Justin Lebron is headed into Saturday’s MLB First-Year Player Draft with a first-round forecast and a narrow, uneasy range. MLB.com’s MLB Pipeline mock draft projects the former Alabama shortstop to the Arizona Diamondbacks at No. 15, even while noting he could land anywhere from around No. 8 to around No. 25.
That projection matters now because the draft begins at noon CDT on Saturday, with Major League teams set to make 616 picks and NBC carrying the first 10 selections. If MLB Pipeline’s read holds, Lebron would become one of the earliest Alabama-connected players taken in a draft that stretches across Saturday and resumes Sunday at 10:30 a.m. for the fifth round.
Lebron built the case for that placement over three seasons with the Crimson Tide, batting.313 with a.414 on-base average and a.569 slugging percentage. He added 45 home runs and 69 stolen bases, production that gives clubs a look at both power and movement from the same player. He was also among nine players with Alabama baseball roots who attended the MLB Draft Combine from June 23-26 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
The uncertainty around his landing spot is the part that keeps the draft board moving. MLB Pipeline’s own range shows why he is difficult to pin down: he is viewed as a player with first-round value, but not one whose slot is fixed. That kind of spread usually means different teams are grading the same bat, glove and speed combination in very different ways, which is why No. 15 looks possible without feeling settled.
Lebron’s profile also fits a longer Alabama pattern that leans heavily toward high school talent at the top of the board. The first player drafted from Alabama has come straight from a high school 28 times, including last year, when the Cincinnati Reds took Hewitt-Trussville shortstop Steele Hall at No. 9. Auburn has provided the earliest pick eight times, Alabama seven, Jacksonville State and South Alabama three apiece and Troy and the University of Mobile once each.
So the immediate question is not whether Lebron belongs in the draft’s first wave. It is which club decides his ceiling is worth the gamble. If the Diamondbacks pass at No. 15, the gap MLB Pipeline has already drawn suggests he may not stay available long.
