The MLB Draft season is upon us as the first three rounds will open the event just about one month from today. With that in mind, prospect experts are beginning to formulate their mock drafts, and for the Minnesota Twins, there seems to be an early focus on college bats. Among the notable mock drafts of late, one had the Twins targeting Texas A&M power hitter Jace LaViolette with their first-round pick.
The latest mock draft originates from The Athletic's prospect expert, Keith Law. In his second mock draft of the season, Law has the Twins going against the trend of MLB teams and selecting Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston.
"If your draft model really favors contact, you’ve got Houston ranked highly, but if it favors exit velocity and similar data, it’s got him much lower down. The Twins have branched out from their contact-over-all-else days, but they are still one of a few teams (like Pittsburgh and Cleveland) to particularly focus on it," Law mentions in his breakdown of Houston.
Twins may have found their Carlos Correa replacement in latest mock draft
With the selection of Houston, it's possible that the Twins are thinking about their long-term situation at shortstop. Carlos Correa isn't getting younger, and despite his recent offensive turnaround, Correa's history of back issues would suggest he's not long for the shortstop position. Houston's arrival could alleviate that fear.
While Houston, prior to this season with Wake Forrest, hasn't been known for his power output, he is putting up some impressive home run numbers this season. In 298 plate appearances this season, Houston has 15 home runs. Prior to this year, the most he has had in any year was 8. Beyond the home run total, Houston is slashing .354/.458/.597 with an impressive OPS of 1.055.
In comparison to LaViolette, Houston appears to be the safer gamble in terms of projecting his offense at the Major League level. Houston has only struck out 46 times this collegiate season. Meanwhile, in 262 plate appearances, LaViolette has struck out 66 times. However, LaViolette is the mold of the power hitters at the Major League level currently.