A high school shortstop wasn't taken Sunday with the first overall pick, as expected, in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft. The position, however, was a popular one among the 29 first-round choices.
Eight prep shortstops were selected in the first round, topped by
Marcelo Mayer of
Eastlake (Chula Vista) at No. 4 by the Boston Red Sox. Mayer was slated in the majority of mock drafts to be the No. 1 overall choice, but came in second behind
Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City) pitcher
Jackson Jobe. The Detroit Tigers chose Jobe with the No. 3 overall pick while college catcher Henry Davis went No. 1 to the Pirates and pitcher Jack Leiter of Vanderbilt went No. 2 to the Rangers.
The other high school shortstops chosen in the first round on Sunday include:
Jordan Lawlar, Dallas Jesuit
Photo by Eddie Kelly
Of the 15 high school players chosen in the first round, 14 were on the
2021 MaxPreps All-America Team. The first-round tally of 15 preps chosen was the most since 2018 when 17 were taken among the top 30 picks.
Shortstops could also go early at the beginning of Monday's second round as two of the top available high school players include MaxPreps All-Americans
Peyton Stovall of
Haughton (Haughton, La.) and
Izaak Pacheco of
Friendswood (Friendswood, Texas).
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will also be watching the second round of the MLB Draft closely as two of his quarterback signees could go early in the day.
Will Taylor of
Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) is the top outfield prospect on the board while
Bubba Chandler of
North Oconee (Bogart, Ga.) is one of the top pitching prospects available. Of course, if both Taylor and Chandler show they are committed to playing football for the Tigers, their draft stock could drop.
Another football-baseball standout with a decision is outfielder
Lonnie White of
Malvern Prep (Malvern, Pa.). The Penn State football recruit is expected to go somewhere in the second round.
The MLB Draft has been whittled down to 20 rounds this year after traditionally covering 40 rounds. The draft was only five rounds last year due to the COVID pandemic.
Rounds 2 through 10 will begin at 10 a.m. Monday with rounds 11-20 on
Tuesday. MLB Network will provide limited coverage Monday along with its coverage of the All-Star Monday festivities.
MLB.com will cover every pick of the second day.
