Seattle Mariners Way Too Early 2020 MLB Mock Draft

With the 6th pick, the Seattle Mariners select Garrett Crochet LHP University of Tennessee

The Seattle Mariners like to draft college arms. Their 2019 draft class will tell you that. And with their last 2 first-round picks, they have snagged polished college arms Logan Gilbert and George Kirby.

Both of those arms have high floors as #4 starters and both could be as good as #2s in a good rotation, but neither one has a good chance of being an ace. And while no pitcher realistically does, Crochet would have the highest probability of becoming one if selected.

Garrett Crochet is a 6’6″, 218 lbs left-handed pitcher from the University of Tennessee. His development in Knoxville is most notable with the radar gun. His fastball sat in the 92-95 range early in the 2019 season, but during the summer, he was routinely hitting 97 MPH and touched 100 MPH on more than one occasion.

Scouts rave about the high spin rates his fastball creates, allowing it to play up even more than the velocity suggests. Crochet backs up the 70-grade (20-80 scale) with a solid, 85 MPH slider that shows good tilt and flashes above-average.

The separator for Crochet may very well be his changeup, which is already a plus offering. Crochet throws it with excellent arm action and despite its firm nature (88-90 MPH), it has an excellent chance to be a swing-and-miss offering in the big leagues.

Crochet very well may end up with 3 plus offerings and despite his long limbs, he does a nice job of repeating his delivery, allowing him to work deep in games and throw quality strikes. He has some things he needs to clean up, but his raw skills are so tantalizing, he would be difficult to pass up if available at pick 6.

Crochet’s long levers and blazing fastballs will have some fans pushing a James Paxton comparison. If selected this summer, Crochet would push for the #1 prospect rank in a quickly improving Mariners farm system.