Would Red Sox Scouting Director Paul Toboni Draft Pitcher At No. 4?
NESN Logo Sign In  The Boston Red Sox will make their highest draft pick since 1966 when they select at No. 4 overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. With that much fanfare surrounding the pick, theres been plenty of speculation over what the Red Sox will do with it. The Red Sox have made strong selections in the first round before. But one area where theyve faltered over the years has been in their homegrown talent on the hill. Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata and Jay Groome are looking to change that perception. Houck might be joining the Red Sox again very soon, though all three have had their development marred by injuries. Houck missed a month with a flexor strain and Mata is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Groome is finally getting a chance to prove himself, but even he has suffered minor injuries in 2021 after missing 2018 and part of 2019 due to his own Tommy John surgery. Even if theres hope for the near future, taking a pitcher isnt necessarily a track that has proven successful for Boston in the past. The last time the Red Sox drafted a pitcher in the top 10 was in 2013, when they took high school lefty Trey Ball at No. 7. He never made it higher than Double-A Portland before he retired in 2018. Eduardo Rodriguez is the closest thing to a homegrown starter the Red Sox have on their major league roster, and he came up through the Baltimore Orioles system before he was traded to the Red Sox in 2014.