MLB Draft Results: Pirates select Austin Meadows (OF) and Reese McGuire (C) in first round

The Pirates had the 9th and 14th pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft tonight and scooped up two players out of high school.

They were given the 9th pick due to their inability to sign Mark Appel at last year’s draft, and selected Austin Meadows, an outfielder from Grayson High School in Georgia. Meadows is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound left handed hitter who batted .535 with 28 RBIs his senior year and is expected to mix in the outfield sometime in the future with Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte.

The Pirates might not be in need all that much of a young outfielder, but Meadows was the best player available, and the Pirates didn’t want to pass up on him. He’s compared to Jacoby Ellsbury and should be up in the Pirates organization as an outfielder if he’s able to outperform other players like Gregor Polanco, Josh Bell, and Jerry Sands.

With the 14th pick, the Bucs selected Reese McGuire, a catcher from Kentwood High School in Covington, Washington. The 18-year old backstop was committed to San Diego to play college baseball, and the Bucs will have to put together a pretty solid offer in able to sign him. He isn’t the biggest catcher in the draft, but his defense caught the eyes of scouts, and he was rated the second best defensive highs school player by Baseball America.

“These were the best players available on our board. We really liked the upside,” said general manager Neal Huntington. (@MichaelWaterloo)

The Pirates were able to pull off, what some are calling, a haul for the 9th and 14th overall picks. Both players were projected to be selected higher, and Pirate fans should be looking forward to the two players selected in the first round tonight.