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Updated Top 200 Draft Prospects from Baseball America

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Baseball America posted an updated top 200 draft prospects list on Wednesday afternoon. With the draft just 18 days away right now, I wanted to look at two names we haven’t mentioned here yet.

BA has Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley rated 12th overall. They have also had him going to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a mock draft, plus D1 Baseball noted that the Pirates are interested in a college bat and they would have a tough time passing on Haseley if he dropped to them. So we have covered the player who lines up with the first pick for the Pirates, but there are two players just below him who are getting a lot of attention recently.

Sam Carlson is a 6’4″, right-handed pitcher out of high school in Minnesota who has really made a lot of noise recently. He has shown a nice uptick in his velocity this season, going from 90-91 last year, to 91-95, touching 96 MPH this year. He also has a changeup with plus potential, which would be intriguing to the Pirates (who love 6’4″ righties to begin with). BA notes in this article that he’s been throwing the changeup since he was 12 years old, so he has a nice feel for the pitch. Carlson also has a nice breaking that rates as a 55 according to MLB Pipeline, and BA also gives it a strong grade. He shows solid control of all three pitches already.

When the Pirates signed high school pitchers Braeden Ogle, Max Kranick and Travis MacGregor last year, they all had something in common. Each one of them began throwing their breaking ball much later than normal, concentrating more on fastball command and their changeup. Carlson did the same thing, waiting until he was 15 before he threw his breaking ball to help wear and tear on a developing arm. The fact that he checks all of the boxes they like, could make him someone they are interested in with that 12th pick…if he gets to them.

Here is a video from Perfect Game:

I also wanted to touch on the player just below Carlson on that list because he’s been close to that 12th overall pick of the Pirates a lot recently. David Peterson is a lefty from Oregon, who is a large human at 6’6″, 240 pounds. Out of high school, he was drafted in the 28th round, but he was listed as a top 100 prospect. He was raw back then and decided to go to college, where he has really blossomed.

Peterson has excellent control over a fastball that sits 89-94 MPH, with a slider that is above average and a changeup that is also above average, giving him a nice three-pitch mix, with the ability to throw strikes. Late last month, he struck out 20 batters against Arizona State. He’s also a high ground ball pitcher, so you could see why he would be appealing. You would basically be getting an advanced workhorse lefty, who shouldn’t need a lot of time in the minors.

Here is a video from Baseball America:

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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