Who will the Texas Rangers draft with the 2nd overall pick in 2021? While it is still early to know the exact prospect the Texas Rangers will select with their 2nd overall pick, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the players. The draft is scheduled to take place on Sunday July 11, 2021 through Tuesday July 13, 2021.
While I was on the #RockerWatch bandwagon, I’m not 100 percent sure the Rangers will select a pitcher with their 1st Round pick.
I would venture to say that many Texas Rangers fans expect them to draft a pitcher. I wouldn’t bet money on it. There are quite a few shortstops are on this short list and we know the Rangers aren’t afraid to reach for a pick if they are high on them.
Here’s the list of prospects the Rangers may select. They are not in any particular order.
Below is the recap of the Texas Rangers first 10 picks of the 2021 Draft.
Kumar Rocker
| Age | Height | Weight | Position | School | Drafted |
| 21 | 6’5 | 250 | RHP | Vanderbilt | Originally by the Rockies in 2018 (38th Rd) |
Rocker pitches for Vanderbilt and seemed to be the early favorite to go number one. He threw a no-hitter against Duke in 2019. His fastball reaches between 95-97 mph and he throws a killer slider that reaches between 85-88 mph.
Some stats from 2020
| Appearances | Games Started | Innings Pitched | Earned Run Average | Walks | Strikeouts | WHIP | SO9 |
| 15 | 15 | 91.1 | 2.86 | 31 | 135 | 0.931 | 13.3 |
Most of the Mock drafts have Rocker being selected with the number one pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jack Leiter
| Age | Height | Weight | Position | School | Drafted | |
| 21 | 6’0 | 195 | RHP | Vanderbilt | Originally by the Yankees in 2019 (20th Rd) |
Leiter is the son of former Major-League pitcher, Al Leiter.
Here are some stats from 2020:
| Appearances | Games started | Innings pitched | Earned Run Average | Walks | Strikeouts | WHIP | SO9 |
| 13 | 13 | 76.1 | 2.12 | 34 | 127 | 0.878 | 15.0 |
As you can see, he was off to a fantastic start. He’s got a fastball (92-95 mph), slider (78-82 MPH) and curveball (74-75 MPH).
MLB.com has him ranked as the number 6 ranked draft prospect for 2021.
Jordan Lawlar
| Age | Height | Weight | Position | Bats | Throws | School |
| 18 | 6’1 | 170 | SS | R | R | Dallas Jesuit |
Lawlar is a shortstop from Dallas Jesuit Prep, that bats from the right side of the plate. Lawlar lives in Irving Texas, so he’s a local kid which would make for an interesting draft for the Rangers. He’s got great athleticism, speed, plays great defense and some scouting reports show him being advanced at the plate for his age. He doesn’t have alot of power but that is something that is expected to further develop. These are all things the Rangers could use looking into the future at such a premium position. Again, it’s way early but alot of mocks have the Rangers drafting Lawlar.
Matt McLain
| Age | Height | Weight | Position | Bats | Throws | Draft |
| 21 | 5’10 | 175 | SS | R | R | Diamondbacks in 2018 (1st Rd) |
McLain is a shortstop that plays for the UCLA Bruins. He was selected in the 1st round of the 2018 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks but chose college instead. I saw him in person during the Frisco Classic in 2020 and was one of the members of the media that voted McLain as the MVP. In three games at the plate, he batted .471 and had 7 RBIs.
Some stats from 2020
| Games | Plate Appearances | Batting Average | Home Runs | RBI | Stolen bases | Walks | Strikeouts | On-base percentage | Slugging Percentage | On-base plus slugging | |
| UCLA | 41 | 196 | .329 | 9 | 27 | 9 | 31 | 26 | .439 | .582 | 1.021 |
After the College season was canceled, McLain played 30 games with the Santa Barbara Foresters, an Independent team. He slashed a .436 average with 7 dingers and 28 RBIs. The power is progressing.
Marcelo Mayer, SS | Age: 18
Mayer has been another name that has been linked to being a top pick.
He played in 26 games, had a .419 batting average with a .579 on-base percentage. What’s really impressive is the 13 home runs he hit and the 1.565 OPS.
The mock drafts I have seen have McLain going within the top 10 but none have the Rangers drafting him. The Mock drafts have been pretty consistent with most having Rocker and Leiter being drafted one and two.
As of May 26th, 2021, the latest Mock Draft on MLB.com has the Pirates taking Mayer at one with the Rangers taking Jack Leiter at number two.
Henry Davis
| Age | Height | Weight | Position | Bats | Throws | School |
| 21 | 6’1 | 195 | Catcher | Right | Right | Louisville |
The latest Mock Draft on MLB.com has the Rangers selecting Davis with the number two overall pick. At the plate he slashed .370/.482/.663/1.145 with 15 home run, 48 RBI and 10 stolen bases.
My choice as of December 25, 2020
If I am the Rangers GM I am selecting Jordan Lawlar with the 2nd pick.
My choice as of May 28, 2021
I would still take Jordan Lawlar, if I had a good idea that he would sign. There’s been some chatter that he is going to honor his commitment to Vanderbilt. That is what is always said but if he is drafted at 1 or 2, his stock probably won’t be any higher.
Update**
The Rangers selected RHP, Jack Leiter with the # 2 pick and I’m not complaining.
