Pittsburgh Pirates: How Travis MacGregor Fits

The Pittsburgh Pirates have selected East Lake High School (Tarpon Springs, Florida) right handed pitcer Travis MacGregor in the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft at number 68.

Travis MacGregor is a 6’3″ and 180 pound right handed arm who will likely fit, like Nick Lodolo, in the upper teens. He is the typical Neal Huntington prep arm draft. He will start in the lower minors and the Pirates will take their time developing him and helping fill out his frame.

MacGregor currently sits in the low 90s and touches 94, and is committed to pitch at Clemson. The right hander will have plenty of time to develop, as he is 18 years and seven months old. By taking their time with MacGregor, they can help him refine for five or six years, putting him at 23 or 24 when he makes his Major League debut.

MLB Pipeline does not have MacGregor ranked in their top 200 draft prospects, and Baseball Amercia has him ranked as their 186th top prospect. The Clemson commit has the build and project ability to be a top pitching prospect in the system. His fastball can gain velocity as he matures and fills out, from touching 94 to sitting 94-96 and hitting upper 90s. That’s the type of frame the Pirates look for and that’s why they draft these frames, to develop pitchers with high velocity. His change-up has been improved his senior year and should be average according to Baseball America, and they also note he does have some feel for his breaking ball.

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MacGregor is a pick that should save the Pirates slot value money that can be used for other prep arms later in the draft that have fallen due to sign ability issues. He also will likely be a pitcher who takes their time developing into a top prospect.

MacGregor doesn’t have the same prospect ranking pre draft as Mitch Keller did, but there are similarities between the two pitchers. Both Keller and MacGregor stand at 6’3″ and are similar weights who sit in the lower 90s and touch 94.  The big difference between the two are the change-up and curveballs. Keller’s curveball was better than MacGregor’s coming into the draft, but MacGregor’s change-up was better than Keller’s coming into then draft. Keller, according to MLB Pipeline, ranks 14th in the Pirates system.

Related Story: More on MacGregor

MacGregor can reach that same ranking once he fills out a tad more and gets more feel for his other pitches. He’s the typical high school arm that Neal Huntington picks. A high school arm that should sit mid 90s by the time he reaches the Major Leagues is the pick that has almost become the stereotypical Neal Huntington pick. With the current set of draft rules, jumping on a player who has great project ability and is a late bloomer in round two can set up the mid rounds where they can just throw money and go overslot to other high school players in the hopes of getting another Tyler Glasnow.