Indians select Carson Tucker, Tanner Burns

The Cleveland Indians selected shortstop Carson Tucker and right handed pitcher Tanner Burns in the first round of the MLB Draft.

While actual baseball is not happening right now, the MLB Draft began Wednesday night. The Cleveland Indians had two selections in the first round.

23. Carson Tucker – Shortstop

With the 23rd overall pick the Cleveland Indians selected shortstop Carson Tucker out of Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix Arizona. Tucker was the highest-drafted player from this school according to Sarah Langs.

There were some quick panic tweets from Cleveland fans about the position that Tucker played and the status of a certain shortstop who is all but gone, but Zack Meisel was quick to extinguish that fire, sort of.

Meisel is absolutely right. Tucker has nothing to do with Francisco Lindor. By the time Tucker is in the majors (if he reaches the MLB level), Lindor will have been gone for several years.

Carson Tucker is the younger brother of Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Cole Tucker. Cole even called his shot seven years ago on twitter declaring that Carson would be a first round pick.

36. Tanner Burns – Pitcher

With their second pick in the first round Cleveland went the college route, taking Tanner Burns out of Auburn. This pick was a competitive balance pick awarded to the Indians.

In 37 games in his three-year career at Auburn, Burns went 14-9 with 2.86 ERA with a 1.166 WHIP. Burns allowed 7.3 hits per nine while striking out 10 and walking 3.2. Burns only appeared in four games in 2020 in a season that was cut short due to the coronavirus.

In a scouting report on Prospects Live, Tanner Burns throws a 89-93 mph fastball with 77-83 mph slider, and a 83-85 mph changeup. This is a pretty decent mix that should be able to work fairly well. Size seems to be a concern (Burns is 6 feet 200 lbs), but as long as he is able to produce it should not be much of an issue.