Published May 20, 2020
Tanner on track
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Bryan Matthews  •  AuburnSports
Senior Editor
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@BMattAU

AUBURN | Butch Thompson is just three weeks away from seeing another one of his players selected in the first round.

All-American right-handed pitcher Tanner Burns is currently projected as a first rounder in the 2020 MLB Draft, which is set for June 10-11. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has Burns going 16th overall to the Chicago Cubs while MLB.com’s Jim Callis has him going to the Atlanta Braves with the 25th pick.

If the projections are correct, Burns will be the ninth Auburn player to go in the first round and the third in Butch Thompson’s six years with the Tigers.

“I hope that Tanner Burns is another first rounder. I’d like to have a first rounder every other year, or every year would be nice,” Thompson said. “He’s worked so hard and came to Auburn for this opportunity.”

Auburn’s 2020 draft haul will be smaller than expected after the draft was shortened to just five rounds, but Thompson expects at least one more part of his starting rotation to hear his name called.

“I hope Bailey Horn can come right in behind Tanner,” Thompson said. “There’s just not many guys that feature that skillset from the left side and how strong and mature he is. He’s got that Auburn degree too. I think he goes in the top five rounds and I think right after that you’ve got Steven Williams and Cody Greenhill that follow suit there. I’ll throw in a fifth guy, Jack Owen. The guy turned down six figures last year to come back to Auburn. That’s a lefty that his last 100 collegiate innings, being a pitcher in the SEC, he had a 2.92 ERA. That’s pretty good.

“Those are our five guys but gosh would I love to have Cody Greenhill back or have Steven Williams for another year in our program, but we’re trying to manage what’s best.”

If Williams, Greenhill or Owen don’t get selected in the five-round draft, they’ll join a large group of college players that will face the choice of accepting a $20,000 maximum free agent signing bonus or returning to school.

There are several Auburn seniors to watch including catcher Matt Scheffler, who Thompson considers to be on the bubble for being a draft pick. Thompson doesn’t expect either Conor Davis or Chase Hall to return as both have earned their degrees from Auburn. Rankin Woley and Ryan Watson, who will try to finish up their degrees this summer, are keeping their options open.

“We think Scheffler is a little more inclined to get drafted rather than Rankin or Watson because catching is so hard to come by and he’s so good,” Thompson said. “Scheffler is a guy that I’ve done a reference for, for grad school. He might get that masters and come back and play another year. He seems to be the guy that has taken the most steps as far as looking at another year of returning to play.”

Auburn has several signees to watch in the draft including JUCO standouts Bobby Pierce and Garrett Martin, along with high school infielders Werner Blakely and Cole Foster.