No clear-cut No. 1 choice set
NEW YORK — Casey Mize has dazzled scouts for months with his impressive arsenal of pitches.
The tantalizingly talented Auburn right-hander could find himself leading off the Major League Baseball draft on Monday night , with the Detroit Tigers ready to go on the clock with the No. 1 pick .
While Mize has long been the favorite to be the top selection, he’s not necessarily the type of no-doubt, sure-thing prospect Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010) were considered in their draft years. Florida righty Brady Singer and Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart are also possibilities to have their names called first by Commissioner Rob Manfred at MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.
For the Tigers, it’s the first time they have the No. 1 pick since they took Rice pitcher Matt Anderson in 1997.
“I don’t know if there’s a can’t-miss,” Tigers general manager Al Avila recently told reporters. “From draft to draft, you try to say, `Who’s that can’t-miss?’ There’s been plenty of can’t-misses that have missed, as you all know, in the history of the draft, but there are good players in this draft.
“And there’s going to be players in this draft who are going to get to the big leagues, and there will be players in this draft who may end up being All-Stars or maybe even franchise players. And they come from all places in the draft.”
Here are some of the top players eligible for the draft (with position, school, age, height, weight and college class):
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JOEY BART
C, Georgia Tech, 21, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, junior.
ALEC BOHM
3B, Wichita State, 21, 6-5, 240, junior.
NOLAN GORMAN
3B, O’Connor H.S. (Arizona), 18, 6-1, 210.
ETHAN HANKINS
RHP, Forsyth Central H.S. (Georgia), 18, 6-6, 200.
JONATHAN INDIA
3B, Florida, 21, 6-1, 185, junior.
MATTHEW LIBERATORE
LHP, Mountain Ridge H.S. (Arizona), 18, 6-5, 200.
NICK MADRIGAL
2B, Oregon State, 21, 5-7, 160, junior.
