Draft Day 2 highlights

The first 10 rounds of the 2021 MLB Draft are in the books. While the first round saw several surprises, including Henry Davis being selected first overall, Kumar Rocker falling to 10th, and Kahlil Watson falling to 16th, but the second round was rather predictable.

As expected, the Pirates took what money they saved by taking Davis first overall and put it towards high-upside picks in the later rounds. With their second, third, and fourth picks, Pittsburgh took pitcher Anthony Solometo, outfielder Lonnie White, and pitcher Bubba Chandler. The trio ranked 16th, 72nd, and 17th by MLB Pipeline’s pre-draft rankings.

While Day 1 gave us a glimpse of how teams evaluate individual talents, Day 2 supplied hints of organizational philosophies and needs.

Several teams employed an “Oops! All Pitchers!” approach to the draft. College pitchers especially were in high demand. The Angels and Dodgers took pitchers with each of their picks in the first 10 rounds. The Giants selected pitchers with their first nine picks. Cleveland took pitchers with 10 of their first 11 selections. After taking shortstop Colson Montgomery and third baseman Wes Kath in the first and second rounds, the White Sox took pitchers in each of their next six rounds. The Blue Jays selected just one position player with their 10 picks. That outfielder, Jaden Rudd, was the only high school player taken by Toronto, too.

The Orioles, on the other hand, only took one pitcher: Carlos Tavera, a senior from the University of Texas.

With the draft shortened to 20 rounds, the courtesy pick is as good as dead, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any deserving players with big league pedigree taken. 19 years ago, JT Snow scooped Darren Baker at the plate. Yesterday, in the 10th round, the Nationals scooped him. Baker was a senior second baseman at UC Berkeley.

The draft concludes Tuesday with rounds 11-20 starting at 12 pm EDT.

Best names of Day 2

Bubba Chandler: Could I be any more obsessed with shrimp?

James Wood: Goodbye lit crit, hello baseball.

Joe Rock: The son of Kid Rock.

Jud Fabian: Jud, level 1 half-orc barbarian.

Rohan Handa: Not to be confused with a Rohan Honda, which is a horse.

Kevin Abel: He must never be allowed to face Lorenzo Cain.

Ryan Sublette: $850/mo., month-to-month, no pets, room is technically a breakfast nook

Cullen Kafka: What Max Brod was supposed to be doing after his friend’s death.

In addition, there were five Hunters, four Masons, and zero Max Muncy’s drafted on Day 2.