Pittsburgh Pirates: 2016 Draft Prospect Round

Like the weekly “Prospect Roundup” that is posted every Wednesday, Thursdays will be dedicated to how the 2016 draft picks are fairing. The article will mainly look at the top ten picks from the Pittsburgh Pirates draft.

Obviously Nick Lodolo will not be included as he did not sign, therefore 11th round pick Max Kranick will be on the list. This works out as Kranick was considered a high upside pick (ranked in the top 100 draft prospects). The players will go in the order they were drafted.

Will Craig, 3B, WV Black Bears: .198 BA, 8 RBI, 1 home-run, .680 OPS

Travis MacGregor, RHP, GCL: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6K/3BB (3 games started)

Stephen Alemais, SS, WV Black Bears: .246 BA, 6 RBI, .556 OPS

Braeden Ogle, LHP, GCL: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1K/0BB (1 game started)

Blake Cederlind, RHP, Bristol: 0-1, 6.57 ERA, 10K/6BB (5 games started)

Cam Vieaux, LHP, WV Black Bears: 0-1, 3.76 ERA, 15K/13BB (6 games started)

Brent Gibbs, C, Bristol: .167 BA, 4 RBI, .553 OPS

Dylan Prohoroff, RHP, WV Black Bears: 0-1. 5.11 ERA, 14K/6BB (8 games, no starts)

Clark Eagen, OF, WV Black Bears: .254 BA, 9 RBI, .674 OPS

Matt Anderson, RHP, WV Black Bears: 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 19K/3BB (4 games, 3 starts)

Max Kranick, RHP, GCL: 0-1, 8.31 ERA, 3K/1BB (2 games, 1 relief)

So far this is a mixed bag of results from this year’s draft class. With that there is a couple of things to keep in mind. First off, most of the pitchers are working on a small amount of appearances. Their earned run averages can fluctuate very easily based on just one bad appearance. For instance Blake Cederlind gave up 5 earned runs in an appearance that is why his earned run average is over six. In all he has actually pitched pretty well. Also none of these pitchers have wins. To qualify for a win a pitcher must throw at least five innings, most of these pitchers are not going to throw more than two innings, especially the prep arms.

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On the hitting prospect side of things there has not been much to talk about. Obviously, like the pitchers, this is a very small sample size as they have only been playing for a few weeks. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that these prospect are hitting with wooden bats. All of these players were college hitters and in college baseball they do not use wooden bats. Most college hitters never use wooden bats, unless they do it in their summer league. This is a big adjustment for some players. Last year, Kevin Newman hit .226 for the West Virginia Black Bears, this was attributed to his adjustment to wooden bats. Also, the parks in Short-Season A ball (WV BB and Bristol) are known as pitcher friendly league, so that does not help the matter.

The biggest disappointment thus far has to be first round pick Will Craig. Even with the adjustments that he is going through, you would like to see your first round pick hit above .200. The best story thus far is second round pick Travis MacGregor. He has made three starts and has not given up a run in 8.1 innings thus far.

Thoughts on the draftees so far? Comment below.

All Stats Courtesy of Baseball Reference

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