The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first overall pick in the July 2023 MLB draft. Our draft preview looked at the top prospects for the pick.
Every Monday, we’ll recap notable performances from around the prep and college ranks, with video to give you an early look at who could be available to the Pirates. This is our 11th weekly recap of the weekend action for the top college draft prospects. It’s also the final weekend of the regular season, but there will be plenty more coverage.
If you missed it from this week, we had a look at a new mock draft. We also took a look at the remaining schedule for the top college players. As a reminder, the Pirates have the highest draft bonus pool this year.
Dylan Crews was our first draft prospect profile. The LSU outfielder has struggled over the last three weeks. He went 1-for-5 with a single against McNeese in a mid-week game. He went 2-for-7 against Georgia on Thursday, with a homer and a single, as well as three strikeouts. He went 1-for-4 with a single, RBI and HBP on Friday. Crews went 1-for-5 on Saturday to finish the season, striking out three times again.
He finished up with a .423/.573/.716 slash line in 272 plate appearances, with 13 doubles, 14 homers and 56 walks.
Here’s his Thursday homer:
Dylan Crews: Properly Rated@__dc4__ | SECN+ pic.twitter.com/ASucGxnR8d
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) May 19, 2023
LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes is a top five draft prospect, with almost all sources now ranking him second. He was our fourth prospect profile. He went seven innings on Thursday against Georgia, with two runs on four hits, one walk and 12 strikeouts.
He is now 10-1, 1.77 in 86.2 innings, with a .161 BAA and a 164:15 SO/BB ratio.
Here’s a video that goes out on a limb by saying he is a potential top five pick
RHP Paul Skenes (LSU, 2023) works a 1-2-3 bottom of the first vs Georgia. FB: 96-98 with late tail, CH: 87 with vertical separation off the FB, SL: 84-85 with plus sweeping life. Locating his FB very well, operation smooth and low effort. Potential top 5 overall pick. pic.twitter.com/DuTVxmbSyq
— Will Hoefer (@whoeferbaseball) May 18, 2023
Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford has a chance to go #1. He was our sixth draft prospect profile. He has been rated near the top all year, with some giving him the tools advantage over Crews. Langford went 3-for-5 on Thursday against Kentucky, with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs. He then homered twice on Friday. He finished up quietly on Saturday, going 0-for-4.
He finished the regular season hitting .399/.527/.827 in 48 games, with 20 doubles, 16 homers and 44 walks. He was trailing Crews in OPS for most of the season, but he ended up finishing 65 points higher.
Here’s a defensive highlight from Langford, and it’s a beauty:
HOW 'BOUT THAT WYATT LANGFORD 😱#SCtop10 | @GatorsBB pic.twitter.com/igCzjwMpDS
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 19, 2023
Here’s a homer from Friday:
Just an unbelievable swing by Wyatt Langford for his 2nd Home Run of the day. Easy plus bat speed, extends beautifully through the baseball, and really finishes his swing. Big fan of his backside and back knee drop. Epitome of "controlled violence." pic.twitter.com/ctenojMreC
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) May 20, 2023
Here’s another homer from Friday:
Once again, it’s not crazy to take Wyatt Langford first overall. He’s just that good. pic.twitter.com/BdgsoGdruN
— Jacob Rudner (@JacobRudner) May 19, 2023
Walker Jenkins was our third player profile article. He is one of the clear cut top five guys in this draft class. I couldn’t find anything new on him from the last week, so here’s a video Baseball America shared before the season.
Prep outfielder Max Clark was profiled here in our fifth article for the series. He is also among that top five in this class. He played a game on Friday in which he went 1-for-2 with a triple and three walks. Here’s the triple. The reporter who shared the tweet said that the opposing pitcher was hitting low 90s.
Max Clark smokes this RBI triple into left center field. University leads 8-3. pic.twitter.com/67mkjEgE0w
— Akeem Glaspie (@THEAkeemGlaspie) May 19, 2023
The Other Top Ten Prospects
The players above are the five players to follow now, as they have pulled away from the pack (see top five link above in the Jenkins recap). I still included the other three players who we have covered all year, just in case you were following along with them. These three could make up the 6-8 picks of the draft.
Jacob Wilson from Grand Canyon University had a long shot at being the #1 going into the year, but he’s still a top ten prospect. The son of former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson went up against California Baptist this weekend. He went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and a walk on Thursday. He was 1-for-4 on Friday, followed by a 3-for-5 night on Saturday, with two RBIs.
He batted .425/.473/.665 in 45 regular season games, with 27 extra-base hits and five strikeouts in 203 plate appearances.
Here’s the Thursday homer:
Jacob Wilson gives @GCU_Baseball the 3-2 lead with this solo blast pic.twitter.com/MTFLnHVxIn
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) May 19, 2023
Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez from Ole Miss has been ranked recently somewhere between five and ten for everyone in this draft class. He hasn’t hit enough to move up the draft charts, but he isn’t dropping either. He played Alabama this weekend, going 0-for-4 on Thursday. They played a Friday doubleheader in which he went 3-for-4 with a homer in the first game, followed by a 1-for-4 game.
He finished his regular season hitting .327/.435/.564 in 54 games, with 18 doubles, ten homers and 35 walks.
Here’s his home run:
Turn on one, Gonzo! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/xigMQPZrNB
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 19, 2023
Chase Dollander is considered by many to still be the second best pitcher in the class right now behind Skenes. We took a closer look at him in our second prospect profile. The University of Tennessee right-hander went up against South Carolina in his final regular season game and he did well, allowing two runs on two hits in 5.1 innings, with no walks and 13 strikeouts. Reports say he was sitting 95-97 MPH, hitting 98 at times.
He finished up the regular season with a 6-6, 4.28 record over 73.2 innings, with 107 strikeouts, 25 walks and a .232 BAA.
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.
LSU game starts at 4:00 on SEC network.
Hayden Travinski might also be a solid later round pickup. Small sample but he’s hit in every game I’ve watched, don’t really know how well he catches though. (Round 7 at the earliest probably later)
Tre Morgan is someone to consider at pick 67 or later. Excellent first basemen good left fielder and has a good approach at the plate.
Crews fly out to center, well struck ball. Good at bat
2nd at bat, I’d give him a single, chopper in-between ss 3rd base off the 3rd basemens glove. Didn’t see official score.
Still looks like he tried to pull it.
3rd at bat, pop up to first basemen
4th at bat, line drive single up the middle.
Stole second
5th at bat, K swinging took a very close pitch right before that was called a ball.
So we’ve heard it all about the top guys from LSU and FU; however, I’d wait and see how these guys do in the College World Series run against better pitching. I would also take a serious look at Jacob Wilson. His strike out rate is so ridiculously low that it’s insane. That’s the kind of guy you want in your line up every day. I can’t remember if at the last owner’s meeting they approved draft pick trading, but if so, they should consider trading down in the draft to pick up this guy, assuming they get either good compensation package of future draft picks and/or trade candidates.
still no trading of draft picks…not sure if that’s good or bad, it would be interesting for sure.
When Altoona hits, they really hit. Ten more today and counting.
16-0 now. Andres Alvarez has two HRs, including a slam.
Altoona must feel bad for them with the lineup they’re starting today.
I wonder if guys like Crews and Skenes are scuffling a bit due to all the scouts on hand. Glad I’m watching Skenes, though, so that I don’t have an overly idealized image of him from the highlights.
Not sure but Crews might be trying to do to much. He was putting the ball all over the field earlier in the year. Seems a little pull happy in the 4 games I watched. He did crush the homer yesterday on the hanging slider.( Did the same against Georgia)
I’m glad I’ve watched the last 4 games Skenes pitched. I’m totally not sold on either of them. Crews has a lot of swing and miss while Skenes has thrown a lot of pitches. Morgan with another hit. Travinski and Morgan have looked better than Crews to me over those 4 games. I don’t think they are but it still raises ???
He’s about to throw his 42nd pitch in the 4th and there is still just one out–once he’s drafted, it will be a long time before he’s allowed to throw that many pitches in an inning…that pitch led to the 2nd out and now they’re taking him out.
Honestly the way some of these college managers over use these pitchers, I can’t believe these kids will even go there.
Skenes has averaged around 100 pitches a game, college coaches really push them to the limit.
But he was a position player his Freshman season. I doubt his arm has the pitches or innings on it that most CBB Juniors have.
Probably not but 40 plus pitches in an inning isn’t something I like seeing on a major league pitcher let alone a twenty year old cranking it up to 103 on about pitch 35 that inning.
LSU v Arkansas is up next on SEC Network. Skenes v Hagen Smith possibly one of the top college lefties in next years draft.
Crews should be leading off in 20 minutes or so.
Could you be a pal and provide updates on skenes and crews?
Crews in the 9th, homer on a hanger this time.
Crews walked this plate appearance. Really doubting his ability to hit breaking pitches.
2 of the breaking pitches were hanging and just weak grounder foul down the 3rd base line.
Crews ground out, 0 for 3 so far.
he’s cooked! /s (i think)
I’m sure he’s great but I’ve watched 4 games and no way would I give him 8 million let alone 9.7 million. Guess I’m watching Florida v Vandy tonight. What will Langford do.
Langford double in the first
Pop up to first in second at bat
Lazy fly out in third at bat. Had to protect, had a borderline call go against him. (Looked a good 6″ off the plate, not sure though bad camera angle) Then swung at a ball that looked outside for the fly out.
4th at bat for Langford, K swung at 3 sliders out of the zone, looked horrible in that at bat.
Thanks for these updates. You are my Pirate scout. I will await your reports before deciding who I would select 1st overall.
Crews did just crush a hanger over the left field wall.
Skenes 4th inning
1st batter hit batter
2nd batter chopper up the middle
1st and 3rd, 0 outs
3rd batter single by second basemen
1st and 2nd. 1 run scored 0 outs
4th batter hard single up the middle
Another run, 1st and 2nd, 0 outs.
5th batter fly out to center
6th batter BB, bases loaded
7th batter infield fly to second basemen. Skenes out after 88 pitches, around 40 this inning.
He got squeezed on a couple close pitches but the ump has been fairly consistent.
Yes, there were several borderline calls that went against him.
Could of had at least 2 K’s and limited the damage to 1 run. LSU is falling apart this inning. Should of had an out at second on the third batters hit but couldn’t hold onto the ball.
Morgan another hit the other way, Smith pulled after loading bases and a 75 pitch limit with two outs. Wild pitch by new pitcher. Travinski scores.
LSU 2, Arkansas 0, through 3 and a half.
3rd inning Skenes
1st batter hit in the foot
2nd batter fly out to right
3rd batter K 96 inside corner
4th batter K 99 inside corner
0 BB, 2 K, 0 H, and Hit by Pitch
Looked dominant that inning
Smith for Arkansas looks legit 7k’s through 3 innings. Arkansas has some pretty good looking hitters as well, they don’t look overpowered by Skenes yet.
Crews got out but damn delay made me miss his at bat.
It was a swinging strikeout.
2nd inning Skenes
1st batter lazy fly ball to right.
2nd batter lazy liner to short
3rd batter liner the other way for a single, pitch was 100mph
4th batter ground out to short
0 BB, 0 K, 1 H
Skenes 1st pitch 98 at knees on outside corner. Ended up walking the first batter. Very good at bat.
2nd batter lined out to right.
3rd batter 1st pitch slider for strike line out to short.
4th batter just missed first 2 pitches, K to end the inning.
Just missing on a few pitches but not by much. Couple well hit line drives but not smoked easy plays for his fielder’s.
1 BB, 1 K, 0 H fairly clean first around 20 pitches.
Just announced Skenes hit 103 on a pitch or 2.
Tre Morgan rbi single on a weak hit the other way. I like Morgan for a pick after 67. Good plate discipline and hit tool with potential power to come.
Crews K’s on three pitches, swung through fastballs on 1st and 3rd pitches took the second. Couldn’t tell exactly what the 2nd pitch was bad camera work. Not a good at bat though.
Sure, game starts 4:30 central.
The only explanation that would get me off of Crews is if the front office had a very strong scouting and analytical take that his trouble with sliders couldn’t be overcome and then I don’t care if Skenes or Langford, personally.
OT: Sources saying KeBryan to Toronto for Alek Manoah
Negotiations ongoing for how many Madonna grape leaves to throw in
Its either Modonna´s or Jimmi Johns that I bring into the park instead of eating that slop inside
sweeten it with VV and a slice of baklava from Sultans
OT, but The Athletic has a piece grading all 30 teams. Beertootle gave the Pirates a “C.” May has been rough, but even so hasn’t there been a lot more progress than that? Keller, Oviedo, VV, HoldMan, Moreta, R5 guy, etc., merit better than that by themselves.
Also OT, I’m in an airport lounge and the guy across from sure as s*** looks like Neal Huntington.
If you’re not grading on a curve (the Pirates can only be expected to do so well), a .500 team should get a C. Pitching has shown progress but mostly our offense and defense have been well below average and historically bad at times. In terms of positions, only 3B and LF seem to be locked down for the foreseeable future while major questions remain at the other six spots.
I think we would mostly agree though that a team’s record isn’t the metric for deciding how their season is going
No. The Yankees are nine over, AZ eight. So same grade? But AZ’s level of accomplishment is way, way higher.
The win / loss record, team batting numbers and pitching numbers, run differential, etc. exist to grade a team in hundreds if not thousands of detailed ways. Why the heck would we reduce it to a single letter grade?
Idiotic mainstream media trying to write articles that appeal to the least common denominator.
But if we must, team WRC+ is 98. 100 is average. A C grade means exactly that. Average.
Team pitching has a 3.77 ERA which is 6th best in all of baseball. So one might think better than a C. But team ERA- which adjusts for park, etc is actually 23rd at 104 where 100 is average. So again, probably a C at best under the hood, using more advanced analytics, but you might give a B+ based on actual pitching outcomes which is fine by me since grades in school are based on actual outcomes.
So C hitting and B+ pitching. Comes to a C+ in my book.
Anyway, stupid Excercise.
😉
maybe its Nate McLouth?
Reading that lead to a chuckle. I appreciate it.
Keep coughing ‘Ar-Cher.. Ar-cher’… see if you get a response.
Dare you to ask him about the Archer trade.
Turns out the guy has a British accent. But I swear to ****** he’s a dead ringer.
It’s a trick to throw you off. Tell the bloke to be bloody well honest and explain to you why Nutting is so bloody skint.
how about his teeth?
Is there a big difference between Langford and Crews offensively? I obviously am not a scout but wonder what would separate them to a front office?
The main separator is, whichever one the Pirates draft will be hurt until 2025.
Hamstring? Whiffitis? Brennan Malone style? AKA Option D (all of the above).
He’ll be turning off his alarm clock and Jose Silva will fall out of the sky on him.
https://vault.si.com/vault/2000/08/28/born-under-a-bad-sign-if-it-wasnt-for-rotten-luck-the-pirates-jose-silva-would-have-no-luck-at-all
SKENES. The Pirates have not had the opportunity to Draft an ACE since 2011 when they wrapped up Gerrit Cole with the 1-1. Two years after the draft he was a SP for the Pirates making 19 Starts – 10-7, 3.22 ERA 117.1 IP. This kid is the whole package of Physical, Mental, Intelligence, and Character!
Crews fans:
That’s me. I’m not so much a Crews fan as a Bucs fan hoping that someone – Crews was most likely – would just run away with it, and make it a no-brainer decision.
But, maybe having three viable candidates will work out by getting whoever they take to sign at slot leaving more money for later picks? Maybe.
I think the most they should go is $9.2 million (slot is $9.7 million). I could see them agreeing to $8.5 million as well, which is still higher than the 3rd slot.
The only reason he’s not running away with it is that Langford and Skenes are also having monster seasons. Each is doing about everything he can to justify being 1-1.
Right there with both of you!
It won’t let me upload a generated meme, therefore I’ll describe it. I made one using the, “Oh, you’re gonna make me…” meme, but says, “Oh, you’re gonna make me choose Langford”
Bring back the image upload function!
+++
I really want Crews. But the reality is, I’m gonna be ecstatic, so long as it’s one of the big 3
If they curveball us, then they better damn well be picking Holliday 2.0 who has been cruising.
F around and find out with Walker!
I messed around once and got a triple double.
Anyone?
I still don’t trust them enough to develop a relatively raw HS kid. Termarr has turned a corner after returning from injury, but he’s also doing a lot of the one thing that he wasn’t supposed to do, just like Nicky G. Gimme the tooled up college kid, one of them. Then with the large pool they have, gimme the highest rated prep kid that drops to their second pick.
I might go heavy college with their second pick and certainly after that. Given that the juniors were HS seniors in 2020, there should more talent in the college ranks than is typical. OTOH, because of that added talent, it may be more likely that quality HS players will drop.
So, all to say, the best player available.
It’s a really deep class, just not a lot of separation after the top 25 to 35. Really depends on the number of high schoolers that go early.
I’m with you on the pick at 42 unless a couple of the college guys are there. Specifically Tanner Witt, Nolan Schanuel, or Chase Davis.
I also don’t think we go full slot at 1.1, the slot value is ridiculously high at $9.7 million. Pick 1.2 isn’t even $9 million while pick 1.3 is around $8.34 million. If BC can’t save at least $500,000 on the slot he’s not good at negotiating.
Full agree. Just needs to go $8.5M to set a new record.
big agree there.
Langford has outstanding bat speed. If he will take a dollar less than slot he would be my 1-1 pick.
I don’t think I realized he’s their left fielder. Is that his normal position?
They just had a really really really good CF
They do, but I really haven’t seen anyone say he can handle center or right. I think it was McDaniel who said he kinda looked awkward out there.
I think a lot are even just mostly going off of speed grades at this point.
And RF as well?
Maybe I’m wrong, just odd to me to see a regular college LF and not have him spoken as a future defensive liability.
I believe he has better speed than crews and is a possible future CF but neither crews nor langford is likely to be a plus CF defender IIRC
Yeah, it’s probably negligible at this point. And as I’m sure NMR will eventually bring up, it isn’t as if the Pirates developmental squad has shown they’re necessarily worried about a player’s actual ability to field specific positions competently
Crews only just moved back to CF this season cause they had some gifted defensive OFs last year.
Who had the higher K percentage. Wyatt or Dylan? I’m tired of us drafting hitters who end up K’ing like they’re Brandon Wood.
Crews: 35 K’s in 267 PAs (13%) and a 35:57 K:BB ratio.
Langford: 35 K’s in 235 PAs (15%) and a 35:45 K:BB ratio.
Which both look great, but…Gonzales as a college sophomore (his junior year was shortened by COVID): 30 K’s in 284 PAs (11%) and a 30:45 K:BB ratio. You might discount that due to him playing in the WAC, but on the Cape he only struck out 22 times in 185 PAs (12%). It needs to come down to how confident our scouts are about each player’s swing mechanics and potential holes, etc., and games against top pitchers need to carry heavier weight.
But we can avoid this concern by drafting Skenes 😉
Thx. That REALLY makes me wonder what the heck happened to turn Nicky into a K machine. Do they NOT throw curves in college?
The entire major leagues is a strike out machine. League average this year is 26%. Nicky G 4 k’s in his last 24 at bats for 16.7%.
Spot on about the whiffs. It’s been since the ’60s since MLB lowered the mound to 10 in. I would support a further reduction. It’s no secret they want more offense and action, just look at the ’23 rule changes.
A trend for Nicky G or a SSS?
I would think it is a sign that they are working with him on changing his approach at the plate,
They started that in ST. Maybe it is finally taking hold?
I don’t know if it is or not. When I saw him play in spring, he looked pretty special when he put the bat on the ball. As soon as it was hit, you had a good feeling he was hitting it hard and in the right place. The big question is can they cut down on his K’s without taking away his ability to hit that way. I will be in Indy watching games the first week of June. I will give you a report and try not to be too bias. You know I like the guy.
Thanks man!
Skenes is supposed to pitch today.
He is on a winning Skene, that’s for sure!
I will one-up that video by going out on a limb and saying skenes, crews, and langford are all potential top 5 picks
July . . .
I was hoping this would be a year when the buildup to the draft was of secondary importance, like in 2012 or 2013 when we had a good team to watch and didn’t need to be distracted…
Another six plus weeks…sigh. I could probably be talked into any of the big five, other than Clark.