Rangers Add Pitching in 2023 MLB Mock Draft

The Texas Rangers have the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, thanks to some luck in the Draft Lottery.

The Texas Rangers benefited from the MLB Draft Lottery earlier this month moving up to the No. 4 selection overall.

With the lottery done, what could the Rangers do with that draft pick? MLB.com took its first pass at a 2023 first-round mock draft.

As one might expect, the site brought the Rangers more pitching.

With the fourth overall selection, MLB.com projected that the Rangers would take LSU right-hander Paul Skenes.

It would follow a trend from the past two drafts for the Rangers — SEC pitchers.

In 2021 the Rangers took Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter with the No. 2 overall pick. He spent last season at Double-A Frisco. The Rangers took Leiter’s teammate, Kumar Rocker, with the third overall pick in 2022. Rocker was taken by the New York Mets in the first round in the 2021 Draft, but health issues kept the Mets and Rocker from reaching a deal.

Rocker pitched in the Arizona Fall League in October.

Skenes actually hasn’t pitched a game for the Tigers yet. He transferred to LSU from Air Force after last season. With the Falcons, he was named a 2022 All-American after he recorded a 2.96 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 85.2 innings (15 starts), limiting opponents to a .224 batting average. He can also hit, as he batted .314 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 38 RBI.

The last time the Rangers took a position player with their first-round pick was 2020, when they selected infielder Justin Foscue No. 14 overall out of Mississippi State.

---

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.

Need to catch up on the Rangers? Check out our Texas Rangers Offseason Central Page!