The sixth weekend of college baseball wrapped up today, with weather canceling many games across the country, including top ranked North Carolina. Check out the draft preview posted here and the recap of the fifth week’s action here. Just a reminder, the Pirates pick #9 and #14 in this year’s June amateur draft, so for the duration of the college season, leading up to draft day, we are following the players closely that are ranked in that range. This year’s draft will be held June 6-8. 
San Diego’s Kris Bryant went 1-for-4 today, but the one hit was a big one. In the sixth inning, he hit a two-out bases loaded double that cleared the bases and broke a 5-5 tie. Bryant was also walked intentionally in the fifth inning.
North Carolina opened up their weekend yesterday with a doubleheader against Boston College, but that was all the two teams could get in as today’s game was canceled due to weather. Colin Moran went 3-for-8 yesterday, with two walks.
From Friday night, Chris Anderson, the RHP from Jacksonville, has been getting some mentions in the Pirates draft range. This weekend against USC Upstate, he threw 8.1 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits, one walk and he struck out ten batters. He is now 4-1, 0.96 in six starts, with 60 strikeouts in 47 innings and a .177 BAA.
Austin Kubitza from Rice has also got some first round mention, though he likely won’t be considered when the Pirates pick. The 2010 draft pick of Pittsburgh, is 3-1, 1.41 in six starts, with 56 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. His stats actually looked much better before this weekend when he faced Southern Miss. Kubitza gave up eight runs(three earned) in 5.1 innings, with seven hits and three walks allowed, striking out three.
DJ Peterson from New Mexico went 1-for-7 in a doubleheader today, drawing two walks. While he has spent some time at third base this year and in the past, he played first base in both games today and that will likely be his position in the pros.
Aaron Judge and Fresno State had their Sunday doubleheader postponed due to weather.
Austin Wilson from Stanford still hasn’t returned to action yet. It was said on Feb 26th that he could return in 2-4 weeks, but there has been no word on his progress recently. He has played just one game this season, leaving late in that game due to a muscle strain below his elbow.
Pepperdine’s Aaron Brown continued his full-time move to the mound today and again, the results were not that good, though he did pick up the win. In five innings, he allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks. He was able to strike out a season high seven batters. Brown was drafted by the Pirates in 2011 as an outfielder. He was followed on the mound by a 2012 draft pick of the Pirates, Jackson McClelland. The big right-hander began the year in the starting rotation and had good overall results, but has been moved to relief. McClelland pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a single and he recorded one strike out.
Brandon Thomas, the unsigned fourth round pick of the Pirates last year, went 3-for-15 this weekend against Florida State. He was really hitting the ball well prior to this weekend, moving his way up the draft charts as a senior. Despite the poor series, he is still batting .441 through 23 games, with a 1.100 OPS.
Mock Drafts
Two sources recently came out with their mock drafts. Minor League Ball, which is run by John Sickels, and a website called My MLB Draft, which continuously updates the draft class throughout the off-season and regular season. While I will stress that it is still early in the process(draft starts in 74 days), it is a good indication of the players in the area right now where the Pirates will pick.
Minor League Ball has the Pirates picking two Prep players, RHP Kohl Stewart and 1B Dominic Smith. You can read more about Smith on the link under his name. Stewart missed time due to a shoulder strain stemming from a football injury in December. He is still working his way to full strength, but early reports on him have been great. Keith Law has a recap here (subscription required) of his start on March 14th. He was clocked at 96 MPH, showing a plus slider.
My MLB Draft also has the Pirates selecting two Prep players, though not the same ones. They have Pirates taking LHP Trey Ball with the #9 pick and shortstop JP Crawford with the #14 pick. Information on each player can be found in the links under their names.
**I’ve added a detailed scouting report from Crawfish Boxes, which has plenty of video for JP Crawford.
