Oakland Athletics select prototypical right-handed starter in 2020 MLB Mock Draft

The Oakland Athletics are just a couple of months away from the 2020 MLB Draft. And The Athletic’s mock draft has the team selecting Miami RHP Chris McMahon.

The Oakland Athletics currently pride themselves on their young pitching. From the likes of Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea to more recent call-ups such as A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo, there is no shortage of young pitching talent in their system.

But could they be set to add even more pitching talent in the upcoming 2020 MLB Draft? At least one baseball analyst seems to think so.

Melissa Lockard of The Athletic recently released an early 2020 MLB mock draft for both the San Francisco Giants and the Athletics and she had the latter taking Miami right-hander Chris McMahon with the No. 26 overall pick in the draft.

Despite the overwhelming amount of young pitching talent near or at the major-league level, the A’s are actually quite thin in the lower ranks of the minors.

The A’s haven’t used their first-round pick on a pitcher since 2016 and they’ve drafted just two in the third round of higher since that time as well, as Lockard noted.

So with that in mind, it’s certainly very reasonable for the A’s to opt for a pitcher in this year’s draft that’s set to take place in July. And McMahon would be an intriguing addition.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

The 21-year-old is a junior at the University of Miami and was in the midst of a stellar season before everything was shut down. In four starts, McMahon had a 1.05 ERA allowing just three earned runs over 25.2 innings pitched.

It’s easy to speculate that he would have seen his draft stock continue to skyrocket had he been able to play out his entire junior season. But perhaps, the A’s could benefit from that.

MLB.com currently lists him as the No. 29 prospect in the upcoming draft meaning that the A’s should have the opportunity to draft him where they pick at No. 26 overall.

McMahon has a live fastball that can reach speeds of up to 97 miles per hour but it usually sits between 93 and 95. His off-speed stuff is still developing, but his breaking pitch shows enough promise to convince scouts that it could be molded by some coaching.

His prototypical size at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds combined with his experience as a starter will definitely interest teams looking for a developmental starting pitcher prospect.

The A’s could be one of those teams and it’s clear that McMahon is a player who Athletics fans should keep an eye on over the next couple of months.