LSU made history. The Pittsburgh Pirates decided there’s no time to waste. A bushel of elite talent, with dreams deferred from 2020, cashed in.
Day 1 of Major League Baseball’s draft was in many ways unprecedented, largely with national champions Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews becoming the first pair of teammates to go 1-2 atop the heap.
Yet there were plenty of maneuvers that were both a reaction to past circumstances and also a positioning toward the future ― near- and long-term.
Fifty players were chosen Sunday, with 17 rounds over Monday and Tuesday to follow. A look at five takeaways from the first day:
Who did the Pirates draft?
It was a moderate surprise when the Pirates opted for Skenes, the 6-foot-6 pitcher with the explosive arsenal, over Crews, a legitimate five-tool talent as an outfielder. Tiramisu or crème brulee? They’re both pretty good!
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But it’s also hard not to ignore the upside of immediacy.
If ever there’s a separator between Skenes and Crews, it’s that scouts believe the big righty can step in almost immediately, this after grading out as one of the best college pitching prospects ever.
That’s not a bad thing for the Pirates.
A fun and surprising start in Pittsburgh has given way to a dose of reality, as the club again lacks enough weapons to compete in even the middling NL Central. Help isn’t likely to come on the free-agent market, not with owner Bob Nutting in charge.
Now, slot Skenes with Mitch Keller atop the Pirates’ rotation. Imagine Roansy Contreras figuring it out. Bryan Reynolds, signed long-term, anchoring the lineup, and 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis taking an extra step forward in development.
You don’t have to squint hard to see it. And there’s no way the Pirates might bring in an arm like Skenes’ via trade or free agency.
Crews’ everyday production ― without the risk of breaking down that an elite pitcher presents ― might make the Pirates regret passing him up. But if not now, when?
Go South, young man
It’s nothing new under the scorching, year-round sun, but the baseball industry’s longtime tilt toward the Sun Belt ― and most specifically, the Southeastern Conference ― feels especially profound, and not just because LSU’s Crews and Skenes went 1-2.
The SEC provided picks Nos. 1, 2, 4, 9, 15 and 17; its kid brother, the ACC, produced three more in the top 20, more than 33% of the nation’s top draft picks coming from two leagues.
Skenes, a California native, transferred to LSU from Air Force, and developed into a beast. The Tigers’ facilities and major plays in the NIL space will only continue to keep the talent flowing.
And trotting out the 1/1 and 1/2 of this draft isn’t bad advertising.
A truly elite top five
MLB draftniks have a far harder time than their NFL and NBA brethren, what with high school and college players in the pool and the fact many prospects are several years from the major leagues.
Yet there was unanimous consensus among the top five picks ― and that should tell us something.
Skenes, Crews, Max Clark (Franklin High School, Indiana/Detroit Tigers), Wyatt Langford (Florida/Texas Rangers) and Walker Jenkins (South Brunswick, North Carolina/Minnesota Twins) came off the board in that order, with only Clark jumping the board.
In this era of bonus slots and signing pools, it’s rare that the consensus five go in that order. No skimping on a first pick to snag a better prospect later. And while Skenes has been called a generational pitching talent, Crews, Clark and Langford all were listed as No. 1s by various mock drafts on Sunday.
Check back in 10 years. This group seems destined for big, big things.
The COVID juniors, unleashed
Yes, the global pandemic that truncated or altogether canceled amateur seasons in 2020 continues to have an impact.
Draft-eligible juniors taken this week were high school seniors in 2020, when prep seasons were either just getting underway or a few weeks out when COVID-19 pulled the plug on the season. No chance for “late helium” to creep up the draft boards. And collegiate players then had both solid data and a few weeks of the 2020 college season to pad their resumes.
Topping it off, the draft was shortened to five rounds, making teams far more risk averse. So the kids went to college ― and now they’re ready to pop.
One year ago, four of the first five picks were high school players; Sunday, six of the top nine chosen were college players. While the number of prep or college players in a given draft can be random and affected by countless factors, there’s little doubt the college pool this year was loaded.
Bryce Eldridge: A Giant talent
OK, so there probably won’t be another Shohei Ohtani. In fact, it would be a huge accomplishment if a two-way player could perform competently, let alone at a historic level, on both sides of the ball.
With that in mind, the Giants’ selection of prep two-way talent Bryce Eldridge is highly intriguing.
Eldridge is a 6-7, 220-pound Virginia high schooler who has signed with Alabama, has a fastball that touches 97 mph and has proverbial light-tower power. And perhaps the Giants are an ideal fit.
It’s the second consecutive year the Giants went with a two-way star; their 2021 top pick, Reggie Crawford, is in Class A San Jose’s rotation and serving as DH once a week.
But what’s more is that after a slow start, club president Farhan Zaidi’s draft and development wing is starting to see big results, with 2020 first- and second-round picks Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt making impacts on the big league roster this season, and third-rounder Kyle Harrison knocking on the door at Class AAA.
Should Eldridge harbor dreams of pitching and hitting as long as he can, he likely got picked by a club that will have a better idea than many how best to reach that goal.
MLB draft picks so far
- Pittsburgh Pirates ― Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU
- Washington Nationals ― Dylan Crews, OF, LSU
- Detroit Tigers ― Max Clark, OF, Franklin Community (Indiana) High School
- Texas Rangers ― Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida
- Minnesota Twins ― Walker Jenkins, OF, South Brunswick (N.C.) High School
- Oakland Athletics ― Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon
- Cincinnati Reds ― Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest
- Kansas City Royals ― Blake Mitchell, C, Sinton (Texas) High School
- Colorado Rockies ― Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee
- Miami Marlins ― Noble Meyer, RHP, Jesuit (Oregon) High School
- Los Angeles Angels ― Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Florida Atlantic
- Arizona Diamondbacks ― Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford
- Chicago Cubs ― Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland
- Boston Red Sox ― Kyle Teel, C, Virginia
- Chicago White Sox ― Jacob Gonzalez, SS, Ole Miss
- San Francisco Giants ― Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, James Madison (Virginia) High School
- Baltimore Orioles ― Enrigue Bradfield Jr., OF, Vanderbilt
- Milwaukee Brewers ― Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest
- Tampa Bay Rays ― Brayden Taylor, SS, TCU
- Toronto Blue Jays ― Arjun Nimmala, SS, Strawberry Crest (Florida) High School
- St. Louis Cardinals ― Chase Davis, OF, Arizona
- Seattle Mariners ― Colt Emerson, SS, John Glenn (Ohio) High School
- Cleveland Guardians ― Ralphy Velazquez, C, Huntington Beach (California) High School
- Atlanta Braves ― Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida
- San Diego Padres ― Dillon Head, OF, Homewood Flossmoor (Illinois) High School
- New York Yankees ― George Lombard Jr., SS, Gulliver Prep School (Florida)
- Philadelphia Phillies ― Aidan Miller, SS, J.W. Mitchell (Florida) High School
- Houston Astros ― Brice Matthews, SS, Nebraska