During the regular season, leading up to the 2013 Amateur Draft, we will provide a nightly recap of the day’s action, covering potential draft picks for the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as following the progress of interesting unsigned picks from previous years. The Pirates have the ninth and 14th picks in the first round this year, so the focus for now will be played ranked in that range. Our draft preview page, with links for nine players currently that we are tracking, can be found here.
The college season started off tonight with a big match-up between two interesting players for Pirates fans. Stanford and Rice matched up today at Rice, with two highly touted unsigned Pirates draft picks facing off against each other. Austin Kubitza (7th Round, 2010) went up against Mark Appel, the eighth overall pick from last year. Kubitza stole the show from the consensus #1 ranked player in this year’s draft. He went six shutout innings, with four hits, four walks and 12 strikeouts. Appel gave up two runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out three and took the loss.
Stanford right fielder Austin Wilson went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He is ranked ninth overall by Baseball America among draft eligible college players this year.
Florida right-hander Jonathon Crawford pitched against Duke today. He went 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts.
Crawford’s teammate Karsten Whitson was shut down for the season after shoulder surgery. He was the ninth overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Padres, turning down $2.1 M to go to college instead.
Colin Moran, third baseman for North Carolina, went 0-for-3 today against Seton Hall in his first game of the season.
His teammate is another former draft pick of the Pirates. Left-handed starter Kent Emanuel was drafted in the 19th round of the 2010 draft. He threw a complete game shutout today, allowing just four hits and no walks, while striking out five batters.
San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant went 0-for-3 in his season opener. He drew a walk and he also committed an error.
The starter for San Diego was 2010 first round pick (10th overall) Dylan Covey, who went just three innings before being pulled. He took the loss, giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks, with one strikeout.
Oscar Mercado, a prep shortstop out of Gathier HS, opened his season by going 0-for-5 in his first two games, with a walk and a run scored.
Dominic Smith, a 1B/OF from Sierra HS, had three hits and a walk today, according to a report on Twitter.
Bobby Wahl, a right-hander from Ole Miss, went 6.1 scoreless innings tonight, allowing three hits, three walks and he struck out eight batters. Baseball America had him ranked seventh overall among college players in this year’s draft.
Phillip Ervin, a center fielder for Samford had a big day today. He played a doubleheader, going 4-for-6, with two home runs and four RBIs in game two of the day. He had a quiet game one, going 0-for-2, with a walk. He is ranked eighth among college players by BA.
