SEATTLE — It’s almost time for Major League Baseball’s 2023 draft. The fun begins on Sunday, July 9 in Seattle, and it’s a three-day event that is 20 rounds long. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the number one pick thanks to winning the first-ever MLB draft lottery which was held at the winter meetings in December 2022.
In preparation for the big event Locked on MLB Prospects host Lindsey Crosby was joined by Jeff Ellis who hosts the Locked On Guardians podcast to have their own mock draft for the first 25 picks.
The two names baseball fans should know are Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews of LSU. They look to be the guys will should go #1 and #2 in the draft, but the order is yet to be determined. Skenes is a right-handed pitcher and Crews is an outfielder.
Each host had a pick, Ellis had odd numbers and Crosby had the even numbers.
With the number one pick in the draft, Ellis chose righthander Paul Skenes to go to the Pirates. As Ellis said, “There are rumors floating around about Crews doesn’t want to go to the Pirates.” He added, “There are many rumors going around but I’m going to believe that rumor.”
Crosby picked Crews to go number two with the Washington Nationals. He said, “His agent is Scott Boras and there is a relationship with that team.” Crosby added, “These are the two easiest picks in the entire draft to make because these are your clear cut top two.”
Crosby then asked Ellis about the number three pick in the draft which is Detroit Tigers. “Are you going for another college bat or are you going for one of the prep guys?” He picked Wyatt Langford, another player from LSU. As Ellis says, “If this were last year, he’d (Langford) probably be the top pick but this year, he’s behind his teammates Skenes and Crews.”
Ellis also believes the teams with the top picks would choose college guys over prep guys simply because they have more data on the college players and picking a player is easier when there is more data to back it up.
The Texas Rangers have the number four pick and Crosby thinks they’ll choose Walker Jenkins, a prep player from North Carolina and a left-handed outfielder. He was Gatorade’s player of the year in North Carolina in 2022 and 2023. Crosby said about Jenkins, “(He has) the most physical prep bat in the draft and it looks like he could legitimately have 60 grade on both tools.”
And for the final pick, which belongs to the Minnesota Twins, Ellis chose Virginia catcher Kyle Teel. Ellis stated that it seems Teel is the consensus fourth or fifth pick in a lot of mock drafts so it doesn’t feel like it’s out of the question for the Twins to pick him.
Ellis and Crosby will be providing coverage of the draft this weekend which you can watch on YouTube. Just look up your favorite team, and you will see their analysis after the picks are made!
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