Pittsburgh Pirates: 2015 Draft Pick Review

Seventh Round Pick, Mitchell Tolman, Third Baseman

Tolman was an interesting pick out of Oregon.  The Pirates system has been weak at the third base position, but they decided to not only add Hayes in he first round, but a college bat in Tolman also.  He was expected to be a quick and easy sign and he was.

Tolman got to play in 63 games for Short-Season Morgantown (NYPL).  He played very well batting .304 with a 817 OPS.  He has not missed a beat in the 2016 season either.  He is now playing at Low-A West Virginia and is batting .283 on the season with a .799 OPS in 62 games.  Tolman may find himself at Low-A for the rest of the year however, as Ke’Bryan Hayes is likely ahead of him on the prospect depth chart.

Eighth Round Pick, Seth McGarry, Florida Atlantic University

If Jacob Taylor is considered to be a future closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates then McGarry will be the future setup guy.  McGarry is undersize in terms for a right-handed pitcher standing at only 6’0”, but his mid 90’s fastball makes up for it.  McGarry started in 12 games between the Gulf Coast League and Short-Season Morgantown (NYPL) in 2015.  He threw 51 innings and owned a 3.88 ERA.

For 2016, the Pittsburgh Pirates organization decided to start using McGarry out of the bullpen.  This was expected as many scouts believed he would be better suited for the bullpen. McGarry finds himself at Low-A West Virginia.  He has thrown in 37 innings so far.  His ERA is at 3.41 so far and he has struck out exactly one batter per inning at 37.  McGarry likely will be moved up to High-A by the end of the season.

Next: Helton and Sendelbach