Photo be Kent State Athetics
Earlier in the week, Keith Law of ESPN.com rolled out his first mock for the 2016 First Year Player Draft. He had a few shockers, such as the Phillies selecting University Of Florida LHP A.J. Puk with the No.1 overall pick, the Reds selecting outfielder Kyle Lewis second overall, and top lefty Jason Groome going third to the Braves.
More notably for Mets fans, Keith Law projects the team to pick Wake Forest’s Will Craig at No. 19. While Craig isn’t the most mocked player to the Mets at 19 like University of Miami Catcher Zack Collins (five by my count), he has been tabbed for the Mets in the most notable mocks – two from Baseball America and one from MLB.com.
Curiously, in three of the four mock drafts, including the one being covered, Craig is described as a first baseman rather than a third baseman which has been his primary position in college. It seems the possibly quick-moving Craig may be confined to the right corner of the diamond long term, which would not be ideal if the Mets are committed to top prospect Dominic Smith.
The preferred advantage would be to have Craig at third base to replace the quickly fading David Wright. His bat would fit right in at the hot corner for the Mets, and his projected production (.280, 20+ HR, high OBP) would make him a top ten MLB third-sacker.
Additionally, Law noted the Mets seem to be mostly focused on college bats, such as Craig, Zack Collins if he drops that low, Chris Okey and Matt Thaiss.
I profiled Collins in an earlier article. He who would also be a great pick and like Craig is one of the most polished bats in the class.
Photo by D1Baseball.com
At No. 31, Law has the Mets taking , LHP Eric Lauer of Kent State, who currently has a 0.81 ERA in 13 games. and 89.1 innings pitched.
The lefty throws in the low 90s touching 94 with some nice cutting action, and an above-average slider with two planes and some late movement. He also has an average curve that goes 11 to 5, and a nice changeup that needs some work on the arm speed to make it more difficult to pick up.
Lauer has a pretty smooth delivery with little awkward movement, and is very much repeatable. He is able to control every part of the strike zone with all four pitches. However, while he can throw all pitches for strikes, he doesn’t have a true strikeout pitch. As such, he doesn’t have more upside than a mid-rotation starter, unless he can get some consultation from the slider master Dan Warthen.
