The Colorado Rockies drafted high school catcher Drew Romo as the 35th overall pick in the 2020 draft.
When Craig Biggio was playing, it was all about finding athletic catchers and turning them into middle infielders. Then the Colorado Rockies found Tony Wolters, and nobody dared “dash on the stache,” after he turned from middle infielder into a catcher. Now the Colorado Rockies may have found a similar athlete after their Compensatory Round A selection in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Drew Romo came into the draft as the top high school catcher and left the first day as the fifth catcher drafted overall, and the second high school catcher after Tyler Soderstrom was taken 26th overall by the Oakland A’s. As with their first pick, the Colorado Rockies went with the best player available at a position of need that was expected to go much higher, grabbing Romo at number 35 overall.
Teams are usually hesitant to spend a day 1 pick on catchers as over the last 27 drafts only Joe Mauer (top pick overall in 2001) has accrued at least 5.0 WAR at the MLB level. But when you have a catcher with a potential for multiple Gold Gloves in his future, you snag him. Especially when you have one of the weakest overall systems in the league, let alone the absolute weakest when it comes to the catcher position.