There are a little more than two months before Rob Manfred announces the No. 1 overall selection in the MLB draft, and a young player begins the journey to PNC Park.
Right-hander Jack Leiter has emerged as the best option for the Pirates to start the draft. Fans in the city are probably watching more Vanderbilt baseball than ever before. And our own Tom Reed has spent plenty of quality time in Nashville.
But think about what the popular opinion for the Pirates’ pick was a little more than two months ago. Leiter was probably viewed as more of a second option to his Vanderbilt rotation-mate, Kumar Rocker. The early part of the season has boosted Leiter’s stock and while some of the shine has come off Rocker.
But what’s to stop the same thing from happening again with Leiter and Texas prep shortstop Jordan Lawlar?
Rocker was dominant en route to an NCAA championship in 2019, and Leiter pitched just 13 games at the collegiate level. It obviously doesn't take much to flip these expectations on their heads.
Sure, the competition level Leiter and Rocker face in the SEC is the best at the amateur level. So much so that Lawlar himself committed to play with the Commodores when he was just 15 years old -- and there will be some gamesmanship that every high school draftee plays with their commitment, and Lawlar will insist he’ll be at Vanderbilt in the fall until the ink is dry on his professional contract.
But Lawlar’s high school is anything but typical. He plays with and against other Division 1-commits in the Dallas-area prep school, and he’s advised by former major league agents and former and current players like Vernon Wells and Josh Bell.
Leiter has proven to be human since the Commodores got deeper into SEC play, but that really shouldn’t hurt his draft stock. Lawlar also has done everything in his season to show he should be the top position player taken in the draft.
It should come as no surprise that Ben Cherington provided a vague response when asked about his draft plans during his radio show Sunday, saying that there were “several” options being considered for the No. 1 pick. Lawlar should without a doubt be one of those several.
YOUR TURN: Who would you take with the No. 1 overall pick? And will Lawlar updates be as intriguing throughout the season as the weekly adventures of Leiter and Rocker?