30.5 F
Pittsburgh

Weekend Pirates Draft Prospects Preview: 3/16-3/18

Published:

Today I added a new draft tracker to the site, University of San Francisco pitcher Kyle Zimmer.

Zimmer emerged as a top of the rotation starter at San Francisco in 2011, leading his team to a win over Gerrit Cole and UCLA in the regionals with an 11 strikeout performance. He entered the 2012 season as a late first round draft candidate, although he’s moved up the draft boards in the early part of the season.

Zimmer has a plus fastball which has topped out at 98 MPH this year, and usually sits 92-97. The pitch has good movement, and he maintains his velocity deep in to the game. His second best pitch is a hammer curve, which also profiles as a plus pitch when he’s on his game. He has a tendency to leave the pitch up in the zone at times. Zimmer also throws a change-up, although he hasn’t used the pitch much in college.

He got off to a great start in his first three outings, allowing one run in 15 innings, with a 15:0 K/BB ratio. He was hit hard last week against Fresno State, although he did have a blister injury bothering him, according to Keith Law. Law has a good write up of Zimmer’s draft stock and his rise this year.

Notes From the Past Week

-Deven Marrero went 2-for-3 with a homer in game one of a two game series against Utah Valley. He went 0-for-4 in game two.

-Trey Williams went 1-for-2 with three walks on Wednesday.

-Mike Zunino went 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base in his one game this week against Florida State.

The schedule for the top draft prospects this weekend:

FRIDAY

6:00 PM EST – Georgia Southern (Chris Beck) vs UNC Greensboro

6:15 PM EST – Valencia HS (Trey Williams) vs West Ranch

7:00 PM EST – Florida (Mike Zunino) vs Vanderbilt

8:00 PM EST – LSU (Kevin Gausman) vs Mississippi State

9:00 PM EST – Arizona State (Deven Marrero) at UCLA

12:35 AM EST – San Francisco (Kyle Zimmer) at Hawaii

SATURDAY

1:00 PM EST – Florida (Zunino) vs Vanderbilt

5:00 PM EST – Arizona State (Marrero) at UCLA

SUNDAY

1:00 PM EST – Florida (Zunino) vs Vanderbilt

4:00 PM EST – Arizona State (Marrero) at UCLA

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

Related Articles

Latest Articles