Top 5 candidates for the Texas Rangers’ 2022 first round draft pick

5 candidates for the Texas Rangers’ first round selection in 2022

#1: Termarr Johnson, SS, Benjamin E. Mays High School (GA)

Goodness me, what a loaded draft pool Georgia has presented this year.

PROS: Well-rounded hitter

Johnson has one of the most coveted bats in the entire draft pool. Some scouts have even said he has some of the highest hitting potential of any draft pick in decades. His power hitting has scouts ravishing at his hitting abilities, and he has elevated plate discipline combined with a vigorous swing. Johnson can hit to all areas of the field, and is probably going to be the most sought-after hitter in the entire draft.

He may not be the greatest all-around player available to draft this year, but if Druw Jones isn’t the safest bat selection, it’s Johnson. The interesting case for drafting players like Jones or DeLauter above Johnson is that you want to take the best all-around player available with a pick as high as Texas’s. I think Termarr Johnson will be a really, really good MLB hitter one day, but that leads us to…

CONS: Size, position shifting

Johnson is currently a shortstop, but it is widely accepted that that won’t be his position long-term. His arm is good, but not great, and his small frame at 5’10” and 175 lbs. probably better lends him as a second baseman.

That is certainly not to say that his size is a negative takeaway of his game. Plenty of smaller players have done a lot more with a lot less. The trick with Johnson will be finding out where he best fits defensively, but his bat is more than enough to validate an investment in his future.