The 2019 MLB amateur draft begins at 7 PM tonight, with the Pittsburgh Pirates making four selections today. The draft will be broadcast live on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com. The Pirates have the 18th, 37th, 57th and 72nd overall picks tonight. There are going to be plenty of mock drafts today, so we are going to post them all in this article as they come in. We will change the article title every time that something new has been added. If you missed it from yesterday, we posted our tiered draft rankings, which we have done for seven years now.
I’m going to link to every player we covered in our weekly Draft Prospect Watch articles since late February. You’ll hear all of these names today. Every link has a scouting report and videos on the players listed. Over the last three months, we profiled 32 players who were possibilities for the 18th or 37th overall picks. Some have fallen due to their performances throughout the year, others have made moves up the draft rankings.
Matthew Allan and Zack Thompson
Will Wilson and Brandon Shewmake
Corbin Carroll and Maurice Hampton
Cameron Misner and Brennan Malone
Jackson Rutledge and Shea Langeliers
Michael Busch and Quinn Priester
Anthony Volpe and Blake Walston
The first mock draft is from Jonathan Mayo at MLB Pipeline. He has the Pirates going for right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester. That is the player connected to the Pirates most often. The most recent time was just three days ago from Jim Callis. In this article, I made a timeline of the mentions we heard connecting Priester with the Pirates. The article has two videos for Priester, while the link up top in the Draft Prospect Watch section has his scouting report and more videos. I’ll also note that Jonathan Mayo mentioned Michael Busch as a possibility for the Pirates if they go for an advanced bat, and he’s profiled along with Priester in that link.
The second mock draft is from late last night. Baseball America has the Pirates going for Clemson shortstop Logan Davidson. This is again another player who has been connected to the Pirates. BA notes that the Pirates have been looking at shortstops. They also mention that Priester is a possibility. This is the second mock draft from BA linking Davidson to the Pirates. His profile link above has his scouting report and videos.
More mock drafts to come. Check back throughout the day. They will all be posted in this article.
Here’s the draft bonus pool and slot values.
UPDATE #1: Keith Law has Shea Langeliers, a catcher for Baylor, going to the Pirates. He also mentions Priester as a possibility, as well as NC State shortstop Will Wilson, shortstop Matthew Lugo from Puerto Rico, and high school third baseman Tyler Callihan. Langeliers, Wilson and Callihan are all mentioned up top. Lugo wasn’t ranked high enough to cover him in a Draft Prospect Watch, but the Pirates have been connected to shortstops, so we mentioned him here as a possibility for the 37th overall pick (link includes video and scouting report).
Law’s last mock draft a week ago had the Pirates taking Langeliers as well. Most people have him dropping off the board sooner. He went 5-for-6 with three homers and 11 RBIs on Saturday in a regional tournament elimination game, so that may have answered any questions about his bat. There are no questions about his defense.
UPDATE #2: Fangraphs has their morning mock draft, with another one on the way later tonight. They have the Pirates taking Quinn Priester, which is the popular choice obviously. They also note that Tyler Callihan worked out for the Pirates recently, while they also have interest in high school shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who is covered in the Draft Prospect Watch section above. Henderson is another one who has been connected to the Pirates, though he’s also been mentioned for their 37th overall pick.
UPDATE #3: Prep Baseball Report has the Pirates taking right-handed prep pitcher Brennan Malone. Malone is another player we covered above and in my own opinion, seems like the perfect fit here. He’s an advanced prep pitcher, with four pitches, plus stuff and you know the Pirates had eyes on him often at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. I would not be surprised if he is their selection.
UPDATE #4: Not really an update here, other than to say Keith Law made some adjustments to his mock draft, but they didn’t affect the Pirates. He still has Langeliers and the same exact write-up as before.
UPDATE #5: Baseball America has their final mock draft, names only, and they are going with George Kirby for the Pirates. He’s a right-handed pitcher from Elon, who is covered up in the links above, as well as a mention in the tiered rankings from yesterday. I believe this is the first time he has been mentioned for the Pirates. BA has every name mentioned here so far, except for Shea Langeliers, still on the board when the Pirates pick.
UPDATE #6: Keith Law has some updates based on late info and he’s now going with Will Wilson for the Pirates. Link is up top for Wilson. Law says Pirates could still take Langeliers if he gets there. I agree with that, but also don’t think he makes it that far.
UPDATE #7: There should be one more update from MLB Pipeline, but for now, Fangraphs has their final one and it has the Pirates taking Quinn Priester 18th overall and Gunnar Henderson 37th. They have predicted that pair before in those spots.
UPDATE #8: This is it, folks. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo both say Quinn Priester (no article to link). Time for the draft…articles will be up later after each pick and then Tuesday and Wednesday will be a ton of draft coverage. If you’ve been here before, you know we go all out for all three days.
