Mack – Draft News – Emerson Hancock, Tanner Burns, Heston Kjerstad, Brandon Pfaadt

https://athlonsports.com/mlb/2020-mlb-draft-top-50-college-prospects -

1. Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia

Hancock already showed everything that scouts wanted to see during a dominating sophomore season at Georgia. If he just stays healthy and throws the same upper-90s fastball, slider, curve and changeup he showed last year, he’ll go near the top of the draft.

https://www.draftsite.com/mydraftsite/sstrauss1987/mlb/mock-draft/2020/ posted his first mock draft and he had the following player going to the Mets at 1.19:

            RHP    Tanner Burns           Auburn

            Current 2020 stat line:     4-starts, 3-1, 2.42, 22.1-IP 32-K

            6-0      215     Junior

https://auburntigers.com/sports/baseball/roster/tanner-burns/14621 - 2019 – SOPHOMORE YEAR

Named a third team All-American by Perfect Game, becoming the 25th All-American in program history … led the team with 15 starts while posting a 4-4 record and 2.82 ERA … struck out 101 batters in 79.2 innings, joining Casey Mize (2017-18) as the only Auburn pitchers to strike out 100+ batters since 2000 … was named a preseason All-American by D1 Baseball and Collegiate Baseball as well as a preseason All-SEC honoree … named to the Golden Spikes Award and National Pitcher of the Year Award midseason watch lists … marked the fourth straight season an Auburn player was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list … allowed one run on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in his season debut vs. Georgia Southern (Feb. 16) … pitched 5.2 innings and earned the win in the series opener at UCF (Feb. 22) … turned in his first complete-game shutout and matched Auburn’s single-game record with 15 strikeouts vs. Cincinnati (Mar. 1) – joining Casey Mize (2018), Chris Bootcheck (1999), Tim Hudson (1997), John Powell (1994) and Mark Chapman (1986) on the list … was named the SEC and National Pitcher of the Week as well as the Golden Spikes Award Performer of the Week … earned his third straight win by tossing 7.0 scoreless innings and striking out 10 vs. UTSA (Mar. 8) … made his third straight scoreless start, pitching 6.2 innings and striking out nine in the SEC opener vs. Tennessee (Mar. 15) … didn’t allow a run in 23.0 innings from Mar. 1-22, marking the second longest scoreless streak in program history … pitched 6.2 innings and threw a career-high 115 pitches en route to a road win at South Carolina (Mar. 29) … turned in his third start of the season with 10+ strikeouts vs. Arkansas (Apr. 5) … suffered his first loss of the season despite turning in another quality start at Texas A&M (Apr. 12) … exited his start in the series opener at Vanderbilt (Apr. 25) and missed the following weekend vs. Alabama (May 3-5) … started the regular season finale at LSU (May 18) and allowed one run with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings … started the decisive game three of the Chapel Hill Super Regional (Jun. 10) and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts … made the first relief appearance of his career in the College World Series vs. Mississippi State (Jun. 16) ... named to the Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll.

https://www.draftsite.com/mydraftsite/JacksonLastowski/mlb/mock-draft/2020/ added his draft pick at 1.19:

Heston Kjerstad     OF       Arkansas

Current 2020 stat line:     16-G, 67-AB, .448, .513-OBP, 6-HR

6-3      205     L/R     Junior

As a Sophomore (2019)

>> All-SEC Second Team

>> Preseason Golden Spikes Watch List

https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/roster/heston-kjerstad/ -  Finished with the third-highest batting average on the team (.327), playing 65 games … Also matched his hit total (87) from 2018 and totaled 13 doubles, one triple and a career-best 17 home runs … Notched 51 RBIs, becoming the first Razorback to have 50 or more RBIs in his first two seasons since Rodney Nye in 1998 and 1999 … His home run total tied for second-most in the SEC and good for 28th in the nation … His hit total was also good for 10th-best in the league and his team-best slugging percentage (.575) was the ninth-highest in the conference … Totaled 153 bases, good for second on the team, fifth in the SEC and 18th most in the nation … In conference play, hit .319 in 29 games, the second-highest average on the team with six home runs and 20 RBIs … Also slugged .509 and had a .402 on-base percentage against conference opponents … In the NCAA Tournament, he hit .313, the third-highest average on the team with a .688 slugging percentage, three home runs and seven RBIs … Had a home run in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional (vs. Central Connecticut – May 31), in the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional (vs. Ole Miss – June 10) and in the College World Series (vs. Texas Tech – June 17) and now has five postseason home runs in his career … Finished the year with 24 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games … Half of his multi-hit games consisted of three hits or more, including two four-hit games (vs. Western Illinois – March 12; at #7 Vanderbilt – April 14) … Had a 14-game hitting streak from March 31-April 24, matching a career-long and tying for the longest on the team … Hit .369 during that hit streak with 24 hits, 16 RBIs and five home runs … Also had seven multi-hit games during that streak, including two games with three hits or more (4 at Vanderbilt – April 14 & 3 vs. Northwestern St. – April 23) … Against Vanderbilt, he tied his career high with four hits with three of those hits being singles and drove in one RBI in the 14-12 come-from-behind victory … Tied his career high in hits earlier in the year against Western Illinois (March 13), going a perfect 4-for-4 with a triple and a home run falling a double short of the cycle, while also scoring a career-high three runs … Had one of the best bats in the month of April, hitting .364 with a team-best eight home runs and 25 RBIs … Had eight multi-hit games during the month and also had two 5-RBI games (vs. Oral Roberts -April 9; vs. #18 Tennessee – April 27) … Against ORU, he only had two hits, but both were home runs, including his second-career grand slam … Ten games later, he notched his fourth multi-home run game of his career against Tennessee (April 27), part of a three-hit game … Was nearly held hitless in the NCAA Super Regional against Ole Miss, going 0-for-4 in Game 1 and just 1-for-4 in Game 2, but went 3-for-4 in Game 3 with four RBIs with a career-high two doubles and one home run in the 14-1 victory.

https://www.draftsite.com/mlb/mock-draft/2020/ mocked beyond the first round. Their second round pick for the Mets is:

            #53:    Brandon Pfaadt      RHP  Bellarmine   6' 4"  220

            https://athletics.bellarmine.edu/news/2019/8/15/baseball-perfect-game-recognizes-pfaadt-for-performance-in-prestigious-cape-cod-league.aspx - Bellarmine University rising junior pitcher Brandon Pfaadt was acknowledged by Perfect Game USA in its season recap of the esteemed Cape Cod Baseball League.

The hard-throwing right-hander was cited in a section of the article titled "Outstanding Pitching Performances" among 10 hurlers who tossed a minimum of 25 innings in CCBL action.

Suiting up for the Wareham Gatemen, Pfaadt pitched in nine regular-season games with two starts and went 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA along with 34 strikeouts against eight walks in 32.0 innings pitched. Opposing hitters batted just .171 against the Louisville native.

Pfaadt was nearly unhittable over his first three outings of the summer, allowing a mere two hits over 12.0 scoreless innings while piling up 16 strikeouts. In his final performance of the regular season, the Trinity (Ky.) High School product earned a save behind 3.0 perfect innings as he didn't allow a single baserunner while striking out six.