Baseball America released their second mock draft, and for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the result was similar to the first one. The Pirates were projected to take Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero with the eighth pick, the same as the last mock draft by BA.
The first seven players, in order, were Mark Appel, Byron Buxton, Mike Zunino, Kevin Gausman, Kyle Zimmer, Carlos Correa, and Max Fried. Baseball America had Albert Almora going ninth overall. I’d go Almora over Marrero.
They didn’t include Lucas Giolito due to all of the questions surrounding his health at this point. Baseball America also noted that pick number eight seemed to be the high end for Mississippi State right-hander Chris Stratton, and prep outfielder David Dahl. Almora would be a better prep outfielder than Dahl, and Stratton would be more of a reach than Marrero, who isn’t really much of a reach.