We are exactly two weeks away from the first day of the amateur draft and the Pirates will make three picks that first day. The main focus will be the 22nd overall pick, though the 41st and 68th picks are still considered high draft picks. That’s a little behind where they made their three selections last year at 19th (Kevin Newman), 32nd (Ke’Bryan Hayes) and 62nd (Kevin Kramer). From what I’ve read, and I haven’t really seen much on the entire draft class as a group, it seems to be a little bit of a down year, with strengths at a few positions.
It’s obviously not a given that the Pirates will stick to their recent draft strategy of picking athletic players who get on base and play a premium position. They could decide to focus in on pitching again, but that seems like something they have gone after later in the draft recently. Both Baseball America and Prep Baseball Report released a “best tools” list on Wednesday. Baseball America covers both high school and college, while PBR only deals with high school players. For that reason, I wanted to compare the best tools among high school players using both lists.
Some of these names just won’t be available to the Pirates when their first pick comes up. Starting first with the best athletes, BA has Delvin Perez, Josh Lowe and Will Benson. PBR has two pitchers, Riley Pint and Max Manning. Pint and Perez will be selected in the top ten, and while Manning might be a good fit, he’s a pitcher, so he doesn’t fit this article.
Lowe could actually be intriguing if he drops to the Pirates. He’s a third baseman, who bats lefty and has 60 grades in both his running and arm. His hitting, power and defense are all average or better. Benson is a lefty-hitting outfielder, who is ranked more towards the compensation round than first round. His tools are solid across the board except for his hitting, which is rated just below average. He’s also a corner outfielder/first baseman, so he doesn’t quite fit the type of player we are looking for to fit the draft strategy of the Pirates.
The next category would be the hit tool, and I think this is the big one the Pirates will weigh the most. They have said that you can teach an athletic hitter to field, but it’s a lot harder to teach a glove-first player to hit.
PBR has Mickey Moniak, Joe Rizzo and Ben Rortvedt as the best bats. BA has Moniak, Rizzo and Blake Rutherford. Moniak and Rutherford will both go top ten likely. Rizzo is going to hit well, but he is not much of an athlete and at 5’9″, he’s undersized. He’s also ranked about 10-20 spots lower by most. Rortvedt is intriguing, but more as a player they might consider with the 41st pick. He’s a strong defensive catcher, who can throw, hit for some power and get on base. He isn’t big and doesn’t run well, but not many catchers do, so that’s not a problem.
So no one in this group is really someone who is likely for the 22nd pick, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Rortvedt was the 41st pick if he gets that far.
BA also has best strike zone discipline, which is another category that fits the recent draft strategy. Moniak is there, along with Taylor Trammell and Carter Kieboom. We featured Trammell here recently and he was someone who it seems I missed my chance on covering him. He was rated much lower to begin the year, then he had a huge/quick surge and now it looks like he will be gone within the first 15 picks.
Kieboom on the other hand, is definitely an interesting name to watch. Third base in high school is packed with talent and Kieboom is one of the better ones with solid skills across the board. The one thing about him that might turn off the Pirates is his age. He turned 18 back in early September, so he is old for the draft class.
The Pirates have pointed out that younger players offer more room for growth, but Kevin Newman will be 23 in a couple months, so he obviously wasn’t young for the class. Connor Joe was also old for his class. For comparison, Jordan Luplow, who was taken right after Joe, is 13 months younger than him and a month younger than Newman. For a high school player, someone who turns 19 by the end of the season might be someone they pass on when there are comparable players a year younger.
The two high school names we heard the most recently, possibly because they are in state, are shortstop Nolan Jones and 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff. They both got some notice from BA. Jones made the list for both power and infield arm, while Kirilloff made it for outfield arm.
Others mentioned above who made others lists for BA are Rortvedt, who made both catcher arm and defense. Kieboom got infield defense. Lowe was one of two mentioned for best arm by PBR.
I’m not sure out of these players, there is a clear cut player who stands out as a possible #22 pick, either because they are rated too high or too low. Josh Lowe will likely be gone before the Pirates pick, but he really fits the type of player they would take. You might see one of the two in state kids, both of whom are usually gone in mock drafts before the Pirates pick. You may also see them go in a different direction with that first pick and then stock up on the athletic hitter types later in the draft.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton is 6-4 in their last ten games. They are in third place in their division, one game out. The first half of the FSL season ends on June 22nd.
West Virginia is 5-5 in their last ten games. They are in fourth place in their division, trailing first place by five games. The first half of the SAL season ends on June 19th.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 5-4 over Arizona on Wednesday. They now play an afternoon game with Gerrit Cole on the hill, making his ninth start. He is coming off a game in which he went seven innings and gave up just one run, but he also allowed ten hits and didn’t record a strikeout. The Diamondbacks will counter with Patrick Corbin, who has a 3.99 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in 56.1 innings, with 39 strikeouts.
In the minors, Chad Kuhl gets the morning start on an exciting day for prospects. Stephen Tarpley and Mitch Keller will also make starts. Kuhl has allowed a total of five earned runs in eight starts and he has an International League leading 0.81 WHIP. Tarpley is making his fourth start. He gave up four runs over four innings in his last outing. Keller is first in the South Atlantic League with an 0.69 WHIP. He also ranks third in strikeouts, just four behind the leader. His 1.40 ERA ranks him fourth in the league.
MLB: Pittsburgh (26-19) vs Diamondbacks (21-27) 12:35 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (2.79 ERA, 13:39 BB/SO, 47.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (22-22) @ Rochester (26-20) 11:05 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Chad Kuhl (0.99 ERA, 9:32 BB/SO, 45.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (24-20) vs Akron (33-12) 10:30 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: David Whitehead (6.29 ERA, 36:19 BB/SO, 34.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (23-22) @ Jupiter (25-22) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Stephen Tarpley (4.50 ERA, 7:14 BB/SO, 14.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (23-22) vs Columbia (24-22) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Mitch Keller (1.40 ERA, 3:52 BB/SO, 45.0 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a triple from Jose Osuna, who has a .259/.311/.435 slash line this season.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/26: Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
5/25: Pirates place Tony Watson on paternity list. Recall Rob Scahill.
5/25: Pirates place Arquimedes Caminero on disabled list. Recall Kyle Lobstein.
5/24: Pirates place Ryan Vogelsong on disabled list. A.J. Schugel recalled from Indianapolis.
5/23: Logan Sendelbach assigned to Extended Spring Training. Jess Amedee added to West Virginia.
5/22: Trevor Williams assigned to Bradenton. Colten Brewer sent to Extended Spring Training.
5/22: Trace Tam Sing added to Bradenton roster.
5/21: West Virginia assigns Ty Moore and Casey Hughston to Extended Spring Training. Logan Ratledge and Sean Keselica added to West Virginia roster.
5/21: Logan Hill demoted from Bradenton to West Virginia.
5/21: Pirates release Eric Karch.
5/21: Juan Diaz assigned to Extended Spring Training
5/20: John Kuchno assigned to Indianapolis. Guido Knudson assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/19: Starling Marte activated from paternity list. Alen Hanson optioned to Indianapolis.
5/19: Elias Diaz placed on 60-day disabled list.
5/19: Wilfredo Boscan added to 40-man roster and promoted to Pittsburgh. Cory Luebke optioned to Indianapolis.
5/17: John Kuchno assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/16: Starling Marte placed on paternity list. Alen Hanson recalled.
5/16: Juan Diaz added to Indianapolis roster.
5/15: Pirates activate Cory Luebke from disabled list. A.J. Schugel optioned to Indianapolis.
5/13: Pirates release Daniel Bard.
5/13: Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis. Pittsburgh Pirates recall Cole Figueroa.
5/12: Cesilio Pimentel activated from West Virginia disabled list. Julio Vivas assigned to Extended Spring Training.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus the debut of one of the best pitchers in franchise history, and a very historic pitching performance. The players born on this date include catcher Dann Bilardello, who played for the Pirates in 1989 and was a member of the 1990 NL East champs. Pitcher Chuck Hartenstein, who played for Pittsburgh in 1969-70, and pitcher Jack Cronin, who was a teammate in 1898 of the pitcher who made his debut on this date.
Sam Leever, who went 194-100 in 13 seasons in Pittsburgh, made his debut on this date in 1898 as a reliever. There were two interesting things of note from the post-game recap about Leever’s debut. The local newspaper praised his speed and control, saying if he listened to instructions, he should become a winner. Leever was quoted after the game, saying that he will work to become a better hitter. The Pirates lost to 11-7 to the last place Senators that day, but Leever obviously became a winner and went on to help the Pirates to four NL titles and one World Series title.
On this date in 1959, Harvey Haddix threw what is called by many, the greatest pitched game ever. He retired the first 36 batters he faced, only to lose the game in the 13th inning. While he got the loss, he is still remembered for this amazing feat 56 years later and it is unlikely to ever be topped. Here is the boxscore from that game.
