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Morning Report: Searching for a Power Bat in the 2017 Draft

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D1 Baseball posted an article on Saturday for subscribers in which they listed the top ten college power bats in the draft. We are now just eight days away from the first day of the draft and the Pittsburgh Pirates will make four selections that day. The 12th overall pick is the one that will get the most attention, but the 42nd, 50th and 72nd picks are also great spots for possibly landing impact talent. The Pirates will make the 88th overall selection at the start of day two, giving them five picks in the top 100. While this isn’t the strongest draft class according to many experts and the scouts/executives they talk to, five picks that early gives you a chance to really add talent to your farm system.

One area that is popular for fans looking over the draft, is the chance to add legitimate power bats. That’s where the D1 Baseball article comes in. Going off of their list, I’m going to break it down into where the ten best college power bats could end up. It will show you the chances the Pirates have of landing a bat with advanced power. I say advanced in comparison to a high school power bat, who will take longer to reach the majors and has more risk.

The top power bat according to D1 Baseball is third baseman Jake Burger from Missouri State. He is a player who has been connected to the Pirates a few times as someone they have scouted. I believe he will be available when the Pirates make their 12th selection, so it’s a possibility that they end up with the top college power bat in the draft.

Burger isn’t the best overall player available, so there are players on this list rated higher than him, who the Pirates won’t have a chance to draft. Both Brendan McKay and Pavin Smith have consistently been rated in the top ten. If either falls, it will be Smith, but no one at this point believes that will happen. Those two players rank right behind Burger on the power list.

Next up is UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura, who has also been attached to the Pirates numerous times. He should be available when they pick 12th overall, but like Burger, he won’t be available for their second pick. Hiura is such a good hitter that he ranks this high despite the fact he will need elbow surgery after he signs and won’t debut until 2018.

Skipping to #6 Jeren Kendall and #9 Adam Haseley, they are two players who might not be available for the Pirates, but they could drop to them and the Pirates are known to have some interest. Haseley is the safer player, but Kendall has tremendous upside if he can cut down on his strikeouts. I’ve heard Haseley mentioned more times for the Pirates than Kendall.

So at this point, this list has two guys who will be off the board before the Pirates pick. Another two who will be available according to all sources, and two who are about 50/50 with their chances of sliding to the 12th pick.

The other four players on the list are four names I haven’t mentioned yet because they haven’t rated near the 12th overall pick at any point and they wouldn’t be an option for that pick. Below are the four players and their rankings (in order) on MLB Pipeline’s top 100, Baseball America’s top 200, and a joint top 100 by D1 Baseball and Prep Baseball Report. That’s followed by their average ranking, so you see how it compares to the early picks of the Pirates.

Brent Rooker, 1B/OF – 49-64-37 = 51

Riley Adams, C – 70-70-63 = 68

Greg Deichmann, OF – 67-95-85 = 82

Gavin Sheets, 1B – NR-57-NR =???

So if you go by the average ranking of those four sources, the Pirates would have two chances after the 12th pick to select Rooker and Adams, three chances to take Deichmann, and we can say four chances for Sheets, since it’s tough to assume how close he was to making those other two lists. The second selection on day two for the Pirates is the 118th overall pick. I’ll guess that if Baseball America thinks that highly of him, then they got that information from some team and Sheets won’t last that long, but he could go 88th overall.

It’s not the best science in the world, but it tells you that the Pirates could add a legit power bat with any of their first five picks in this draft. They could also choose to stock up on power bats without reaching for one with any of those picks.

If you’re looking for power in this draft, then these are the names you’ll want to focus in on when they started getting called next Monday night.

PLAYOFF PUSH

Bradenton trails in their division by one game with 14 games remaining in the first half.

West Virginia trails their division leader by 6.5 games, with 14 games left in the first half. They are in fifth place.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 4-2 to the New York Mets on Saturday night. The Pirates will send Trevor Williams to the mound today. He gave up one run over six innings in his last start. It was the second time he has held Arizona to one run. In his other three starts this season, Williams has allowed a total of 12 earned runs over 13.2 innings. The Mets will counter with 27-year-old righty Tyler Pill, who has only faced the Pirates during his MLB career. He lost to them once in relief, then gave up one run over 5.1 innings in a start three days later. That’s the extent of his time in the majors.

In the minors, it’s a good day for prospects. All four starting pitchers were rated among the top 26 prospects in our 2017 Prospect Guide. Clay Holmes gets his first start in ten days. His last outing was a one inning relief appearance. Holmes had a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings last month, while striking out 33 batters. Brandon Waddell threw six shutout innings in his last start, which was the first time he reached five innings this season. Gage Hinsz gave up four runs in the second inning of his last start, then finished his day with four shutout frames. Luis Escobar allowed one unearned run over six innings in his last start. The DSL Pirates have off today.

MLB: Pittsburgh (25-31) @ Mets (24-30) 1:10 PM
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (5.20 ERA, 11:25 BB/SO, 36.1 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (30-24) vs Gwinnett (27-27) 1:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (3.20 ERA, 20:51 BB/SO, 45.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (30-23) @ Bowie (29-27) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brandon Waddell (3.33 ERA, 11:27 BB/SO, 27.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (33-23) vs Lakeland (22-33) 1:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gage Hinsz (7.59 ERA, 14:21 BB/SO, 42.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (25-27) @ Rome (32-24) 2:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Luis Escobar (3.86 ERA, 22:62 BB/SO, 46.2 IP)

DSL: Pirates (1-0) vs Cubs1 (0-1) 10:30 AM 6/5 (season preview)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is the sixth strikeout from Jameson Taillon during his Friday night rehab start in Indianapolis. Video includes the full at-bat.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

6/2: Pirates designate Alen Hanson for assignment. Recall Max Moroff and Phil Gosselin.

6/2: Adrian Valerio placed on disabled list. Andrew Walker added to West Virginia.

6/2: Jameson Taillon assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.

6/1: Gift Ngoepe optioned to Indianapolis

6/1: Brett McKinney assigned to Indianapolis

5/31: Anderson Feliz added to Indianapolis roster. Brett McKinney assigned to Morgantown.

5/30: Chris Stewart placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Elias Diaz.

5/30: Jackson Williams promoted to Indianapolis. Tomas Morales added to Altoona roster.

5/30: Trae Arbet added to West Virginia roster. Andrew Walker assigned to Morgantown.

5/28: Jameson Taillon assigned to Altoona on rehab.

5/27: Yunior Montero assigned to Bradenton. Danny Arribas assigned to Extended Spring Training.

5/27: Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.

5/27: Andrew Walker assigned to West Virginia. Trae Arbet assigned to Morgantown.

5/26: Kevin Krause activated from disabled list. Mitch Keller placed on disabled list.

5/26: Eury Perez assigned to Morgantown.

5/25: Chris Harvey retired.

5/25: Gregory Polanco activated from the disabled list. Danny Ortiz optioned to Indianapolis.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a major trade of note. We start with the trade and it involved a Hall of Famer in his prime. On this date in 1953, the Pirates traded All-Star outfielder Ralph Kiner to the Chicago Cubs as part of a ten-player deal. They also sent three other players to Chicago, receiving six players and $150,000 back, which back then was a significant total. The Pirates ended up getting almost nothing from the six players they got, but didn’t lose much when Kiner hurt his back and his stats fell off quickly before retiring in 1955. What they gained was some payroll relief from Kiner’s salary, plus the ability to spend money on some young players over the next few years. While the return looked bad, it could have been much worse if Kiner remained a star.

Two of the players born on this date were significant players with the Pirates. Tony Pena caught for the Pirates from 1980 until 1986, then was traded to the Cardinals for a return that helped the Pirates to three straight NL East pennants.  He was an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner for the Pirates, hitting .286 over 801 games with the team. Before the 1987 season, he was traded for Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere and pitcher Mike Dunne, who had one strong season in Pittsburgh. Van Slyke and LaValliere played big roles during the 1990-92 playoff run.

Bob Klinger pitched for the Pirates from 1938 until 1943, then served in the military for two years before returning to baseball. He won 62 games with Pittsburgh and had a 3.74 ERA, splitting him time between roles, with 129 starts and 80 relief appearances.

Others born on this date include 1974-77 pitcher Larry Demery, 1914-15 pitcher Herb Kelly, and 1901 catcher George Yeager, who played for the first pennant winner in franchise history.

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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