Pittsburgh Pirates 2019 Draft: Day Three Thread

The 2019 MLB draft concludes today with rounds 11-40. In the past, day three would mostly be lower level roster fillers and lottery ticket picks. It’s now arguably more important than day two, especially with so many teams — including the Pirates — planning their day two picks around who they will get on day three.

The Pirates appear to have created some bonus pool room yesterday, taking guys who will probably sign below slot. That extra money will go to harder to sign guys on day three, and typically most of the money goes to the 11th round pick.

We’ll be covering every pick today, and you can use this thread as a live discussion throughout the day. John Dreker, Wilbur Miller, and I will be dividing up the player pages, writing something on each player. We will post the links to each player in the chart below, when the player page is completed.

Check out Wilbur Miller’s review of the Pirates’ day two strategy, and John Dreker’s preview of the best players available for today. For a recap of the day two picks, check out my article from last night. And go to the Draft Pick Signing Tracker for information on every player drafted by the Pirates, along with links to our daily recaps.

We’ll provide updates once the draft gets going today.

12:30 PM: The Pirates took a prep outfielder with their 11th round pick. Check the link above for information on Jase Bowen. The interesting thing here is that he’s a two-sport athlete, with a commitment to Michigan State, but doesn’t sound like he’ll be extremely difficult to sign. He’s written a few articles on the scouting process leading up to the draft. Here is one where he describes hitting in front of scouts, and another about his commitment to MSU.

Bowen also played shortstop in high school, and there’s this video of him making a nice play.

Jase Bowen. That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/ttuESPBSbE

— BCSN (@BCSNsports) May 7, 2019

The Pirates announced him as an outfielder, but we’ll see if they try him out at short during his career. – TW

12:43 PM: Pirates took Clemson catcher Kyle Wilkie in the 12th round. Strong arm, played quarterback in high school. Has some overall defensive questions. Hit well the last two years as a full-time starter. He should see plenty of playing time with Morgantown. – JD

12:47 PM: 13th round pick Chase Murray was considered a good second day prospect after his sophomore year, but an oblique injury seems to have wrecked his junior year. He’s probably better than a day three talent, although he doesn’t project as an everyday player due to lack of power. – WTM

1:01 PM: 14th round pick Shackelford showed a lot of offense this past year, hitting for a .415/.519/1.096 line in 188 at-bats, with that massive slugging percentage being a result of 36 home runs. That’s a huge increase over his 2018 totals, when he had a .303/.409/.584 line with 11 homers in 178 at-bats. It’s hard to say how his offense will transfer over to pro ball, since it could be a product of playing against weaker in the NAIA talent while at an advanced age. But that increase this year does get your attention. – TW

1:19 PM: 16th rounder Eli Wilson’s dad, Dan, caught in the majors for a long time. Eli moved to catcher from short and is still learning the position. He’s very athletic and has good speed, and hit pretty well in what seems to have been a poor hitting environment at Minnesota. – WTM

1:20 PM: Pirates are having early success with 2018 17th round pick Brad Case out of Rollins College (who was just promoted), so they took another piece from their starting rotation with 15th round pick Garrett Leonard this year. – JD

1:42 PM: 17th rounder Ryan Harbin seems like a classic projectable prep pitcher. He throws from a three-quarters arm slot with easy arm action, and has a 6′ 4″, 195 pound frame (listed at 6′ 5″ some places). He only sits in the upper 80s, topping out in the low 90s. One interesting thing about him is that he did a good job fixing his control this year. He had a 2.10 ERA in 50 innings this year, with a 56:23 K/BB ratio. Most of the walks came early, with 16 walks in his first 14 innings. He only walked seven in his final 36 innings, so it seemed that something clicked for him.

Here is a quick video of him:

Ryan Harbin (2019 Bartow, FL) touching 88 MPH on the mound with good movement for Rawlings Legends 18U at the Upperclass #EastLaborDayClassic pic.twitter.com/aI3mMOqnQJ

— Perfect Game Tournaments (@PG_Tourney) August 31, 2018

He’s got a commitment to State College of Florida, which shouldn’t be too difficult to get him to break. – TW

1:52 PM: Pirates 18th round pick Will Simpson is a big first baseman with raw power, who makes consistent hard contact, uses the middle of the field, and has fared well against quality pitchers. He has also played third base and pitched in high school. Simpson is young for the draft class, turning 18 in late August. – JD

2:00 PM: 19th rounder Cory Wood is an offense-oriented second baseman. He doesn’t have much power, but hits for average and draws huge numbers of walks. That skill will need to translate to pro ball for him to advance. – WTM

2:21 PM: 20th rounder Jake Snider hasn’t hit for much power, but has the nickname “Postseason Jake” for big moments like this one from a few days ago:

… the 4th Champaign kid in this game, Jake Snider, with the Solo HR. Louisville up 3-1 in the 4th inning. pic.twitter.com/lwldctlA8y

— Andrew Cotner (@drewcotner) June 2, 2019

Louisville is still playing, so if Snider is going to sign, it won’t be until they are eliminated. – TW

3:02 PM: 23rd round pick Jasiah Dixon was rated 177th overall by Baseball America. They rate him with the skills to be a plus defender in center field, highlighted by plus-plus speed and a plus arm. The big question mark with him will be his hitting. It sounds like he’s got some good contact ability and raw power, but needs some mechanical and timing work. If he signs, he’ll be an interesting project to follow, especially with only one half of his game that really qualifies as a project. He has a commitment to USC. – TW

3:40 PM: Three straight college seniors (although Ethan Goforth is listed as a redshirt junior by his school), and we’re starting to get to the point where the Pirates are filling out some of their lower level rosters. That doesn’t mean there are no more prep picks (SEE: Herman, Jack, 30th rounder in 2018), and it doesn’t mean these guys will only be fillers. As for the updates here, we’ll keep adding notes when there’s something that stands out. – TW

4:24 PM: Dawson McCarville (30th round) has pitched over 160 innings of college ball the last two years, and he’s still a month shy of his 20th birthday. He showed improvements across the board in 2019, including a 2.02 ERA as the staff ace at Glendale CC. He has a commitment to D1 Grand Canyon Univ. for next season. – JD

4:59 PM: 32nd round pick Jake Wright is a redshirt sophomore, so no guarantee he signs. The Pirates did take his teammate, Cory Wood, in the 19th round. He had good numbers this year, with some power and strong plate patience. One thing that might work in the Pirates’ favor here is that he has probably been difficult to scout. He was injured (as a pitcher) during his senior year in high school, causing him to miss his freshman year as a redshirt. That came with South Carolina. The next year he transferred to Seminole State College, followed by a move to Coastal Carolina this year. Moving around (4 schools in 4 years), missing time with injuries, and moving full-time to the field the last two years probably made him a difficult guy to follow. – TW

5:12 PM: The Pirates announced shortstop Ernny Ordonez (33rd round) as a third baseman. He has put up big numbers in two seasons of JUCO, playing in a high offense environment, with his best stats coming as a freshman. He has a commitment to Kansas, so he could be a tough/over-slot sign. – JD

5:46 PM: Jake Sweeney (36th rd) is a huge lefty, who throws low-90s with very little control. Despite having a year of college, he doesn’t turn 19 until later this month. He originally committed to Arkansas, but went the JUCO route instead. – JD

Here’s a video:

5:48 PM: 35th round prep center fielder Deion Walker looks like a toolsy guy with a good build and some tools. He also posts a lot of videos to his Twitter, so here’s a look:

#Thagang made it to the Final Four, but none of us are ready to cash it in yet. I’m proud of everyone that was in the game, from the dugout, to the field, to the stands. The energy and competitiveness was contagious. Let’s keep it going! pic.twitter.com/RHJcW1yrNw

— Deion Walker (@watchdeionwalk) May 10, 2019

We went down to Colquitt and handled our business trip against two quality opponents. Proud of how everyone played and the energy we kept through the games. #onthagang2019 #hillgrovebaseball pic.twitter.com/o679kcNfAh

— Deion Walker (@watchdeionwalk) February 21, 2019

Another day of baseball with #thagang, we took care of business and are looking forward to our next game tomorrow! #hillgrovebaseball pic.twitter.com/mM8MDpJ4Vw

— Deion Walker (@watchdeionwalk) April 18, 2019

Deion Walker (#ChattValley recruit, @watchdeionwalk) helps himself out with an RBI single of his own. All tied up after 1. @hghawksbaseball pic.twitter.com/FeCZQOhQI4

— PBR Georgia (@PBRGeorgia) April 4, 2019

Walker has a commitment to Chattahoochee Valley CC, so there’s a chance that he won’t be as difficult to sign as you’d expect from a 35th round pick. – TW

6:28 PM: 38th round pick Christian Gordon is an interesting pick. He was listed as a right fielder, but was announced as a left-handed pitcher. That seems like a good call, based on his results this year. He had 48 strikeouts in his first 22.1 innings. He followed that up with a perfect game in April, striking out 13 of 15 on 64 pitches. A month later he threw a no-hitter, striking out nine. In between those starts he had a one-hitter, and he had a two-hitter after the perfect game. He throws 87-92 and has been more aggressive this year in filling up the zone and attacking hitters. He also throws a slider, changeup, and a new curveball that he attributes to his success with the strikeouts. He’s also seen more stamina this year, being able to go deeper in his starts. As an added Pirates-themed bonus, his head coach is Randy Tomlin. He has a commitment to Liberty University. – TW

6:40 PM: Daniel Ross (39th rd) grew up in Japan, the son of a US Navy man and a Japanese mother. He moved to the U.S. during high school, where he played baseball and football to fit in because he didn’t know the language. Ross went to college for three years, but injuries limited his time on the mound. That was followed by being discovered in a men’s baseball league throwing 93 MPH, which led him to Millersville University and eventually to being drafted. Here’s the detailed tale of his trip to pro ball. – JD

6:41 PM: One added note on 15th round pick Garrett Leonard. He threw a no-hitter last year in college and hit 95 MPH on the final pitch for a strikeout. I’m told that he has a tremendous work ethic, making everyone around him better. – JD

7:33 PM: That wraps up the 2019 draft, and this running thread. Thanks for following along, and for the great discussion that was happening in the comments. We’re working on the day three recap article, which will go up later tonight. – TW

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