Jackson Holliday, Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball America has released their latest mock draft, and they see the New York Mets selecting two bats with their first round draft picks. As is typical with the Mets organization, the focus has been on shortstops and center fielders, i.e. more athletic players at the top of the draft.

The Mets looking to take bats shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. On that point, Baseball America points out the draft “board is shaping up to be hitter heavy at the top, thanks to an above-average group of bats in the top tier of the class as well as an abysmally unlucky year for college pitching health among the most talented arms in the country.”

On that later point, the Mets have two first round draft picks because they did not sign Kumar Rocker last season. As a result, they will have the 11th and 14th picks in the first round. Moreover, they are going to have three picks in the top 52, and they will have seven over the top 150.

As a result, the Mets will have the third highest bonus pool to offer draftees. This is how Baseball America projects the Mets will use their top two picks:

11. Jackson Holiday, SS

Holiday is a high school shortstop out of Stillwater High School (Oklahoma). Baseball America notes he “has made tremendous strides with his physical strength which in turn has exponentially improved all of his tools.”

Jackson is the son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday.

14. Chase DeLauter, CF

DeLauter is 20-year old junior from James Madison whose draft stock is at least in some question due to a broken foot. Baseball America calls his “track record as a hitter among the best in the class” while also noting he has the “physicality and tools and plays center field surprisingly well.”

Of course, this is just a mock draft with much subject to change between now and June. On that front, the draft board is a bit in disarray because Dylan Lesko, who was projected to be one of the top picks, underwent Tommy John surgery. In some ways, that makes him this year’s Rocker. To wit, if he were to fall, it would be surprising to see the Mets use their Rocker pick on a prep arm who just underwent surgery.

One interesting note here is Baseball America does believe the top 10 picks likely would not have seen surprises before Lesko. That makes the Mets picking at 11 all the more interesting because one of the top 10 talents may fall to them at 11. How the Mets pivot and react to the draft board will be a very interesting development.