The Red Sox have selected North Carolina State second baseman/outfielder Tyler McDonough with their third-round pick in the 2021 MLB first-year player draft at No. 75 overall.
McDonough, 22, was regarded by Baseball America as the No. 127 prospect headed into the draft.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, the Ohio native proved to be a versatile fielder in his time with the Wolfpack.
This past season alone, McDonough saw time at center field (50 games) and third base (six games) in addition to some past experience at second base.
Over the course of the 55 games he played for North Carolina State this spring, the switch-hitter posted an impressive .339/.423/.631 slash line to go along with 21 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 45 RBI, 13 stolen bases, 33 walks, and 48 strikeouts in 267 total trips to the plate.
Per his Baseball America scouting report, McDonough “doesn’t jump out at you with loud tools, but he’s become a player who scouts appreciate the more they watch him” as “he does everything on the field at a high level” and has a certain appeal to him.
“McDonough controls the zone well, doesn’t swing and miss much and takes his share of walks, and this season he hit a career-high 15 homers,” his scouting report reads. “Scouts have said those homers have come with a longer swing and more aggressive hacks, and his 17% strikeout rate was the highest of his career, which shows a slight shift in his approach. McDonough has spread his homers all over the field and his exit velocities are impressive for a player of his size, so perhaps solid power will be part of his game at the next level as well.
“McDonough has spent most of his time in center field for the Wolfpack, but he has the defensive versatility to play all over the place, including second base, third base and perhaps even shortstop in a pinch. He’s a better runner underway than he is out of the box and went 30-for-36 (83%) over his career in stolen base attempts.”
Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo projected McDonough to come off the board in the second-to-fourth round range, and that is what winds up happening as Boston selects the right-handed thrower with their lone third-round selection.
As a junior who does not turn 23 until next April, McDonough does have some flexibility in that he could return to campus if he wanted to since he does have at least one year of eligibility remaining.
With that being said, the recommended slot value for the 75th overall pick in this year’s draft is $831,100, so it should be interesting to see if a deal between McDonough and the Red Sox — whose drafting efforts are led by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and amateur scouting director Paul Toboni, among others — can be agreed upon sometime in the near future.
(Picture of Tyler McDonough: NC State Athletics)
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