Red Sox Follow Recent Trend In Latest MLB Mock Draft

BOSTON — Chaim Bloom has keyed in on a certain type of prospect in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft ever since becoming the chief baseball officer of the Red Sox.

And one MLB mock draft doesn’t see Bloom bucking that trend next month.

Bloom has picked three straight middle infielders out of high school in the first round — most notably top prospect Marcelo Mayer — and Jim Callis of MLB.com sees Bloom going that route again with the Red Sox owning the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft.

In his latest mock draft, Callis has the Red Sox using that selection on Colin Houck, an 18-year-old shortstop out of Parkview High School in Georgia. But even if Callis isn’t available to the Red Sox or they decide to bypass him, Callis still thinks Bloom will dip into the high school pool of players — Callis isn’t the only one who believes that.

“It looks like a high school bat for the fourth straight first round for the Red Sox, who could continue that trend with Houck, (Aidan) Miller, (Blake) Mitchell or (Colt) Emerson,” Callis wrote. “(Enrique) Bradfield and Arizona outfielder Chase Davis, who has helium, are two college options.”

Houck packs plenty of athleticism into his 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame and even had football offers from Power 5 schools but turned them down to focus on a future in baseball.

The biggest attribute from Houck, who hails from the same high school as Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, is what he can do with the bat in the batter’s box.

“Houck’s combination of strength and bat speed give him plus raw power, and the right-handed hitter already shows a propensity for driving balls in the air to his pull side,” MLB Pipeline wrote for Houck’s scouting report. “He does swing and miss and chase pitches more than is ideal at times, though there’s optimism that he can improve as a hitter once he concentrates solely on baseball. He has looked more consistent at the plate this spring and does use the entire ballpark, though most of his pop goes to left field.”

The Red Sox still have plenty of time to decide which way they want to go in the first round with the 2023 MLB Draft set to start on July 9.