We are just over a week away from the 2020 MLB Draft which will be sporting a new look this year with just five rounds. We have been busy putting together position by position looks at the best draft eligible prospects and today we have a new round of mock drafts as well.
Earlier this week, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel released his second mock draft and projected Duke right-hander Bryce Jarvis to the Braves.
The Braves are tied to a handful of players who likely won’t get this far, and Jarvis matches well what the industry sees as the new regime’s type for high picks: polished, college, under slot, stands out in both scouting and data/performance areas. Look for the Braves to follow last year’s blueprint and go college early, then high school later.
Also earlier this week, Keith Law released his second mock draft projection for The Athletic and also projected Bryce Jarvis to the Braves.
Jarvis picked up about 9 mph from last year, when he went undrafted as an age-eligible sophomore, to this year, and could also be a money-saver (as Atlanta did last year with Shea Langeliers) so Atlanta could go over-slot with one or more later picks. I have heard they’re likely to be very high school-heavy in this draft.
So that is two prominent writers projecting Jarvis to the Braves at No. 25. Baseball America currently has him rated as the 45th best prospect and list him as one of several big-time pitching risers in North Carolina. He didn’t pitch in the Cape Cod League this summer but instead worked with Driveline to improve his game. Per BA’s report, his hard work paid off as his fastball went from sitting low 90s to a plus offering that sat 93-96 deep into outings throughout the spring.
I think the big thing to take away from these two mock drafts is that both McDaniel and Law have the Braves going under slot with their first pick which is something they did last year with Shea Langeliers. Law talks about them being high school-heavy in the 2020 draft so going under slot on Day 1 might be the right choice.