Some MLB Draft mocks have Rockies taking a Shohei Ohtani type

A Shohei Ohtani-type player calling Coors Field home? It would be wild and it’s something I’ve been dreaming about for nearly a decade. Well, the Colorado Rockies could go down that path during Sunday’s MLB Draft as a two-way college star may still be on the board when Bill Schmidt selects at No. 3 overall.

Out of four major mock drafts updated recently half of them tab the Rockies to take Florida’s two-way star Jac Caglianone, the others both have Colorado taking the first pitcher of the class in Wake Forest righty Chase Burns.

MLB Mock Draft picks for the Rockies

USA Today: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
Bleacher Report: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
MLB.com: Jac Caglianone, 1B/RHP, Florida
Pitcher List: Jac Caglianone, 1B/RHP, Florida

The split on what the Rockies could do shows just how little is following out of the organization, backed by the fact that the prior two mock drafts covered here have shown the Rockies taking two different players in stud positon players Charlie Condon and Travis Bazzana.

The Rockies greatest strength in their system right now is bats, particularly in the middle infielder and corner outfielder/first base. The team is in bad need of future pitching. Seeing what Schmidt does to add quality pitching prospects in the next few months will be key for the Rockies future.

If Burns does fall to No. 3, the Rockies wouldn’t be too out of turn in reaching for the righty. He threw 100 innings this season—fifth-most in the nation—and led the college ranks in strikeouts with 191, 30 more than any other hurler. He’s primarily a fastball-slider guy which would play well at Coors Field but he also has a curveball and changeup in his arsenal. He used it to go 10-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his lone season at Wake Forest after two years at Tennessee. The 21-year-old was born in Italy, he would be the first from that country since Alex Liddi to play in the bigs, and he’s the lone player to do that since the 1960s. No player to wear the purple pinstripes has ever been born in Italy. The Rockies have only ever had two players born in Europe before, Lance Painter and Jeff Baker.

Maybe more interesting than the would-be unique feat or Burns is finding out what the Rockies would do with Caglianone. The Gator won the John Olerud Award as the best hitter/pitcher in NCAA this season. He was second in the nation to Condon in homers with 35, while hitting a third-best in the nation .419 with a fourth-best on-base percentage of .544  and also fourth in slugging .875. On the mount, he had a 4.76 ERA over 73.2 innings in his sophomore season. He did have 170 strikeouts in 34 college games, Caglianone also issued 105 walks. Despite a triple-digit fastball, many experts dought there will ever be anyone like Ohtani. The MVP-level hitter at the plater and top-of-the-rotation pitcher may be undoable but could Caglianone play a steady first base with a strong bat and come in as a reliever at times? Again, experts see his pitching as a Plan B if his chase rate at the dish is too high.

But it’s fun to think about the what-ifs both with filling a need in a player like Burns and at the very least getting an answer to the post-Todd Helton first base issues the Rockies have had—and maybe, just maybe Colorado has the second true two-way player in a generation.

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