Among all of the drafts for professional sports, there isn’t one that is as much a wildcard than the MLB Draft.
In the NFL, players go straight to their respective teams and play immediately. The NBA, some play right away, others gradually get worked in. Hockey is similar depending on where you get drafted, as it could be years before you make an impact for the team that took you.
When it comes to the MLB draft, a lot of times you are lucky if you get one impact player from a certain class. Players come and go, get stuck in the minors or become barely replacement level players.
With that thought in mind, that’s why the Pirates were so aggressive in trying to spread around their draft money back in 2021, seeing an opportunity to increase their odds in bringing in as many potential impact players in a class that seemed to have plenty of them.
We are still years away from knowing the true impact from the 2021 draft class, but at least for the first two players taken, we know that things are heading in the right direction when it comes to results.
After being plagued with injuries his first year-plus in the organization, 2021 first overall pick Henry Davis has transformed himself into the best hitter in the Pirates’ system, exactly as you’d expect from the former first overall pick.
He’s made his way to Triple-A, already hitting for power there, and is one step away from making his major league debut.
When Anthony Solometo toes the rubber on Saturday for the Altoona Curve, he will be the youngest pitcher to throw an inning in the Eastern League this season, beating out Ricky Tiedemann by a couple of months.
Bubba Chandler might have got most of the attention thanks to his Ohtani-like aspirations, but Solometo is flying through the system, continually putting up results despite being one of the youngest players in his league — until now when he will actually be the youngest pitcher wise.
The lefty has shown polish beyond his years, and erase one of the few question marks about him going into the season by consistently throwing in the 92-94 MPH range with his fastball.
Down on the farm, Anthony Solometo has 7 strikeouts through 4 scoreless innings.
Collected 3 of those 7 SO’s in the 4th inning
When he had control issues to start the year (21 walks in first 29.2 innings), he made the adjustments and has been pinpoint since (four walks in last 29 innings).
Pittsburgh took advantage of the draft system, stockpiling their system with several high upside picks, along with one of the higher floor college players available. They put themselves in position to really benefit, and so far it’s off to a great start.
The work is far from done, as Solometo will get the ultimate test of Double-A, and will do so at 20-years-old, but the fact that he’s there at that age is a win in itself.
Prospect Notes
— The fact that the 2021 draft class is really shaping up, at least with the first two picks, there may be some temptation to get fancy with things upcoming.
The main reason that year’s draft worked so well is that there wasn’t a consensus top player available, with the Pirates able to take advantage of going with the guy who ended up willing to sign under what the slot value was.
With one of the best prospects in recent draft history available this time around, and with the slot value being high enough to break the bonus record fairly handedly and remain under, this isn’t exactly the same scenario playing out.
Translation – don’t get fancy when fancy isn’t necessary.
— I talked about Solometo in the main part of the article, but Kyle Nicolas was also promoted on Wednesday, finally making his way to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The Pirates are super thin at starting pitching and while he was a long-shot to make his major league debut this season, if he gets to Indianapolis and throws strikes consistently, he’s an easy option to get a look.
Even if next year that means sliding him to the bullpen, where his fastball/slider play a whole lot better.
— Abrahan Gutierrez continues to hit the ground running since coming up to Double-A. He’s easy to lose in the mix when it comes to the catcher picture, but watching him hit a few times you’ll see why Ben Cherington was so adamant in bringing him in.
— JP Massey could be a benefactor of Solometo moving up to Altoona, and even though he didn’t have his best stuff on Wednesday, still fought through and finished five innings to earn the win.
He’s shown some great swing and miss stuff this year, but Wednesday was a reminder why he started in the rotation in Bradenton — besides the stacked Greensboro rotation.
Daily Video Rundown
JP Massey had the good stuff working in between some long counts.
When he gets consistency, RHBs are going to have very low contact rates. He can be downright nasty pic.twitter.com/pcbBMR6v42— Florida Prospect Report (@FLProspectPod) June 15, 2023
It wasn’t Massey’s best outing, but that didn’t keep him from still showing flashes of why he’s been one of the better pitchers in the Florida State League.
All he does is hit! @abragutierr7 clears the bases to make it a one-run game! pic.twitter.com/Du8w5ixVhs
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 15, 2023
Gutierrez rips a double that also clears the bases for Altoona.
First MLB strikeout for @Pirates rookie Osvaldo Bido! pic.twitter.com/cbEQO02njH
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 15, 2023
Osvaldo Bido made his major league debut on Wednesday, pitching four innings of one run baseball, striking out six batters in the process.
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that this site was shut down for a brief time. The enormity of the task of publishing this site’s content on a daily basis is overwhelming, to say the very least. Here we are a few weeks later with new daily features, and a day full of articles to read.
The list starts with a great rundown from Anthony about the hitting prospects in the Pirates’ system.
**Where Are The Hitting Prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates Farm System?
Our new Prospect Watch profiles three players each day. Yesterday’s look focused on three players with the Bradenton Marauders. Check back at noon today for the latest.
**Prospect Watch: Nick Cimillo, Geovanny Planchart, Jesus Castillo
Looking for the old Prospect Watch, aka, reports from last night’s game action? Check out Pirates Prospects Live.
**P2Live: Osvaldo Bido Does Well in Debut But Bullpen Collapse Means Another Loss
Baseball America updated their top 30 prospects for the Pirates system.
**Updated Top 30 Prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates from Baseball America
As John Dreker first reported last night, Anthony Solometo and Kyle Nicolas have been promoted.
**Pirates Promote Pitchers Anthony Solometo and Kyle Nicolas
To make room for Osvaldo Bido, the Pirates optioned Canaan Smith-Njigba to Triple-A. I could see Bido remaining on the team after last night’s outing, especially with Contreras continuing to struggle in relief.
**Pirates Promote RHP Osvaldo Bido; Option Canaan Smith-Njigba to Indianapolis
Missed yesterday? Anthony wrote about Bubba Chandler trying to limit big innings.
**Bubba Chandler Looking To Limit Big Innings
SONG OF THE DAY
