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Baseball America’s 2014 Pirates Draft Report Card

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Baseball America has released their 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates draft report card, which gives insight into the best tools among pitchers and position players. John Manuel did the report and said that the Pirates didn’t get a lot of players that currently have plus tools, but Cole Tucker, Mitch Keller, Trey Supak and Gage Hinsz offer future potential.

You can read more in the link above, but here is a quick summary of the best tools with some notes:

Best Pure Hitter: Tucker has a good command of the strike zone and a strong feel for hitting.

Best Power Hitter: Connor Joe and Jordan Luplow, with a shout out to ninth round pick Kevin Krause, who flashed above-average power in school and in Jamestown. No one really has stand out power.

Fastest Runner: Tucker and Carl Anderson rated as 60 runners on the 20-80 scale. Not sure if Eric Thomas Jr. was left off on purpose, but he is faster than both of those players, ranking as an 80 runner from some scouts.

Best Defensive Player: Erik Forgione(25th round) is an above average shortstop, so he gets the nod here. Tucker is mentioned as a player they believe can stick at shortstop despite being tall for the position. Trace Tam Sing went undrafted(though he has been drafted twice in previous years), but the Pirates quickly picked him up, leading you to believe he was on their draft board. His defense was rated ahead of Forgione’s, who played in the same conference in college.

Best Fastball: Mitch Keller has the best fastball, as it reaches 95 MPH and has more consistency than Trey Supak, who also got notice with a fastball that reaches 94 MPH. Keller also got a mention for the best secondary pitch for both his change-up and curve. That is quite some praise for a high school player, having three pitches that rank among the best in the draft class.

Best Pro Debut: Montana DuRapau and Jon Sever, two starting pitchers drafted out of Bethune-Cookman and both pitched great. Sever was a level lower, but as a 6’5″ lefty that can touch 93 MPH, he is the more interesting of the two players.

Best Athlete: Tucker. They think he will be able to grow into his tall, lanky frame and add muscle, while still being able to stick at shortstop. Good foot speed helps.

Closest to Majors: This is an interesting one, but might speak more to the lack of college talent they drafted. Connor Joe didn’t play at all due to back issues, but they believe he is the closest to the majors. He is already 22 years old, so if he can stay healthy, they may feel he can move quick through the system. Jordan Luplow might be another choice here, or Tyler Eppler, the sixth round pick, who is the best starting pitcher they selected and could move up to Bradenton next year. Also Sam Street, the 16th round pick, could move quick as a reliever with advanced feel for pitching.

Best Late Round Pick: Gage Hinsz, who was voted by Baseball America as the top overall pick that signed after the 11th round.

The One That Got Away: Paul DeJong, who hit 20 homers in college summer league this year, was taken in the 38th round. The Pirates apparently made a run at him, but couldn’t sign him due to MLB’s bonus pool constraints. They signed a lot of draft picks this year, included every pick in the top 22 rounds, so there wasn’t much that got away.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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