The Chicago Cubs didn’t have to travel far to find their newest MLB Draft pick. The North Siders selected shortstop Ed Howard out of Chicago’s Mount Carmel High School with the 16th overall pick last night. During his junior season at Mount Carmel, Howard hit .421 with three homers, 11 doubles and four triples in 35 games. His senior season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 18-year-old was the starting shortstop on the Jackie Robinson West team from Chicago that reached the Little League World Series finals in 2014. He is also the first Illinois high school position player to be drafted in the first round since Jayson Werth in 1997.
The Chicago White Sox are bringing in another left-handed pitcher with their newest MLB Draft pick. The South Siders selected Garrett Crochet from the University of Tennessee with the 11th overall pick last night. The 20-year-old becomes the third southpaw taken by the Sox in the first round since 2010, with the last two being Carlos Rodon in 2014 and Chris Sale in 2010. Crochet’s 2020 season was hampered by shoulder soreness. As a freshman with the Volunteers, Crochet posted a 5.51 ERA in 17 games with 62 strikeouts over 63 and two-third-innings. He had a 4.02 ERA over 18 games as a sophomore.
The St. Louis Cardinals are going for upside with their newest MLB Draft pick. St. Louis selected third baseman Jordan Walker of Decatur High School in Georgia with the 21st overall pick last night. Walker established himself as the top corner-infield prospect in the 2020 high school class and has some of the best power of this draft. The 18-year-old didn’t get to complete his senior season at Decatur because of the coronavirus pandemic, but in May he was named Georgia’s Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year after hitting .457 with four home runs in 16 games. The draft ends with rounds two through five today. Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred tells ESPN he’s 100-percent certain there will be a 2020 season.
