On July 11, 2021, Major League Baseball began the three-day process of its first-year player amateur draft. While there was no shoo-in for the No. 1 overall pick, at the time, many national experts and analysts believed the first name called would be Jordan Lawlar — a shortstop out of Jesuit Dallas.
Lawlar wasn’t the first name called. In fact, he wasn’t even the first shortstop called.
After being projected as the top pick of the draft, Lawlar wasn’t chosen until the sixth pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Almost immediately, the question was asked on whether he’d use the slide to motivate himself.
Two years later, it seems pretty clear that he has.
Lawlar is currently playing for the Amarillo Sod Poodles at the Double-A level of the D-Backs farm system. He was moved up late last season and is currently considered a consensus top-10 prospect in all of minor league baseball.
It’s only a matter of time before he ends up in Phoenix, but for now, he’s making a name for himself at HODGETOWN Stadium.
The wait is over
There may not have been a universal consensus at the top of the 2021 MLB Draft, but the belief was that of the highly-touted shortstop prospects, Lawlar was best. The Pittsburgh Pirates picked first and needed help everywhere, but the national expert’s thought was the organization would go in the offensive direction.
They did, but they provided a shock by selecting catcher Henry Davis instead of one of the prized shortstops.
Texas and Detroit had the next two picks and selected pitchers, as expected. When Boston picked fourth, the Red Sox picked a high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Baltimore provided another surprise by choosing outfielder Colton Cowser with the fifth pick.
The waiting game ended when Arizona elected to pick Lawlar at six. It would be understandable if Lawlar had a chip on his shoulder after the slide, or if he was still carrying the memory to motivate him now.
That’s not how Lawlar’s mind works.
“Honestly I’ve kind of moved past that now that I’m in (the professional leagues),” he said. “Once you get in the game, you’re a pro ball player. It doesn’t matter if you’re first or 30th, you just have to treat it with the same mindset. It’s a good feeling to get drafted in the high first round, but now the mindset is just about getting out here and playing every day with these guys. Everybody on this field is good.”
Bouncing back
There’s a reason Lawlar was so highly touted going into the 2021 draft. Jesuit Dallas is one of two private schools in Texas that competes in the UIL, and they do so at the Class 6A level. The competition was not easy by any means.
And yet, as a sophomore, Lawlar finished with a batting average of .409. The right-handed hitter improved to .485 as a junior before the COVID-19 pandemic ended his and athletic seasons around the country.
Lawlar’s senior year cemented him as a top prospect, though. He recorded 32 stolen bases, while tallying 37 RBI, six home runs and maintaining a .412 batting average. Thanks to his on-field success, he was named Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and committed to Vanderbilt — which had just finished as the runner up in the College World Series.
After thinking things through, he decided to go pro instead after the D-Backs inked him to a signing bonus of $6.7 million.
Lawlar experienced many highs in his prep career before seeing his name pop up sixth in the MLB Draft. Although he went lower than he was hoping, getting picked sixth overall should be counted as a high. However, the burgeoning star went through a low soon after riding the positives of his top-10 selection.
Lawlar played two games in the Rookie-level league before sustaining a shoulder injury that required him to undergo season-ending surgery. The next year, he was assigned to the Low-A league, where he suffered a back injury that put him on the IL for 15 days.
But the adversity did not deter his mindset.
“Baseball is a game of failure,” he said. “You’re going to have a lot of setbacks playing every day. The best are going to be able to persevere, and I think that initial shoulder injury taught me a lot about perseverance. I’ve done a pretty good job of staying on the field since then.”
Indeed he has.
Lawlar bounced back by hitting at a .351 clip with 32 RBI and 32 stolen bases in the next 44 games before gaining a promotion to Single-A Hillsboro. He was selected to play in the All-Star Futures game alongside Corbin Carroll. The same Corbin Carroll that began last season with the Sod Poodles and is now the leading candidate for National League Rookie of the Year. Lawlar needed just 30 games in Hillsboro before being moved up to Double-A.
Lawlar has continued to stand out with Amarillo, ranking second on the team in stolen bases with 17 while also recording 27 RBI and scoring 38 runs. He’s also tied for second on the team with nine home runs, leads the team in walks with 28 and is hitting .244.
All positive signs for a guy that won’t turn 21 until next month.
What the future holds
Baseball is a game that teaches players to deal with failure and to embrace patience.
Every player who steps onto the diamond understands that it takes years of rising through the minor leagues before making it up to the big leagues — if one is lucky enough. Of the 612 players selected in the 2021 draft, only seven had been promoted to the MLB at this point.
That number may grow in time and Lawlar hopes to add his name to it at some point.
The anticipation prior to and the buzz surrounding the Sod Poodles since his arrival is real. Lawlar is universally considered the top prospect in the Diamondbacks organization and MLB.com has him ranked as the eighth overall prospect in all of baseball. Three of the prospects ahead of him have been added to major league rosters — so he should rise when the next rankings are unveiled.
Draft selections, rankings, numbers, none of it really means anything to Lawlar. His focus is on one thing and one thing only: Winning.
“It’s all about controlling the controllable and getting better every day,” Lawlar said. “I’m just trying to be an all-around player and focused on being an impact player. I just want to do my part to win ball games. That’s all I focus on, and I think that’s all that’s important to the D-Backs.”
He’s been doing a lot of that lately.
After an awful May in which the Sod Poodles started 6-16, they closed the month on a three-game winning streak that wound up stretching to five. They had another six-game winning streak this month and were 10-2 prior to the current three-game skid they’re on. They sit at 30-31 at press time Saturday.
MLB.com projects Lawlar to make his MLB debut in 2024. The Diamondbacks have been one of the biggest surprise stories of the season, currently sitting at first place in a division that includes the Los Angeles Dodgers Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.
With all that in mind, there’s no pressure to move Lawlar up too early. When the time comes, though, he’ll be ready. For now, he’s just enjoying the time he has in Amarillo and hoping to leave the fans here with great memories.
“I just hope I give the people of Amarillo some good times,” Lawlar said. “It’s a fun team to play with. I just hope they remember the wins and the good times.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Top Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Jordan Lawlar living up to top-10 pick, hype with Amarillo