I came across a link from early in the draft coverage this year, which I thought was interesting. Every year, high school teams compete in the National High School Invitational and it’s a huge event for scouting. The teams invited are the best from around the country and they usually have at least one senior player who ranks high on the draft boards.
Jonathan Mayo covers the event and right before it started this season, he put together a list of his top 25 high school players in the draft. This list came out on March 28th, so you’re talking 78 days before the draft started this year. As far as draft scouting, that’s a long time because a lot can change with high school players over that time. That’s one thing you will see with this particular list and why it could be a good things for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
If you go down to #12 on that list, you will find outfielder Calvin Mitchell, who was selected 50th overall by the Pirates. Right now, he is the only one of the four highly ranked prep players taken on day one by the Pirates, who has seen action so far. If you go down to #18 on that list, you will see Shane Baz, who was of course, the 12th overall pick in the draft.
Just 11 weeks before the draft began, Mitchell was considered the better prospect. I should point out that the draft was 78 days later, but neither Baz nor Mitchell were playing still in June, so the time for scouts to judge them between this list and their last game was actually weeks shorter. Mayo gets a lot of input from scouts, so it’s not just his opinion on the list and Jim Callis was likely involved as well.
If you followed our draft coverage, you know that Baz was mentioned here a lot. More than anyone else in fact. He was a legit 12th overall pick according to all of the draft experts, and in my mind, he actually seemed like he should have been somewhere in the top ten picks.
So the Pirates not only got a strong pick at 12th overall, they also picked up someone who was thought to be better than Baz just 2 1/2 months earlier. Mitchell dropped in the rankings rightfully so, because he didn’t have the best spring with the bat and that is his calling card. The fact that he signed right away and is getting at-bats already is nice to see of course. It appears the Pirates will get him a lot of at-bats in the GCL, batting him second in each of the first two games.
If Mitchell starts to hit like he did when he was ranked that high, then the Pirates could have a first round quality player for a second round price. Of course, Steven Jennings and Conner Uselton have that same potential, but neither of them were mentioned in the top 25 article. Mitchell was thought to be a first round talent not long ago and we will see if the Pirates can get that potential out of him.
* Baseball America posted their list of the top 50 international prospects. Juan Pie, who was covered here, was the only player attached to the Pirates, although not all 50 players had teams attached. From what I’ve heard, the Pirates had a lot of July 2nd players down at their Dominican Academy recently, Pie being one of them, and he is signing with them. So expect an announcement on him on July 2nd, though sometimes we hear more the following day. If you’re worried about the Pirates have just one of the top 50 players, remember what I just wrote about how much the prep class changed in two months, then realize we are talking about 16-year-old players on the international side, compared to 18-19 year old prep players.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. The Pirates will now send Ivan Nova to the mound for his 16th start. He allowed four runs on 11 hits over seven innings in his last start and he has a 2.53 ERA in seven home starts. The Rays will counter with 24-year-old lefty Blake Snell, who has a 4.71 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP in eight starts this season.
In the minors, Clay Holmes starts the afternoon game for Indianapolis today. He allowed two runs over seven innings in his last start. In his two prior starts combined, he gave up eight earned runs over five innings. Pedro Vasquez starts for Bradenton this morning, coming into the game with the fifth best ERA in the FSL. Bristol is scheduled to start Travis MacGregor and the GCL starter should be Leandro Pina, who dominated the DSL last year and started the All-Star game. MacGregor, the second round pick of the Pirates last year, allowed one run over four innings in his season debut. Scooter Hightower starts for Morgantown. He threw six no-hit innings last week to win the NYPL Pitcher of the Week.
MLB: Pittsburgh (35-42) vs Rays (41-38) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Ivan Nova (3.06 ERA, 11:59 BB/SO, 103.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (42-35) vs Durham (48-29) 1:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (3.92 ERA, 32:64 BB/SO, 62.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (40-34) @ Bowie (38-39) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Austin Coley (3.19 ERA, 18:52 BB/SO, 67.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (39-33) vs Dunedin (36-38) 10:30 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Pedro Vasquez (2.27 ERA, 16:51 BB/SO, 71.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (32-40) @ Augusta (27-44) 12:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Mike Wallace (3.55 ERA, 10:26 BB/SO, 33.0 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (5-3) vs Mahoning Valley (5-3) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: Scooter Hightower (0.00 ERA, 0:12 BB/SO, 6.0 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (1-5) @ Princeton (1-5) 7:00 PM
GCL: Pirates (1-1) vs Braves (0-2) 12:00 PM
DSL: Pirates (12-9) vs Rangers1 (12-8) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the 12th strikeout from Tyler Glasnow on Monday night. Video includes the entire at-bat.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/27: Antonio Bastardo activated from disabled list. Jacob Stallings optioned to Indianapolis.
6/26: Ty Moore promoted to Bradenton. Garrett Brown promoted to West Virginia
6/25: Logan Ratledge promoted to Altoona.
6/25: Ryan Nagle promoted to West Virginia.
6/25: Matt Diorio and Huascar Fuentes assigned to Bristol from Morgantown.
6/25: Victor Ngoepe, Felix Vinicio, Jose Delgado, Nelson Jorge and Brian Sousa assigned from Bristol to GCL Pirates
6/24: Cole Tucker activated from disabled list.
6/24: Dario Agrazal placed on disabled list. Cody Dickson assigned to Indianapolis.
6/24: Geoff Hartlieb promoted to Bradenton. Andrew Potter promoted to West Virginia.
6/23: Jake Brentz promoted to Altoona.
6/23: Samuel Reyes promoted to GCL Pirates.
6/22: Francisco Cervelli placed on the disabled list. Jacob Stallings Recalled
6/22: Evan Piechota, Chris McDonald, Nelson Jorge, Jhoan Herrera and Luis Perez transferred from Morgantown to Bristol.
6/22: Justin Maffei and Anderson Feliz assigned to Indianapolis. Austin Meadows and Gift Ngoepe placed on disabled list.
6/22: John Bormann assigned to Indianapolis.
6/22: Pirates sign five draft picks.
6/21: Pirates sign eight draft picks.
6/21: Pirates release Chase Simpson
6/21: Altoona activates Michael Suchy from disabled list.
6/20 Pirates sign Conner Uselton and Calvin Mitchell.
6/20: Pirates announce nine draft signings.
6/20: Dario Agrazal promoted to Altoona. Yeudy Garcia placed on disabled list.
6/19: Tomas Morales assigned to Altoona. Zane Chavez placed on disabled list.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a trade of note and the last game at Forbes Field. The players born on this date include 1997-98 shortstop Kevin Polcovich, catcher Orlando McFarlane (1962,1964), pitcher Mike Lynch (1904-07) and 1894 shortstop Frank Scheibeck, who played his first MLB game in 1887 and his last in 1906, but he only got into 390 games total. McFarlane was signed out of Cuba by the Pirates and was lost to the Tigers in the 1965 Rule 5 draft. Lynch was signed out of college, where he was undefeated at Brown University.
On this date in 1979, the Pirates and Giants made a six-player deal that brought Bill Madlock to Pittsburgh. After the trade, he hit .328 with 44 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 81 games, helping the Pirates to the playoffs. In the World Series, Madlock hit .350 and drove in three runs.
On this date in 1970, the Pirates played the last two games at Forbes Field. The park opened in 1909 and saw the Pirates win three World Series titles. On the last day of the stadium, the Pirates swept the Cubs in a doubleheader in front of a sold out stadium. Al Oliver hit the final home run in the park and later scored the final run. Here is the boxscore from the last game.
On this date in 1914, Honus Wagner collects his 3,000th hit. His hit total has changed multiple times over the years, so his single off of Cincinnati’s Pete Schneider hasn’t always been recognized as his 3,000th hit, but it is the new accepted date. You can view the boxscore here.
