Will Courtney Hawkins Find His Way To The Mets At No. 12?
Rapidly approaching is Major League Baseball’s First Year Player Draft. June 4-6 it will all unfold before us. The first round will be televised on MLB Network. Below is my take on how the draft may turn out.
1. Houston Astros – OF Byron Buxton – Appling County HS (GA)
2. Minnesota Twins – RHP Mark Appel – Stanford
3. Seattle Mariners – C Mike Zunino – Florida
4. Baltimore Orioles – RHP Kevin Gausman – LSU
5. Kansas City Royals – RHP Kyle Zimmer – San Francisco
6. Chicago Cubs – OF Albert Almora – Mater Academy (FL)
7. San Diego Padres – SS Carlos Correa – Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
8. Pittsburgh Pirates – SS Deven Marrero – Arizona State)
9. Miami Marlins – LHP Max Fried – Harvard Westlake HS (CA)
10. Colorado Rockies – 3B Richie Shaffer – Clemson
11. Oakland Athletics – RHP Lucas Giolito – Harvard Westlake HS (CA)
12. New York Mets – OF Courtney Hawkins – Carroll HS (TX)
13. Chicago White Sox – LHP Andrew Heaney – Oklahoma State
14. Cincinnati Reds – RHP Michael Wacha – Texas A+M
15. Cleveland Indians – RHP Chris Stratton – Mississippi State
16. Washington Nationals – RHP Marcus Stroman – Duke
17. Toronto Blue Jays – RHP Lance McCullers Jr – Jesuit HS (FL)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers – 3B Stephen Piscotty – Stanford
19. St Louis Cardinals – SS Gavin Cecchini – Barbe HS (LA)
20. San Francisco Giants – OF David Dahl – Oak Mountain HS (AL)
21. Atlanta Braves – OF Victor Roach – Georgia Southern
22. Toronto Blue Jays – OF D.J. Davis – Stone County HS (Miss)
23. St Louis Cardinals – LHP Matt Smoral – Solon HS (OH)
24. Boston Red Sox – LHP Hunter Virant – Camarillo HS (CA)
25. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Zach Eflin – Hagerty HS (FL)
26. Arizona Diamondbacks – OF Tyler Naquin – Texas A&M
27. Milwaukee Brewers – SS Addison Russell – Pace HS (FL)
28. Milwaukee Brewers – C Stryker Trahan – Acadiana HS (LA)
29. Texas Rangers – RHP Nick Travieso – Archbishop McCarthy HS (FL)
30. New York Yankees – 3B/1B Corey Seager – Northwest Cabarrus (NC)
31. Boston Red Sox – OF Travis Jankowski – Stony Brook
A two-way player (pitcher/outfielder) in high school, right-handed slugger Courtney Hawkins has been the flavor of the week as far as where the Mets select and has been slotted at number 12 in no less then a half dozen other mocks this month.
Here is a scouting report by MLB Draft Guide says the following about this talented young outfielder:
Impressive showings over the summer and fall have placed Courtney Hawkins near the top of 2012 MLB Draft prospect rankings. Hawkins, a prep outfielder from Texas, shows true 5 tool ability. Hawkins has shown tremendous power and the ability to drive the ball to all fields. He has very good bat speed and the ball really jumps off his bat. Hawkins also shows good patience. He is still somewhat raw and has a tendency to lunge at the plate. He has shown great improvement over the last year, however.
Hawkins has the ability to cover alot of ground in the outfield (6.62-60). He has a plus arm, with throws from the outfield recorded at 91. Projections generally have Hawkins pegged as a future right fielder. If Hawkins puts it all together, he has the tools to be one of the top players to come out of the 2012 draft.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo ranked Courtney Hawkins at No. 12 in his Top 100 Draft Prospects and wrote the following:
The Texas high school product was shooting up draft boards as the 2012 spring season began, thanks to a very successful summer.
He has some swing-and-miss to his game, but he does have power. He has shown the ability to hit any fastball and can show pop to all fields, though he needs to improve his approach at the plate, where his over-aggressiveness leads to those misses. An average to a tick-above-average runner, he’ll play center field for his high school team, but with his size, strength, power profile and at-least-average arm, the University of Texas commit profiles best as a corner outfielder in the future.
