ESPN Predicts Guardians To Select This Infielder With No. 1 Pick

Kiley McDaniels of ESPN has the Cleveland Guardians selecting West Virginia Infielder JJ Wetherholt with the No. 1 overall pick.

June 4, 2023; West Virginia infielder JJ Wetherholt flips a ball to second base while playing the Kentucky Wildcats. / Photo Credit: Logan Adams of West Virginia Athletics

The MLB Draft is quickly approaching for the first time in franchise history, the Cleveland Guardians will have the number one overall pick.

The only issue (which is a good problem to have) is that there isn’t a consensus on who the best player in the draft is making each analyst’s predictions much more intriguing to look at.

Kiley McDaniel, MLB Insider for ESPN, released his latest mock draft on Wednesday and predicted the Guardians to select West Virginia SS JJ Wetherholt with the number one overall pick. 

Here is snippet of his rationale for Cleveland selecting the middle infielder:

“[Wetherholt] might be a major league shortstop and is definitely an infielder. He's basically above average at everything ranging from the elements of hitting to all five traditional physical tools …And there's a whiff of Jose Ramirez to his game, rumored to be the archetype Cleveland has been using in prioritizing hit-first, up-the-middle type players for close to a decade. … Taking Wetherholt here fits the Guardians' preferred type of player, fits their prioritization of bonus pool value and leans into the smart player demographic play. 

Check out ESPN and McDaneil's full preview of the Guardians draft here. 

June 4, 2023; West Virginia infielder JJ Wetherholt flips a ball to second base while playing the Kentucky Wildcats. / Photo Credit: Logan Adams of West Virginia Athletics

It’s easy to see why McDaniel likes Wetherholt’s fit on the Guardians. He hit .370/.467/.625 including eight doubles, eight home runs, and 30 RBI in 36 games last season. This is the type of production Cleveland desperately needs from the infield for years to come. 

While ESPN has the Guardians selecting Wetherholt, this isn’t the consensus pick for Cleveland. For example, Keith Law of The Athletic predicted the Guardians to take Georgia OF Charlie Condon in his latest mock drill. We also can’t forget about Oregon State INF Travis Bazzana who should certainly be considered with the pick.

Perhaps as the draft gets closer, there will be more clarity on who the Guardians plan to select number one overall.