Cleveland Indians MLB Draft: What are 2021 MLB Mock Drafts saying?

Jonathan Mayo, MLB.com (June 30)

The Cleveland Indians have been a bit exposed this season at the catcher position. Roberto Perez and Austin Hedges are great defensive catchers, but that is at the cost of sacrificing offensive production from the position. Then, when both of them went down with an injury, the team had to turn to worse defensive options with little offensive upgrade.

Taking all of that into account, the front office in Cleveland might be inclined to take a catcher in the first round, despite doing so just a few years ago in 2018 with Bo Naylor. One of the best in this class might be Harry Ford, who Jonathan Mayo has Cleveland taking in his latest mock draft.

"If there’s a high school hitter available, he might come up in conversation here, with Ford ahead of fellow prep backstop Joe Mack right now. They could also look at a college arm like [Michael] McGreevy. -Jonathan Mayo"

With Naylor and Bryan Lavastida already on the club’s Top 30 prospect list, the catcher position might not seem like a huge need. However, when you look at what Ford could bring to the team, it’s hard to ignore. Him falling in the order is what could be the problem.

Another 18-year old, Ford has arm strength behind the plate that was clocked at 85 miles per hour on a throw down to second with a 1.81 pop. If his ability to think through a game can come around and his bat follows, he could be the catcher the Tribe have been searching for.