07-14-2021, 10:02 AM
I am not a huge MLB draft fan. At least not compared to my love of the NFL draft. The bust rate is so high that no individual pick is guaranteed or even expected to change a franchise like in football. Even highly drafted players like Hunter Greene are usually projected as 3 to 4 year works in progress and that is if they work out (which isn't guaranteed by any means, especially for pitchers). If you draft a college player, you will get a more immediate return but then you have players like Senzel who look like can't miss prospects that, every day now, is looking more and more like a miss.
With all that said, I still look forward to the MLB draft because it's something that can provide hope. I was so excited to see us draft Greene even though I knew he wouldn't sniff the majors for at least 3 to 4 years (we'll see if he makes his major league debut in the second half of this season). And, while I don't know much about these players, it's always fun to dream of them being every day contributors for this team sometime in the future. I don't follow the players or get to know the prospects that well, but always enjoy reading about who the Reds ended up picking.
I like the selection of McClain because this was a guy who was good enough to be drafted in the first round out of high school and, to the surprise of nearly everyone, actually went to college. According to an article I was reading about him, this doesn't happen all that often for first round picks. And he improved each year in college and is now our first round pick again. Given he's a college player, you could see him coming to the majors within 2 years if he plays well enough in the minors.
It seems like he is a classic "good at all, great at none (or very few)" type prospect, but that's okay with me. At shortstop, all we really need is a decent bat and a decent glove. We don't need an all-star. It'll be interesting to see if he develops quickly and, if so, what that means for the future of SS in Cincinnati.
With all that said, I still look forward to the MLB draft because it's something that can provide hope. I was so excited to see us draft Greene even though I knew he wouldn't sniff the majors for at least 3 to 4 years (we'll see if he makes his major league debut in the second half of this season). And, while I don't know much about these players, it's always fun to dream of them being every day contributors for this team sometime in the future. I don't follow the players or get to know the prospects that well, but always enjoy reading about who the Reds ended up picking.
I like the selection of McClain because this was a guy who was good enough to be drafted in the first round out of high school and, to the surprise of nearly everyone, actually went to college. According to an article I was reading about him, this doesn't happen all that often for first round picks. And he improved each year in college and is now our first round pick again. Given he's a college player, you could see him coming to the majors within 2 years if he plays well enough in the minors.
It seems like he is a classic "good at all, great at none (or very few)" type prospect, but that's okay with me. At shortstop, all we really need is a decent bat and a decent glove. We don't need an all-star. It'll be interesting to see if he develops quickly and, if so, what that means for the future of SS in Cincinnati.
![[Image: oN5QAdY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oN5QAdY.png)
