Mariners Day 3 draft reports for rounds 11-20 of the 2021 MLB Draft

And on the third day of the 2021 MLB Draft, teams picked just 10 more players each. With just 20 rounds in this year’s draft, albeit an improvement from the mere five of 2020, both Day Two and Day Three have roughly the same length in store. Our Seattle Mariners draft tracker is the place to go for immediate tracking of each pick made, while we’ll update this article with scouting reports and write-ups on each draftee from rounds 11-20 as they roll in this morning!

Round 11 (Pick #324): RHP William Fleming (Wake Forest)

Keeping on trend with how they finished out the first 10 rounds, Seattle nabs another college pitcher, this time a 6’6 righty from Wake Forest University. Fleming is a solid pick in terms of upside and tools for someone outside the bonus rounds, with a sinking fastball that sits 93-96 and has hit 99 as a starter. His slider is his primary breaking ball, and he’s struggled to get much from either his changeup or curve. Seattle could see Fleming as a starter (and will likely give him the chance to be just that early on) or push the big sinker-baller to the bullpen and let him let loose.

Round 12 (Pick #354): OF Corey Rosier (UNC Greensboro)

The Mariners go back to the SoCon (Colin Davis, their seventh-rounder, was the SoCon POY) to get Rosier, a JC (Chipola) transfer who was first team All-Southern Conference this year. Rosier drew some draft interest in 2018 out of his Maryland high school for his quick hands and plus athleticism; he has a big lefty swing that results in balls traveling way, way over the wall:

Round 13 (Pick #384): SS Ben Ramirez (USC)

Seattle goes with a name perhaps familiar to local fans, as Ramirez has been a four-year starter at USC in the Pac-12 between SS, 3B, and 2B. While listed as a shortstop on his draft sheet, Ramirez played 111 games at third base between USC and the Cape Cod League to 95 at short and just 11 at second. The 6’3, 200 lbs lefty swinger bloomed late at the plate to some degree with the Trojans, with a .910 OPS in 2021 and 10 home runs after struggling to slug even close to average for much of his career.

The tools aren’t standout, but his size and mix of average or so skills could work as a utility infielder, particularly if Seattle can help Ramirez play a plausible shortstop as a pro. Most evaluators seem to expect a 3B/2B profile for Ramirez, though is arm is strong enough to handle the left side well.

Round 14 (Pick #414): RHP Andrew Moore (Chipola)

Yes, this will be the second right-handed pitcher named Andrew Moore the Mariners have had in their system, but this one is a JC arm, 6’5”, and can throw in the upper 90s. Moore participated in the MLB Draft League this summer so we’ve got some interesting stuff on him we might not have on other draftees, like his fastball spin rate (2580-2600), top velocity (98.7, the highest in the league), and video of his offerings, including some sick-looking breaking stuff:

Round 15 (Pick #444): 3B Cole Barr (Indiana)

The Mariners have liked Barr for a while, as this is the second time they’ve drafted him; they took him in the 37th round in 2019, after he hit a whopping 17 home runs that season after spending the previous off-season living in the weight room. He also struck out an equally-whopping 40% of the time that season, though, so in 2021 Barr focused on balancing his power with on-base ability, resulting in a moderate decrease in his slugging but a marked improvement in his average (although the strikeout rate remains a touch high, at just under 30%). Stockily built (he hails from a family of wrestlers), Barr is more athletic than he looks, profiling to stick at third base thanks to solid instincts and fast-twitch muscles; he also gets down the line pretty well and can even swipe a few bases.

Round 16 (Pick #474): RHP Jimmy Joyce Jr. (Hofstra)

Triple-J is a 6’2 righty who put up excellent numbers in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2021, seeming to pop after a few shaky seasons. He struck out 89 in 73.0 innings and showed good athleticism to boot.

Joyce sat in the upper-80s out of high school but pushed up into the low-90s more consistently in college. He got to utilize Rapsodo heavily and more efficiently curate the spin axis on his pitches during his time in college at Hofstra.

Round 17 (Pick #504): RHP Jimmy Kingsbury (Villanova)

I’m assuming the Mariners picked up Kingsbury, a dyed-in-the-wool Philly kid, to be eventual trade bait for the Phillies. Kingsbury fits the “proven college performers” model of pitchers, which means he’s on the shorter side and his stuff doesn’t overwhelm, but he’s been a four-year starter at Villanova, has all the pitches, consistently pitched well and earned conference honors, and is the kind of durable, reliable arm the school will badly miss. Kingsbury’s stuff did tick up this year as he struck out more batters than ever before—86 in just under 65 innings pitched.

Round 18 (Pick #534): RHP Riley Davis (Alabama-Birmingham)

Another college arm for the M’s, this time from down south. Davis is a 6’3 northpaw who popped in 2021 after some suspect early career performances, much like Joyce. He threw 79.1 innings for UAB this year, with three complete games in 13 starts and a 60/24 K/BB.

Round 19 (Pick #564): C Charlie Welch (Arkansas)

A pinch-hitter in his first year at Arkansas, Welch worked his way into the Razorbacks lineup with the same drive that had a 12-year-old Charlie getting up before six a.m. to do pushups and pull-ups. That work ethic paid off as Welch became somewhat of a folk hero in Razorback Nation this year, thanks to some monstrous home runs, none bigger than his pinch-hit, eventual game-winning homer against Nebraska that sent the Razorbacks to the Super Regionals:

Round 20 (Pick #594): RHP Troy Taylor (Cypress College)

Another MLB Draft League standout like Moore, Taylor has a bit of funk in his delivery and gets excellent movement on almost all his pitches. His fastball was 93-95 this summer with good run, while he could also generate solid chase rates on a sharp low-80s slider.

At times he’s pushed his velocity even higher, and it seems likely Seattle will put him to work right away as a bullpen arm. The kid takes pride in his slider, and it looks like a good one.