Blue Jays projected to take unique prep bat in latest MLB mock draft

The MLB Draft is right around the corner, which means that mock draft season is here.

With that, MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis released his first official mock draft for 2025, and had the Blue Jays picking an intriguing player with the No. 8 pick who has a chance to be one of the best players available.

Callis has Toronto selecting high school shortstop Billy Carlson with their pick. He's the No. 6 prospect in baseball, per Callis and MLB Pipeline. He's currently a senior at Corona high school in California.

While that potential is great on paper, he still has some downsides.

Blue Jays projected to take unique prep bat in latest MLB mock draft

Getting Carlson that early would likely be an over-slot selection, which means that they'd likely have to pay a bit more to sign him.

The Blue Jays' pick is worth $6,813,600 in slot, and they have $10,314,600 in their bonus pool.

Toronto doesn't have a second round pick this year, so they'll likely be willing to spend a little more to sign Carlson (who whoever they pick). Their next pick in the draft after pick eight is the 81st.

Carlson's already committed to play college baseball at Tennessee, so the Blue Jays would likely need to spend a little more to get him to break that commitment.

He's also high school teammates with Seth Hernandez, who was projected to go to Rockies with the No. 4 pick.

"Some evaluators think Carlson is the best defensive high school shortstop they've ever seen, though he may require a swing upgrade that may not be hard to implement," Callis wrote in his mock draft.

Carlson hitting .390 this year with six home runs and 34 RBI. His OPS is up to 1.239 and he has an impressive 21 walks to 12 strikeouts.

Carlson draft profile at MLB.com breaks down what he can bring to the table.

"All summer, Carlson impressed with his athleticism and bat speed from the right side of the plate. It's more of a line-drive approach at present with a good swing, but he has the chance to grow into more impact and average or better power, though not all evaluators were sold on his hit tool," it says.

The Blue Jays farm system has some solid prospects emerging, but Carlson seems like a quality add for a team looking to fill its system with quality hitting prospects. He plays shortstop (the same position as Arjun Nimmala), but most shortstops are able to shift to other positions pretty easily thanks to their athleticism.

He's still just 18 (he turns 19 in July), so there's still plenty of time for him to grow into his swing. Carlson would immediately become one of the Blue Jays' top prospects, and would be a solid pick for the Blue Jays.