The Pittsburgh Pirates have drafted left-handed pitcher Braeden Ogle out of Jensen Beach HS in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. He was rated 69th in this draft class by Baseball America and 83rd by MLB Pipeline. Ogle is a 6’2″, 170 pound lefty, who MLB Pipeline calls projectable and unpolished. He turns 19 next month, so he’s old for his draft class. He also has a commitment to Florida, so it will probably take an over-slot deal to sign him.
Ogle has moved up the draft rankings a lot since last year, when he was sitting mid-80s with his fastball and showing an inconsistent breaking ball. This spring he came back and was sitting low-90s with the fastball, touching 96 MPH. He also improved his curve and he can throw a quality changeup at times, which is something you don’t see often in high school. MLB Pipeline rates his fastball as a 60 on the 20-80 scout scale, with his curve, change and control all coming in at 45 (just below average).
He tends to rush his delivery and there are some injury concerns due to his delivery. Those are things that can be ironed out under the right coaching, and scouts will look at the high upside instead.
I’ll point out that while he is listed at 6’2″, 170 pounds, Prep Baseball Report has him now listed at 6’5″, 190 pounds, so he may have grown a little bit since late last year. They saw him pitch less than two weeks ago and noted that he was throwing 90-94, with a hard/sharp low 80s breaking ball and an 81-83 changeup with good feel. Compared to their live report from this time last year, you can tell just how much progress he has made this season and everyone believes there is much more to come.
D1 Baseball saw him each of the last two years and noted the strong improvements, especially with his command, which they called “downright scary command issues” last spring. They believe he could have a 55 curveball someday, which is rated as above average, and the like the changeup potential.
Here is video of Ogle courtesy of Prospect Pipeline:
