A few good links to cover for the upcoming draft with just 11 days to go before the Pittsburgh Pirates make their first four selections on June 12th, including the 12th overall pick. I’m going to start with the new mock draft from Jonathan Mayo at MLB Pipeline. This will just add to the uncertainty with the Pirates and who they might select.
Mayo has them taking 6’6″, left-handed prep pitcher Trevor Rogers out of New Mexico. He has been mentioned for the Pirates before. Keith Law had him going to Pittsburgh in his first mock draft, though he wasn’t the selection in the latest mock draft from Law. That first link has information and video on Rogers, who touches mid-90s with his fastball and has plenty of room to fill out. The downside to him is that he turns 20 in November, which is very old for a prep player.
Mayo notes that three other high school players could be in play with this pick. He mentions outfielder Austin Beck, first baseman Nick Pratto and also pitcher Shane Baz, who seems like the one player most draft experts agree on as a potential pick for the Pirates. This is where the added uncertainty comes in, although it might represent a good sign as opposed to just added confusion.
The Pirates have been linked to all four classes of players recently. Many people are saying college bats, but we have heard both prep bats and pitchers, along with a couple college pitchers being scouted by them. In the past, we have heard about the Pirates focusing in on players. Reese McGuire and Cole Tucker were heavily scouted and both knew for awhile that there was a good chance the Pirates were going to take them. They were heavy on Will Craig and Kevin Newman as well, following them very closely all year.
Except for McGuire, that was all stuff that came out after they signed, and during those years the Pirates weren’t heavily linked to anyone in particular. This year it appears that they haven’t established an early favorite and they are doing their work on everyone who could be in their range.
That’s just my guess based on the number of possible connections we are hearing this year compared to the past, but it’s entirely possible that they have their favorite and we hear about it afterwards from the player.
New Top 100 Rankings
There was a very interesting top 100 rankings that came out this week. For the last two years, we have added subscriptions to D1 Baseball and Prep Baseball Report to help give our subscribers as much information as possible after the draft. Both sites do fantastic work and have some of the busiest draft experts in the business. So it was interesting to see the two sites team up for a combined top 100 draft prospect rankings this week.
While it’s not a mock draft, it does give you the opinions from two sets of eyes, who are seeing these players in person. In the case of Nathan Rode from Prep Baseball Report, he also covered many of the college players in this draft when they were in high school.
They have Jeren Kendall, the toolsy outfielder from Vanderbilt, ranked 12th overall. That’s a name who has been connected to the Pirates. He’s a high risk/high reward player, due to numerous plus tools, but a major issue with strikeouts that could keep him from being nothing more than a strong glove in center field, who can steal bases.
As for other names connected to the Pirates, including the ones mentioned above by Mayo today, they are all right around the same area as Kendall. The 8-11 ranked players are Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley, Texas prep pitcher Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers, and Nick Pratto. After Kendall, you have Missouri State third baseman Jake Burger, UC Irvine 2B/OF Keston Hiura and Georgia prep lefty DL Hall. That’s eight players in a row who have been mentioned multiple times as possibilities for the Pirates.
Top Tools in the Draft
Baseball America released their list of the top tools in the draft, breaking them into two groups, college and high school. I’ll note some players who we just mentioned.
Nick Pratto is the top high school hitter. Keston Hiura is the third best college hitter. Pratto and Hiura both rank third in their groups for strike zone discipline.
Jake Burger is the best college power hitter.
Jeren Kendall is the second fastest college player and he’s the best college athlete.
Kendall has the best college outfielder arm and he’s the third best defensive outfielder. Austin Beck is second for high school outfield arms.
Shane Baz and Trevor Rogers are 2/3 in best high school fastball.
Baz has the third best breaking ball in high school for his slider. JB Bukauskas, who went to the Pirates in Law’s second mock draft, has the best college breaking ball for his slider.