Blake Mitchell drafted the No. 8 Royals in the 2023 MLB draft
\n”, “providerName”: “Twitter”, “providerUrl”: “https://twitter.com”, “type”: “oembed”, “width”:550, “contentType”: “rich”},{ “__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: Ontiveros and general manager JJ Picollo spoke to the media late Sunday after making three picks on day one of the draft. After Mitchell, Kansas City selected Mahomet-Seymour (Illinois) High School preparer Blake Wolters (#44 overall) and Louisiana-Lafayette outfielder Carson Roccaforte, #66 overall, in the second round.\n \nThe Royals “feel comfortable,” Ontiveros said, that they can dissuade Mitchell from his LSU commitment, and there’s a feeling he could sign under the No. 8’s $5,980,100 slot value, giving the club could help save in other rounds of the draft. \n -clips.mlb.com/5988a5f7-b703-4e04-80d1-e3fd7227adad .mp4″, “type”: “video”, “description”: “Blake Mitchell Sheet Music”, “displayAsVideoGif”:true, “duration”: ” 00:00:11″, “slug”: “blake-mitchell -2023-draft-grades”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”data-visualization”,”title”:”data visualization”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-805810″,”title”:”Blake Mitchell”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:805810″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”: “Thumbnail”, “templateUrl”: “https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/okk9zxctdwjb5emfuuo1”}, “title” : “Blake Mitchell 2023 Draft Grades”, “relativeSiteUrl”: “/video/blake-mitchell-2023-draft-grades”}, {“__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: “Mitchell, #14 MLB Pipeline.” Draft contender has a strong track record, both in high school and on the US junior team.\n\nWhile serving as both a catcher and a pitcher, Mitchell was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 chosen. and he helped Sinton win the Texas 4A title during his junior season. That season, he hit .474 with 14 doubles, six home runs, and 41 RBIs, and posted a 1,543 OPS with 35 stolen bases, 51 walks, and just eight strikeouts. “type”: “text”},{“__typename”: “OEmbed”, “html”:
The moment that made Blake Mitchell a Kansas City royal.#MLBDraft // #WelcomeToTheCity pic.twitter.com/Gw1Sq3bRNi
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 10, 2023
\n\n”, “providerName”: “Twitter”, “providerUrl”: “https://twitter.com”, “type”: “oembed”, “width”: 550, “contentType”: “rich”} ,{“__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: Ontiveros lightly referenced Bryce Harper as an amateur when discussing Mitchell’s clout. Mitchell has the power, speed, and patient approach to hit an average, powerful hit from the left side of the board. \n\nMitchell will need to work on his bat-to-ball skills as he faces stiffer competition, but he has raw power to call upon when making adjustments.\n\n”He is very quiet on the plate, he doesn’t.” “I’m not really going to widen the zone,” Ontiveros said. “He knows the attack zone. He’s been walking this year. He could have pushed; \\[there were\\] Lots of people wanted to see him. He could have rushed out of the zone, but he didn’t. \n\n”He stole bases and found ways to help his team win. I think it’s a testament to his level of maturity.
A dream come true.
(above @LarissaLiska) pic.twitter.com/96B7fdwGAT
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 10, 2023
\n\n”, “providerName”: “Twitter”, “providerUrl”: “https://twitter.com”, “type”: “oembed”, “width”: 550, “contentType”: “rich”} ,{“__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: Mitchell, who turns 19 in August, competed in the 2022 Under Armor All-America Game at Kauffman Stadium and won the MVP award after driving five runs. He was also part of the USA baseball 18U team that won gold at the 2022 WBSC Baseball World Cup – he earned the win on the mound with 2 2/3 innings scoreless. {“__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: “2023 Draft Central”, “type”: “text”}, {“__typename”: “Markdown”, “content”: Defensively, Mitchell projects at least as much as he was a average receiver and blocker and received high marks for his best arm handling in last year’s draft class, particularly with Team USA.\n\nMitchell’s best defensive tool is his 70-degree arm strength, which he consistently hits from behind the plate Showing off the hill – hit 97 miles per hour with his fastball in high school. His arm allows him to post top times in the 1.8-1.9 second range, which helps him control the running game.\n\nHe’s athletic, agile and instinctive, and the Royals saw Mitchell in the infield and play outfield. But they want to see him play as a catcher to start his pro career.\n\n”If you just look at the overall grades, it’s not just because he can catch,” said Picollo. “He can throw, he can bat, he has power and he’s a left-handed catcher. \n. … It was pretty clear he was the right man for us, whatever the position.””,”type”:”text”}],”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:”Kansas City praises the high -School catcher Blake Mitchell Day 1 of the MLB draft. There is a general risk as most do not lead to success. From 2010 to 2019, 14 prep catchers were selected in the first round. Five made the Majors, two became Starters.”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-top-prospects”,”title”:”MLB Top Prospects”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-118″,”title”:”Kansas City Royals”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:118″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”GameTag”,”slug”:”gamepk-717434″,”title”:”2023/07/09 kc@cle”,”type”:”game”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-805810″,”title”:”Blake Mitchell”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:805810″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”anne-rogers”,”title”:”Anne Rogers”,”type”:”contributor”}]”type”: “story”, “thumbnail”: “https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/onoe6qoie3nycjnxzdwn”, “title”: “Blake Mitchell has no . 8 by the Royals in the 2023 MLB Draft”}},”Person:805810″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:805810},”Team:118″:{“__typename”:”Team”,” id”:118}}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”: “mlbglobal08, mlbcom08”, “linkInternalFilters”: “mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”: “Major League Baseball”, “lang”: de “} window.appId = ” /*–>*/
Kansas City picks high school catcher Blake Mitchell on day one of the MLB draft
46 minutes ago
The Royals’ director of scouting, Danny Ontiveros, is aware of the stigma that comes with picking high school catchers in the early rounds. There is a general risk as most do not lead to success. From 2010 to 2019, 14 prep catchers were selected in the first round. Five made the majors, two became starters.
But Ontiveros said he’s never seen a prep catcher like Blake Mitchell.
For that reason, the Royals selected the Sinton (Texas) High School product Sunday night as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
“They talk about all facets of his game – he’s smart, he’s got makeup, he’s tough, he’s built right,” Ontiveros said. “It’s a double plus arm. He can reach for power. He runs. He just did everything. … We drew a lot of looks and he never disappointed.
“I think he’s going to be a striker, a midfielder and his leadership qualities match everything else.”
Ontiveros and general manager JJ Picollo spoke to the media late Sunday after making three picks on the first day of the draft. After Mitchell, Kansas City selected Mahomet-Seymour (Illinois) High School preparer Blake Wolters (No. 44 overall) and Louisiana-Lafayette outfielder Carson Roccaforte with No. 66 overall in the second round.
The royals “feel secure” they can sign Mitchell out of his LSU contract, Ontiveros said, and there’s a feeling he could sign the No. 8 below the $5,980,100 slot value, which is what could help the club save in other rounds The draft.
Now it remains to be seen how the Royals spread their bonus money over 20 rounds.
Mitchell, MLB Pipelines No. 14 draft pick, has a long track record, both in high school and on the US junior team
Mitchell has served as both a catcher and pitcher and was named Gatorade State Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023. He also helped Sinton win the Texas 4A title during his junior season. That season, he hit .474 with 14 doubles, six home runs, and 41 RBIs, and posted a 1,543 OPS with 35 stolen bases, 51 walks, and just eight strikeouts.
Ontiveros lightly referenced Bryce Harper as an amateur when discussing Mitchell’s punching power. Mitchell has the power, speed, and patient approach to hit an average, powerful hit from the left side of the board.
Mitchell will need to work on his racquet handling skills as he faces tougher competition, but he has raw power to fall back on when making adjustments.
“He’s very calm off the plate, he doesn’t really widen the zone,” Ontiveros said. “He knows the attack zone. He’s been walking this year. He could have pressed; [there were] Lots of people wanted to see him. He could have rushed out of the zone, but he didn’t.
“He stole bases and found ways to help his team win. I think it’s a testament to his level of maturity.”
Mitchell, who turns 19 in August, competed in the 2022 Under Armor All-America Game at Kauffman Stadium and won the MVP award after driving five runs. He was also part of the USA baseball 18U team that won gold at the 2022 WBSC Baseball World Cup – he earned the win on the mound with 2 2/3 innings scoreless.
Mitchell is at least an average receiver and blocker defensively and received high marks for his use of the best arms in last year’s draft class, particularly with Team USA.
Mitchell’s best defensive tool is his 70-degree arm strength, which he flaunted off the plate and on the mound — he hit 97 mph with his fastball in high school. His arm allows him to clock top times in the 1.8-1.9s range, which helps him stay in control of the running game.
Athletic, agile and instinctive, the Royals have seen Mitchell play in the infield and outfield. But they want to see him play as a catcher to start his pro career.
“If you just look at the overall grades, it’s not just because he can catch,” Picollo said. “He can throw, he can bat, he has power and he’s a left-handed catcher.
“Adding all these things together, I would say if he had played a different position he would still have been sitting very, very, very high on our board. … It was pretty clear he was the right person for us, whatever the position.”