Seven Players Red Sox Could Pick In First Round Of 2023 MLB Draft

Chaim Bloom has overseen three Major League Baseball drafts as Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer.

The Red Sox chose a high-school middle infielder in the first round of each: Nick Yorke in 2020, Marcelo Mayer in 2021 and Mikey Romero in 2022.

Will that trend continue in 2023?

A number of mock drafts have been released in recent weeks, with Rounds 1 and 2 scheduled to take place this Sunday, and most projected Boston will select a position player with the 14th overall pick.

The Red Sox might go the college route this time around, opting to then use subsequent picks on overslot prep position players, or Bloom and company could stick to their recent formula. After all, Yorke, Mayer and Romero all have shown promise since joining the Red Sox system, with Mayer — the No. 4 overall pick in 2021 — now ranked among the very best prospects in baseball.

Here are seven position players the Red Sox could target in the first round Sunday.

Matt Shaw, SS, Maryland
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently predicted the Red Sox would nab Shaw, who ranked No. 10 in the MLB insider’s draft rankings thanks to his offensive prowess. Shaw likely will transition to second base — he’s considered a flawed defender at shortstop — but the kid just rakes. He might be one of the best hitters in this year’s class, with a good sense of the strike zone and a propensity for making hard contact.

Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon
McDaniel transitioned to his Shaw prediction only after initially projecting in his first mock draft that Boston would take Wilson, a contact-oriented shortstop who’s regarded as one of the better defenders in this year’s college class. Wilson might not post huge power numbers at the major league level based on his profile, but he nevertheless could evolve into a useful regular who puts the bat on the ball.

Tommy Troy, SS, Stanford
The Athletic’s Keith Law predicted in his first mock draft back in May that Boston would choose Troy, a right-handed hitter known for consistently making hard contact and who drew praise for his performance in the Cape Cod League last summer. How Troy’s power develops, relative to his hit tool, ultimately could determine his ceiling. But there’s a lot to like about the offensive profile, even if he moves to the outfield.

Brayden Taylor, 3B, TCU
Flash forward to Law’s mock draft 3.0, released last week, and the longtime baseball scribe had the Red Sox picking Taylor, noting the TCU product has a “very pretty left-handed swing” and “projects as a solid-average regular, with a couple of ways he could turn into something more.” Taylor might not have a carrying tool, but the sum of the parts suggests a high floor. He had “some of the best batted-ball data in the college class,” according to Law, with a strong launch angle and solid hard-hit rates.

Colin Houck, SS, Parkview High School (Georgia)
The Red Sox have Tanner Houck (no relation that we know of) in their rotation, so why not add another Houck to their pipeline? Colin Houck is a two-sport star who also excelled as a quarterback but turned down football offers to focus on baseball. He committed to Mississippi State but likely will jump to the professional ranks after being drafted in the first round as a bat-first prospect. McDaniel called him “a spitting image of Evan Longoria” in his draft rankings Wednesday, suggesting the 18-year-old might move over to third base in the long run.

Aidan Miller, 3B, Mitchell High School (Florida)
MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis last week projected the Red Sox to pick Miller, as the draft expert believes Boston is headed toward a high-school bat for the fourth consecutive first round. Miller, listed at No. 13 in MLB.com’s pre-draft rankings, missed most of his senior year with a broken hamate bone, but his power has impressed some evaluators, with McDaniel saying the 19-year-old “has looked like a young version of peak Josh Donaldson since he was 15 years old.” The Cincinnati Reds drafted Miller’s brother, Jackson, in the second round in 2020.

Colt Emerson, SS/3B, Glenn High School (Ohio)
Emerson is just 17, so there’s even more projection in play. He’s also rare in that Ohio hasn’t had a high-school position player drafted in the first three rounds since Derek Dietrich in 2007. But he’s “one of the better hitters in the high school class,” according to Law, who added Emerson has “a loose left-handed swing with the loft to drive the ball.” Emerson likely will land at the hot corner as he moves through the minors.