The first 75 picks of the 2017 amateur draft were made last night, and today we continue on with our draft coverage of rounds 3-10. The Pirates have the 13th pick today, 88th overall in the draft. They will then make a selection every 30 picks afterwards (118, 148, 178, etc) for the rest of the draft. Rounds 11-40 will be selected on Wednesday afternoon.
We posted our tiered rankings article yesterday which covers the top 100 names (approximately). Below, you will see which of those players are still remaining on the draft board, along with quick thoughts on some of the bigger names. Some of these players are high school players, who we will find out that they had bonus demands that kept teams from picking them. So they really aren’t options unless a team with multiple picks early ended up saving enough money from their bonus pool to put elsewhere. Every player from the first three tiers was taken already.
Tier four: Two high school players in Nick Allen and Blayne Enlow. With players rated this high it’s usually money. Allen has questions about his size because he’s a 5’8″ middle infielder. Enlow is a highly rated pitcher, who probably falls in the high bonus category.
Tier five: Tristan Beck, Tanner Burns, Mason House, Brady McConnell, Garrett Mitchell are all left. I wrote up three of them and I think McConnell is a fit for the Pirates, although they may need to go a cheaper route with four upside high school picks on the first day. Here are the write-ups:
I’ll start with Brady McConnell because he was one of the players I was following at the start of the season due to his profile. You could say he’s a poor man’s Logan Warmoth (he went 22nd to the Blue Jays). The prep shortstop never really got going at the plate this season except for a few games in the middle of the year. He’s an athletic shortstop with a frame to add muscle. He projects to stick at shortstop and has plus speed. Just like Warmoth, he probably fits better a tier below where I have him, but I could see him being a good fit for the Pirates at this spot. If they take him here, you hope it’s with the 50th pick and they go for more upside and/or certainty with the 42nd pick.
Tristan Beck was covered here two years ago out of high school and back then he fell in the sixth tier, so he’s improved his stock at Stanford. That improvement was actually bigger than one tier before a back injury cost him his sophomore season, so a team taking him would be going off what they saw last year. He has above average control, along with one of the best changeups in the draft class and a low-90s fastball, with a 6’4″ frame that has room to fill out.
Mason House is a lefty bat with good size, who will end up as a strong corner outfielder with a plus arm. He’s been getting some better scouting reports recently, otherwise he would be a tier lower. Just like McConnell, he fits better with the 50th pick.
Tier six: Riley Adams, Jacob Heatherly, Kyle Hurt, Blaine Knight James Marinan, Jacob Pearson, Alex Scherff, Evan Skoug, Matt Tabor, Jake Thompson. Obviously a lot of names left from here because we had 100 names total and only 75 picks were made. Not every pick was a top 100 player either. Here are the players I found interesting for the tiered article.
Evan Skoug is a college catcher who may not end up behind the plate. He doesn’t run well either, but the bat has more certainty than Luis Campusano (edited to add Campusano was drafted already) provides, even if the defense isn’t up to par. Some rate Skoug higher, so he may be gone well before the 72nd pick, but I don’t see the appeal of him earlier in the draft.
Riley Adams is a 6’5″ college catcher with power potential, who should stick behind the plate.
I saw Jacob Heatherly pitch when he wasn’t at his best and still liked what I saw. He a HS lefty, who sits low-90s with two versions of a curveball. Very athletic kid, with a solid frame.
Just some names to watch for today as the early rounds start going at 1 PM. Some won’t get picked due to high bonus demands, while others might come off of high demands as teams call around to see what players want going into the second day. Even though the Pirates took four high profile high school players, I’m willing to bet they have a very good idea what it will take to sign them and that will allow them to plan out the second day. If you start seeing picks to save money, then you know those first four players are taking up a large portion of the bonus pool.
*The article chock full of live scouting called “The Twenty”, which is posted every Monday, was knocked off of the front page rather quickly yesterday due to the draft news, so I wanted to link it here. A lot of effort goes into this article each week, with information you don’t get elsewhere. Just want to make sure it gets the proper love and you get our best info.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton trails in their division by 1.5 games with six games remaining in the first half. They do not play first place Palm Beach again during the first half.
West Virginia has been eliminated from the first half playoffs.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 7-2 over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. The Pirates will send Gerrit Cole to the mound tonight for his 14th start. Over his last four starts, he has allowed 23 earned runs over 19.1 innings, topping out at five innings in those outings. He has a 3.93 ERA at home versus a 5.67 ERA on the road. The Rockies will counter with 27-year-old right-hander Tyler Chatwood, who has a 4.37 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 78.1 innings.
In the minors, Gage Hinsz pitched five shutout innings in his last start and finished his previous start with shutout ball over the last four frames. JT Brubaker tries to build off of his best start of the season. Last time out, he threw six shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks. West Virginia is going with Eduardo Vera, who has an incredible three walks and 47 strikeouts in 43 innings. He has made four starts and eight relief appearances this year. The DSL Pirates are playing a team with two affiliates, which occasionally happens in the DSL. It may look like I wasn’t sure which team they are playing today and tomorrow, but that’s actually the team name.
MLB: Pittsburgh (29-35) vs Rockies (41-25) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (4.83 ERA, 17:66 BB/SO, 76.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (33-29) @ Norfolk (27-36) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Drew Hutchison (3.94 ERA, 25:49 BB/SO, 61.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (33-28) vs Portland (28-30) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (3.99 ERA, 14:38 BB/SO, 49.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (36-25) vs Tampa (33-31) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gage Hinsz (6.80 ERA, 16:26 BB/SO, 47.2 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (28-32) @ Charleston (30-34) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Eduardo Vera (2.72 ERA, 3:47 BB/SO, 43.0 IP)
DSL: Pirates (4-3) vs Brewers/Indians) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a great catch by Chris Bostick, who is still learning in right field, but showed nice range here.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/12: Jameson Taillon activated from disabled list. Phil Gosselin optioned to Indianapolis.
6/11: Kevin Kramer placed on disabled list.
6/10: Chris Diaz traded to Miami Marlins.
6/10: Dovydas Neverauskas and Tyler Glasnow optioned to Indianapolis. A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana promoted to Pittsburgh.
6/10: Pat Light designated for assignment.
6/10: Jason Stoffel assigned to Indianapolis. Placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Waddell placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Cumpton assigned to Bradenton.
6/8: Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas. Johnny Barbato optioned to Indianapolis.
6/7: Francisco Cervelli placed on disabled list. Jacob Stallings added to Pirates.
6/7: Tomas Morales assigned to Indianapolis. Zane Chavez activated from Altoona disabled list.
6/5: Casey Sadler promoted to Indianapolis. Dan Runzler placed on disabled list.
6/4: Cole Tucker placed on disabled list. Daniel Arribas added to Bradenton roster.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Two former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus one trade of note. On this date in 2001, the Pirates traded infielder Enrique Wilson to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Damaso Marte. Wilson spent 3 1/2 years with the Yankees, while Marte was dealt to the White Sox before the 2002 season. The Pirates would sign him again in 2005 and then trade him to the Yankees along with Xavier Nady in 2008.
The two former players born on this date played a total of eight games with the Pirates. Pitcher Darrell May made two starts and three relief appearances for the 1996 Pirates. He played seven years in the big leagues despite being taken in the 46th round of the 1992 draft.
Catcher John O’Connell played for the Pirates in 1928 and 1929, though he played three games total. His big league career consisted of one late inning replacement in 1928 and catching the last two games of the 1929 season.
The Pirates defeated the Royals by a 5-3 score on this date in 1997, the first interleague game in franchise history. You can view the boxscore here.
