The MLB Draft Lottery was held last night, choosing the order of the top 18 picks in the 2024 draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates ended up with the 9th overall pick, dropping one spot from where they would have picked if the order was based on previous year’s standings. They will still pick 8th in rounds 2-20.
Last year, the Pirates won the Draft Lottery, and selected RHP Paul Skenes with the first overall pick. The Cleveland Guardians won this year’s lottery, entering the night with the 9th best odds for the first overall pick.
Pirates Addressing Their Rotation
The Pirates acquired LHP Marco Gonzales in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. The move addresses their current shortage of starters in the rotation, and marks the fourth year in a row that they’ve added a lefty starter. More details on that trade can be found here.
The Pirates have also shown interest in RHP Jack Flaherty, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. Flaherty is entering his age 28 season, after putting up a 4.99 ERA in 144.1 innings last year. He posted a 2.75 ERA in 196.1 innings in 2019, but hasn’t reached that level since. He’d be looking for a shorter term, bounce-back type deal.
The rumor on Flaherty came before the trade for Gonzales. The Pirates need more than one starter, so they could be pursuing both. Flaherty has more potential upside than Gonzales, as he’s entering his prime years, and has already displayed a high level of performance in the past.
Pirates Sign RHP Ben Heller
The Pirates signed right-handed pitcher Ben Heller to a minor league deal, according to Jack Oliver and Jason Mackey. Heller is a veteran pitcher at the age of 32. He’s spent parts of five seasons in the majors, with a combined 3.06 ERA and a 5.36 FIP.
Heller was with the Braves in 2023, making 19 big league appearances across 18.2 innings. He had a 3.86 ERA and a 5.02 FIP, keeping pace with the career totals. Heller struck out 19.5% of batters, and had control issues, with a 13.4% walk rate. He spent the rest of the season in Triple-A between the Rays and Braves affiliates.
The Pirates will likely use Heller as Triple-A depth in 2024, giving them veteran innings out of the bullpen, along with a guy who could fill in at the big league level as depth throughout the year. If the Pirates are going with a full-season bullpen plan in the rotation, they’ll need more depth than normal.
