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Pirates Select First Baseman Josiah Sightler with Their 15th Round Pick

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With their 15th round pick in the 2022 MLB draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected first baseman Josiah Sightler out of South Carolina.

The Pirates went with back-to-back picks from the University of South Carolina in the 14th/15th rounds. Sightler is a huge/strong 22-year-old (turns 23 in October) first baseman, who stands 6’5″, 235 pounds. He’s a lefty hitter and thrower. He played four seasons at South Carolina, though he was only a regular the last two seasons. Combined over his college career, he hit .265/.358/.494 in 127 games. He was a 12th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2018 out of high school when he was more of a pitching prospect. He pitched briefly in all four seasons of college ball, and while he had 16 strikeouts in 13 innings, he also had a 7.62 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP.

This season Sightler hit .300/.408/.629 in 51 games, with 11 doubles and 15 homers. That OPS was 117 points higher than the second best mark on his team. He’s a power profile, with average walk rates and no speed, as you might guess from his size.

Here’s a video of a long homer this year

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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