Mariners draft versatile catcher Harry Ford with first-round pick
The Mariners set a trend of selecting college pitchers in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft the past three seasons.
Back in 2018, the Mariners brought a right-hander named Logan Gilbert into their system from Stetson with the No. 14 overall pick. Three years later, Gilbert is a regular in the big league club’s starting rotation, and tossed perhaps the most impressive outing of his young career last week.
Seattle followed up by picking up another right-hander at No. 20 overall in 2019, selecting Elon’s George Kirby, who has been a standout in the rotation for High-A Everett — which leads the High-A West and has many of the club’s up-and-coming prospects on its current roster — this season and posted career highs in both innings and strikeouts in his most recent start.
The Mariners added another college arm last summer in the shortened 2020 edition of the draft when they selected right-hander Emerson Hancock at No. 6 overall. Georgia’s former ace has also impressed in the AquaSox rotation in his first full professional season, and is now considered Seattle’s top pitching prospect and the ninth-ranked pitching prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Naturally, in the days leading up to the 2021 MLB Draft, which began Sunday in Colorado, Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter was fielding questions about which college arm the club might select next to continue the trend.
But, now with plenty of pitching depth, the Mariners used their first-round pick to build in another area of their system, selecting a position player in Harry Ford, a versatile catcher with a right-handed bat from Georgia’s North Cobb High School, with the No. 12 overall pick. Ford, a Georgia Tech commit, is considered the No. 13 overall prospect in this year’s draft by MLB.com.
“He is a catcher, but at the end of the day when you look at his skill set, he’s a true five-tool player,” Hunter said during a video call with reporters following Seattle’s selection. “He can run, he can throw, he can impact the game with his legs, his arm. We’re really intrigued by the explosive athlete to add to an already thriving system.”
While the 18-year-old is listed as a catcher, and is projected to being his professional career at the position, he has “played pretty much everywhere on the diamond,” he said, including both the infield and outfield.
“My first position was third base and outfield, and I moved over to catcher a little later,” Ford said during a video call with reporters Sunday. “So, I’ve always kept playing. I didn’t get to play as much outfield or infield at North Cobb just because I was kind of needed at catcher, so that was my main thing. I can play anywhere. I’ve always tried to keep pride in that and keep working on my other skills.”
Beyond the ability to play multiple positions, Hunter noted both Ford’s explosiveness and athleticism on the field as qualities that stand out.
“When you start watching this kid just roll around a baseball field, you just notice it’s different,” he said. “When he wants to run, he runs. When he wants to throw, he lets it loose and it’s a top-of-the-scale arm.”
But, Ford has more to offer than defensive versatility. Seattle has also been impressed by what he can offer with his bat.
During his four seasons playing at North Cobb, Ford compiled a .343/.510/.539 slash line with 83 runs scored, 20 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs, 56 RBI, 32 stolen bases and 76 walks to 40 strikeouts across 104 games.
Hunter also detailed the maturity Ford has in his preparation, which he showed during a workout prior to the draft. Hunter headed to Atlanta earlier this month to check in with Ford, and Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto and assistant general manager Justin Hollander joined him in Georgia to watch Ford take batting practice.
“He went to the cage, he did his routine and first two rounds of BP, he slaps a doughnut on his bat, a weight, and starts taking batting practice like some of the big leaguers do in their routines,” Hunter said. “And I’m sitting there watching this going, ’Is this kid for real right now?’ He’s just hitting line drives to right field with a weighted doughnut on his bat while the GM is there, and then he took it off and he starts spraying the balls around.
“We walked out of there going, ‘This kid has a maturity level that is beyond his years, and took a major league batting practice in front of a major league GM.’ That was what really solidified it for us.”
Ford is the first high school player the Mariners have selected with their top pick since they drafted outfielder Alex Jackson — now in the Braves’ system — at No. 6 overall in 2014 out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego.
“We really went into the season with an open mind when probably everybody else in baseball just assumed we were going to pick another college player or college arm,” Hunter said. “We went in being a little more aggressive on the high school talent this year, and Harry was one of those guys that passed a lot of the tests that we value here.”
Ford is the first catcher the Mariners have selected with their first-round pick since they took Mike Zunino — now with the Rays — at No. 3 overall in 2012 out of Florida.
Ford is the sixth catcher in Mariners history selected with the club’s top pick, joining Zunino, Steven Baron (2009 from Florida’s John A. Ferguson High School), Jeff Clement (2005 from USC), Ryan Christianson (1999 from California’s Arlington High School) and Jason Varitek (1994 from Georgia Tech).
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
