Well, ESPN found a way to do it again.
Whether it’s an NHL Draft Lottery or the MLB Draft, the general narrative around a player selection show is that everyone finds out the order of selection(s) or the selections themselves at the same time. But Sunday night’s MLB Draft seemed to challenge that notion.
After having a teleprompter flub during the NHL Draft Lottery in May, one would think that ESPN would be extra careful in an attempt to not have that same mistake happen again. At the time, it was revealed that Columbus Blue Jackets would be picking third in the NHL Draft before the card was turned over and announced. That all but killed the suspense of the built-up drama for the first three selections.
Of course, the NHL Draft itself, as well as the NBA Draft and Lottery, had gone smoothly. But there was a hiccup during ESPN’s broadcast of the first and second round Sunday of this year’s MLB Draft. There, they revealed the No. 1 overall pick before it was announced (by Ken Griffey Jr.).
Now, while this wasn’t a teleprompter error, it was another production error. An ESPN graphic revealed that the Pittsburgh Pirates had selected LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes with their first pick before that pick was announced.
An ESPN graphic during the first round of the MLB Draft Sunday revealed that the Pirates were picking Paul Skenes before the pick was officially announced. pic.twitter.com/6BNwKPKMzK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 10, 2023
This was a year in which the top pick could have been any mixture of the top five prospects selected, and few would’ve batted an eye. At the same time, Skenes was a popular choice for Pittsburgh during the mock draft circuit. But few, if any, analysts knew for sure who the Pirates would be selecting.
Now, the Pirates had known who they were going to pick for some time now. So it’s possible this came from the pick being sent into MLB and then to ESPN’s production staff before it was officially announced, rather than ESPN being aware of it before the league.
The suspense is certainly drummed up by the network wanting to extend the broadcast as long as it can. That’s the case with really any draft that is televised. And for better or worse, viewers are aware of that fact.
At the same time, if you’re following the broadcast closely, you probably weren’t expecting to have the pick spoiled for you. And ESPN has often had its insiders refrain from tipping picks for just that reason. So it’s quite notable to see them accidentally tip it on the broadcast. This wasn’t done purposefully, but because of social media, a lot of viewers already knew the pick before Griffey made the official announcement. (Here’s that, from MLB Network’s coverage, which featured Skenes’ college coach Jay Johnson.)
They like Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle *much* more than Rob Manfred.
Junior announces that Paul Skenes is the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 #MLBDraft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
LSU HC Jay Johnson: "Couldn't have made a better decision." ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/P3Ilcy3le8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 9, 2023
Luckily for ESPN, this error wasn’t as big as the NHL Draft Lottery one. But it was still an error nonetheless. And one would have to imagine that avoiding mistakes like this will be a point of emphasis going forward.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
