Major League Baseball mock drafts are fun, Lunatics.
The pool of talent is so deep and so unpredictable, pretty much nobody can agree on even the top-10 picks. Beyond one, two and three in the 2020 MLB Draft, the likely selections form a total guessing game, leaving plenty of discussion around what the Pirates will do when they do take the virtual stage June 10 with the No. 7 overall pick.
Recently, ESPN had the Pirates taking Heston Kjerstad, a left-handed, power-hitting outfielder from the University of Arkansas. MLB.com, meanwhile, pegged the Pirates to go with Reid Detmers, a left-handed pitcher bringing a stellar college resume at Louisville with him.
Now, Baseball America is getting in on the fun ... and they see the Pirates going yet another direction.
With the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, the Pirates select:
EMERSON HANCOCK, RHP, GEORGIA
There it is.
If you've read the previous mock draft evaluations, you're familiar with Hancock, whom ESPN had sliding to No. 9. The Pirates, in that simulation, took Kjerstad instead but I noted that if Hancock was there, you gotta look his way.
Baseball America apparently agrees. They see the Pirates taking Hancock at No. 7, with Kjerstad going No. 9 overall to the Rockies and Detmers going No. 10 overall to the Angels.
Hancock is one of the more pro-ready pitchers in the 2020 MLB Draft, bringing a four-pitch mix that includes 99-MPH heat, a mid-80s slider, a hard-breaking curve and a changeup that could provide a little spice and diversity to keep batters off-balance.
Emerson Hancock, 95mph Fastball/83mph Slider combo (from my SEC Network feature ?). pic.twitter.com/b8xatiDC4V
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2019
At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Hancock simply looks like a starting pitcher, too. He went 8-3 with a 1.99 ERA/0.841 WHIP as a sophomore at Georgia (ridiculous) but struggled out of the gates a bit in 2020, going 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA/1.042 WHIP in 24 innings before the season came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
HUNTER'S VIEW
I liked this pick before, and I still like this pick. Hancock, to me, has the tools you want to see, and he's the kind of pitcher you want to take at No. 7 overall. He seems like a lock to do something at the major-league level, but there's also significant unexplored upside with him, more so than with Detmers in my eyes. Detmers, of course, benefits from being a lefty, but between the two, I lean Hancock, as Baseball America does here.
The crucial variable in all this, though, is Max Meyer. Meyer, who pitched three years at Minnesota, bringing 100 MPH heat plus control to the table, is the guy in this draft to me. Baseball America had him going one pick before the Pirates' selection, No. 6 overall to the Mariners. ESPN had him going No. 5 to the Blue Jays, while MLB.com slotted him at No. 8 to the Padres.
That means Meyer should be right in the conversation of the No. 5 to No. 10 range, as should Detmers and Hancock.
I'm good with the Hancock pick ... but if Meyer's available at No. 7, that's the higher-upside, higher-potential play for the Pirates.
No matter how the order shakes out June 10, one thing is certain: Ben Cherington and company are going to have a serious decision to make for their first pick at the helm.
