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Toronto Blue Jays: Draft Targets 2.0: Position Players

By Callum Belshaw

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 22: Christian Franklin #25 and Brady Slavens #17 of the Arkansas Razorbacks celebrate a run against the TCU Horned Frogs in the eighth inning during the 2021 State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field on February 22, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 22: Christian Franklin #25 and Brady Slavens #17 of the Arkansas Razorbacks celebrate a run against the TCU Horned Frogs in the eighth inning during the 2021 State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field on February 22, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – JULY 04: A Toronto Blue Jays batting helmet before a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 04: A Toronto Blue Jays batting helmet before a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Joe Mack C Williamsville East (NY) #19 On MLB Pipeline

Even though the Jays have a plethora of young catching talent on both their big league roster and in their farm system, I think that they could still end up selecting a backstop in the first round of this year’s draft.

Drafting by need is never a good idea and teams should be looking to take the best player available and figure out where they are going to fit into their team later on.  The back half of the first round is loaded with catching talent, and Joe Mack may be the most pro ready of that bunch.

The New York native has sound mechanics at the plate, with quick hands and a short swing that leads to a lot of contact, and gives him the “ability to pick up base hits with two strikes”.  Currently, scouts see Mack as someone with good gap power, but he isn’t viewed as a long ball threat at this point in his development.  Mack stands at 6’1” and weighs 210 pounds, so many scouts believe that he will develop more home run power because of his stature as he develops and matures over time.

Defensively, evaluators believe that Mack has the ability to stick behind the dish once he turns pro.  His best tool is undoubtedly his arm, which received a 60 grade on MLB Pipeline and will be his calling card throughout his career.

Mack is also a plus framer and is said to have a high baseball IQ.  All of these traits point to the Clemson commit staying put defensively, once he turns pro, where he has the upside to be a legitimate two way catcher that plays sound defence and can give teams a little bit of production with the bat, which is super hard to come by in this day and age.

Mack is the 19th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, who have the Jays selecting him at pick 19 in their most recent mock draft.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Mack was the pick.  I personally don’t think he has as high a ceiling as some of the other catchers like Harry Ford or Adrian Del Castillo do, but I do believe that Mack has the potential to turn into a quality starting catcher one day, which is something that this team’s current roster lacks at the moment.

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