To wrap up the draft preview, we turn to high school pitchers. Drafting from this demographic early in the draft has fallen out of favor in recent years, but there’s a point where there’s value to be had. The Rays certainly thought so when they drafted Nick Bitsko No. 24 in 2020.
Some of these players have been connected to the Rays in mock drafts, but some were just picked out by us to write about.
LHP Brandon Barriera, American Heritage School (6’2 180, 18 years old)
The Athletic rank: 22
Baseball America rank: 17
FanGraphs rank: 10
MLB.