The Pittsburgh Pirates have drafted right-handed pitcher Alex McRae in the tenth round of the 2014 MLB draft. McRae is a junior from Jacksonville University, and had a down season this year. He put up a 6.06 ERA in 87.2 innings, with a 69:32 K/BB ratio. He’s 6′ 3″, 185 pounds, and throws 89-93 MPH with a solid slider. McRae wasn’t ranked in Baseball America’s top 500 prospects.
McRae still has room to add some velocity to his fastball. The slider improved over his three years in college, and could eventually be a strikeout pitch. He throws a curveball and a changeup as well.
McRae completes a trend of the Pirates drafting college players on day two of the draft. Seven of their eight picks on the day were college juniors. It’s unlikely that any of these guys will need more than slot money to sign, and some might come in below slot to save money for over-slot deals after the tenth round.