Offered only for fun and to start to familiarize ourselves with some of the expected top names in the 2023 MLB Draft, I wanted to share Baseball America’s first mock draft in the wake of the draft lottery. The Cubs wound up with pick 13, which is annoying, as it was the lowest pick they had a realistic shot of falling to. But, hey, you can still get a plenty good prospect in that spot …
BA’s mock has the Cubs drafting Maryland shortstop Matt Shaw: “Shaw significantly improved his draft profile in 2022 by hitting for more power, sliding to shortstop full time and then ranking as the top prospect in the Cape Cod League. That made him one of our biggest risers after the 2022 summer circuit concluded.”
A big riser from a Cape performance means Shaw will be on the radar for scouts to watch his junior season at Maryland closely. That, by the way, is why you look at these mocks to just get some of the top names – a WHOLE lot could happen in the coming season to convince scouts that Shaw is actually a top ten talent, or is maybe not a first round talent at all.
Check out the mock to see some of the other top names, and we’ll have some more fun with these as the calendar flips and the amateur season actually approaches. The top six, for now, tend to be the biggest names you hear about: LSU OF Dylan Crews, Tennessee RHP Chase Dollander, Florida OF Wyatt Langford, Grand Canyon SS Jacob Wilson, Ole Miss SS Jacob Gonzalez, and high school OF Max Clark.