College players are all the rage at the top of this year’s MLB Draft, which begins Monday.
As it stands, the first high schooler off the board may not happen until right after the New York Mets select sixth — although they could be the first to take one.
The Detroit Tigers are expected to make Auburn righthander Casey Mize the top pick, with fellow collegiate ballplayers Joey Bart (catcher, Georgia Tech), Alec Bohm (third baseman, Wichita State), Brady Singer (righty, Florida) and Nick Madrigal (second baseman, Oregon State) widely presumed to follow, in no certain order.
If any of the aforementioned five slip to the Mets, don’t be surprised if they wind up in Queens someday. Otherwise, here are three players most likely expected to be on the franchise’s radar at No. 6 overall.
Jonathan India
The popular prediction among several recent mock drafts, the 21-year-old third baseman is tearing it up for an elite Florida squad in a bit of an unexpected junior year surge. India entered Sunday with a .364/.504/.733 slash line and on Saturday swatted his 18th homer in 59 games this season for the Gators.
Travis Swaggerty
Completely off the radar coming out of high school — he went undrafted — the South Alabama centerfielder raised his profile at the small school thanks in part to his plate discipline. MLB.com compares the 20-year-old junior to Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner.
Matthew Liberatore
If the Mets go the high school route — or the pitching route, for that matter — there’s a good chance this lefthander is the guy. Playing for Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona, Liberatore doesn’t hit 100 mph with his fastball but mixes in a curveball and a slider.
Jarred Kelenic
This is no average high school prospect. A lefty-hitting outfielder out of Wisconsin — not a baseball hotbed — Kelenic skipped playing high school ball in favor of the Team USA U18 team and at the club level. At the national level, he was named the 2016 Pan American Games MVP.
