We are exactly one month away from the 2021 MLB Draft, and in the latest mock draft from Jim Callis at MLB.com, he has the Dodgers selecting catcher Joe Mack out of Williamsville East High School in East Amherst, New York in the first round.
The 2021 MLB Draft is July 11-13, coinciding with the All-Star break. The Dodgers, who had the best record in baseball in 2020, pick last in the first round, No. 29 overall.
Mack is a 6’1, 210-pound catcher who is committed to Clemson. He bats left-handed.
Callis in his mock draft also mentions the Dodgers at No. 29 could be a landing spot for college catchers Adrian del Castillo of Miami or Matheu Nelson at Florida State.
Mack was rated the No. 19 prospect in the draft by MLB Pipeline.
“Mack has the chance to be an impact player on both sides of the ball. The left-handed hitter has the chance to be an above-average hitter, showing off an advanced approach all summer with an impressive ability to pick up base hits with two strikes,” said the MLB Pipeline scouting report. “He has more alley-to-alley gap power, but he has the strength and bat speed that point to at least average power in the future.
Baseball America ranks Mack the 22nd overall prospect in the draft:
A strong, physical catcher, Mack’s best defensive attribute at the moment is a plus throwing arm. He’s gunned runners with sub-2.0 second throws to the bag in games and has the soft hands necessary to develop into a strong receiver. His actions can get long, but he has better lower half flexibility than you would expect when looking at his frame and evaluators have liked his progress behind the dish throughout the summer.
Mack was a freshman in high school, a teammate with his brother Charles, then a shortstop, who was drafted by the Twins in the sixth round in 2018. Charles Mack is now with Low-A Fort Myers, where he converted to catcher. Sister Christy is a softball player at Hartford.
The younger Mack soaked it all in, wrote Miguel Rodriguez at the Buffalo News:
“It’s something Joe paid attention to, so that he’d know what to expect during this process,” his father, Allan Mack, said. “It’s similar, but it’s a little bit more intense. The number of scouts has been twice as many as Charles.”
The last time the Dodgers drafted a prep catcher in the first round was Paul Konerko, picked 13th overall out of Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1994.