MLB Pipeline released a combination mock draft earlier this week, with both Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis making their own picks for the top 15 spots in the draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the 12th overall selection in this year’s draft, which begins on June 12th and runs for three days.
Both Mayo and Callis have the Pittsburgh Pirates selecting high school first baseman Nick Pratto. Callis calls Pratto the best prep bat in this draft class, and while he’s also an accomplished pitcher, he projects much better as a hitter. Mayo notes that the Pirates have a history of selecting players who performed well in the National High School Invitational and he believes they are going with a bat for the first pick.
Since the two main contributors at MLB Pipeline believe the Pirates could take Pratto when the draft begins in 39 days, we should use their scouting report to take a deeper look at Pratto. In their recent update of the top 100 draft prospects, Pratto was ranked tenth overall.
On the 20-80 scouting scale, his high marks are 60 for his hitting and his fielding. He gets a 55 grade for the arm and the power comes in average at 50. He’s only slightly below average (45) in running, giving him a 55 overall grade. They note that he has an advanced approach and has always hit for average, but he added some power this year. The lefty hitting Pratto is listed at 6’1″, 193 pounds, so he has a little room to fill out. He gets really high marks for his defense due to above average range and a strong arm, which is evident by his high-80s fastball when he’s on the mound.
A high school first baseman seems like a risky pick this early in the draft. You don’t see many first basemen drafted that high to begin with, but most would be advanced college hitters. That’s because most first basemen in school are limited to that position in the future, while many first basemen in the majors started at other positions and ended up there. You don’t have a fallback option when first base is your only position. Basically, that means that scouts have to be sure the player can hit enough to handle a high offense position in the future.
I’ve included this video from Baseball America, which has highlights of his hitting, pitching and fielding: