Baseball America posted their list of the top 14 late round sleepers in the 2019 draft on Thursday. The Pittsburgh Pirates were represented by two players on the list, with 18-year-old outfielder Jasiah Dixon taking the top spot and Deion Walker, another 18-year-old outfielder, getting ranked tenth overall.
Late round here is considered to be any day three pick in the draft, covering rounds 11-40. Counting every player who signed after the tenth round this year, you’re basically looking at the best out of approximately 700 players according to Baseball America.
Dixon signed in early July for $225,000 after being selected in the 23rd round. He had a commitment to USC, which caused him to drop in the draft. He debuted in the GCL on July 16th and hit .329/.417/.425 in 22 games, with five doubles, a triple and eight stolen bases. We rated him as the third best prospect on the GCL Pirates this year behind first round pick Quinn Priester and 37th overall pick Sammy Siani.
Walker (pictured above) was the last player to sign with the Pirates, inking his deal on July 9th. He received $200,000 as a 35th round pick, which basically maxed on the team’s bonus pool. He debuted a week after Dixon and also played 22 games, hitting .270/.329/.459, with five doubles, three triples and a homer.
If you missed it from last week, both Dixon and Walker were mentioned as our possible breakout hitters in one article, followed by a mention in our article about prospects who could sneak into the top 20 next season.
