in the majors, at worst he is a third baseman that doesn’t hit enough to reach the big leagues so many teams drafting higher might not want to take a chance with him.
You can read a scouting report along with video for Forrest Wall in our draft preview from a couple weeks ago. Not many teams draft a prep second baseman this high because most athletic players will player more important positions in high school and then move off them in the pros. Wall has limited throwing ability due to a couple arm injuries, but his bat projects to carry him to the majors and make him a solid regular.
Our tiered draft rankings had each of these two as solid picks where they are projected.
