ESPN projects Red Sox to draft top catching prospect originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The 2021 MLB Draft is quickly approaching and it remains a mystery what the Boston Red Sox will do with the fourth overall pick.
Some believe they’ll end up with one of Vanderbilt’s stud pitchers, Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker. Others see Boston being the landing spot for top shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar.
Tomase: Is Betts trade starting to validate Sox’ trade decision?
If you ask ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, the Red Sox will jump at the chance to draft Louisville catcher Henry Davis.
“Boston has long been tied to Rocker, but I don’t know if that is to be believed; I’m buying into Davis links much more,” McDaniel wrote in his latest MLB Draft rankings.
Here’s what McDaniel had to say about Davis’ potential:
“Davis is a good hitter with a solid approach and 30-homer raw power, with the spring performance to match the tools. He’s a solid athlete and has an 80-grade arm behind the plate but isn’t very good defensively. With automatic strike calling coming soon, he’s good enough to stick back there in that situation, so he picked the right year to be drafted. The tools and performance are strong. Some have suggested he can play a solid third base, but the type of swing Davis has — strength-based, looking sort of like Evan Gattis — isn’t the loose, bat-speed-based type that teams like to see to project deep into the future. This means he could have trouble with elite stuff but more likely will be fine and just physically peaks early. Most players don’t need to project to be really good for 10 years to be worth a top pick, so it’s more splitting hairs than anything else.”
Davis hit a team-leading .370 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI in 2021. The 21-year-old also tallied more walks (31) than strikeouts (24) and stole 10 bases. He earned an All-ACC first team selection and was named a CBN All-American.
The three names ahead of Davis in McDaniels’ rankings are Lawlar, fellow shortstop Marcelo Mayer, and Leiter. Shortstop Brady House and Rocker follow Davis at fifth and sixth respectively.
The 2021 MLB Draft is set for July 11-13.