Jim Callis at MLB Pipeline had high praise for the Pittsburgh Pirates after the draft was completed. He rated the Pirates as having the third best draft class, trailing only the Minnesota Twins and the Cincinnati Reds, the teams with the top two choices in the draft. Besides the top four picks for the Pirates, which were all high upside prep players, Callis also liked Dylan Busby (3rd round), Deon Stafford (fifth round) and sixth rounder Cody Bolton, who has already indicated he will sign.
Keith Law also loved the drafting done by the Pirates, although that was obvious if you saw his rankings. He had Shane Baz rated 11th, Conner Uselton 20th and Steven Jennings 22nd, while also saying that Cal Mitchell had a lot of potential.
Speaking of Jennings, he has indicated that he is signing, although no deal is in place yet.
As for other players, I’ll point out that Shea Murray, the 18th round pick who played outfield this year at Ohio State, has reportedly hit 99 MPH. That explains why the Pirates announced him as a right-handed pitcher. He will sign, as will all of the seniors taken in the draft.
Here are some other notes for non-senior players and their signing status:
15th round pick Gavin Wallace sounds like he is signing. He talked about being excited to join his brother Mike Wallace, who currently pitches for West Virginia in the bullpen.
16th rounder Hunter Stratton and 19th rounder Jake Webb will both sign. That was mentioned here last night.
21st rounder Robbie Glendinning is signing, as is 23rd rounder Ben Bengtson.
Despite a name that grades high on the scouting scale, Brock Deatherage has indicated it’s highly unlikely he will sign, but he will still talk to a scout from the Pirates before deciding.
36th round pick Ryan Hoerter, who is a prep pitcher with upside, has said he is attending Auburn and will notify the Pirates of his decision.
View our draft tracker here for more info on each player.
There are ten players who were drafted as seniors. You can see the list on our tracker. Those players will sign, though a couple will be delayed because they are still playing.
