Casey Mize Remains Top Pick in Keith Law's 2018 MLB Mock Draft 3.0

ESPN MLB insider Keith Law released his Mock Draft 3.0 on Thursday, and Auburn right-handed pitcher Casey Mize remained his projected pick for the Detroit Tigers at No. 1 overall in the MLB first-year player draft.

Law wrote: "Although Al Avila and Co. have been spotted all over the country—seeing Joey Bart, Jarred Kelenic, Nick Madrigal and I assume the insides of lots of airport terminals—the industry consensus still seems to be that Mize, the best player in the class, will go No. 1 on Monday.

Mize is absolutely the consensus No. 1 pick, as B/R's Joel Reuter, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, Andrew Lawrence of the Sporting News and the staff of The Athletic all went with him as the top selection. 

Reuter called Mize a "polished" pitcher with "front-line potential who could reach the majors in short order," adding he has "three plus pitches and supreme command with a 308-to-37 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 254 innings at Auburn."

Lawrence added:

"Mize can run his fastball into the upper-90s and complements it well with an advanced splitter.  He has great size at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. He looks the part of a future front-end starter in the big leagues. The thing scouts love about him: he rarely walks batters, as he's issued only eight free-passes this season in 89 innings, while striking out 124."

As Law noted, the team could also consider Georgia Tech catcher Bart, Wisconsin high school outfielder Kelenic or Oregon State second baseman Madrigal. Bart offers two-way potential and is one of the best catcher prospects to hit the draft in recent years. 

Kelenic projects to be an excellent hitter with solid power, though there are questions about whether he can stick in center field, which could cause him to slide down the board.

Madrigal has been compared to Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and is expected by many to be the first position player off the board Monday.