Pittsburgh Pirates 2017 MLB Draft: 3rd Round Pick

 The 2017 MLB Draft is into its second day. The Pittsburgh Pirates had four picks during day one. The Bucs will now draft rounds 3-10 today.  With that, they have made their third round selection.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Neal Huntington have added a third base prospect with their third round pick. The Bucs had the number 88 overall pick. With the number 88 pick, the Bucs have selected Dylan Busby.  Busby is a third baseman/outfielder from Florida State University. Although, he is athletic enough and should stay at third.  He is listed as 6’3” and 185 pounds.  Also, Busby throws and bats right handed.He is known for his power and led the Seminoles in home runs in 2016 with 14.  He is ranked as Baseball America’s 129th best prospect.  Meanwhile, MLB Pipeline has him rated as the 185th best prospect.  Here is what MLB Pipeline has on Busby:

“By the second half of the season, his hips were exploding better and the power started to show up consistently. There is some swing and miss to his game, but he can be an effective hitter when he uses the entire field. Busby is fairly athletic and some give him a chance to stick at third with a decent arm and hands. Others see him moving to first or perhaps being able to handle left field.Wherever he plays, he looks like he has the power to profile at any corner. College performers with pop tend to do better than expected and Busby could go easily in the top five rounds, easily surpassing his father, a 17th-rounder in 1988.”

This is a safe pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His skill set and build suggests that he profiles as a typical third base prospect or left fielder. He played both positions in college. He is big with pop to all fields.  Also that fact that he is athletic suggests that he likely able to play multiple positions, something the Bucs like in a player.  The biggest issue obviously is his swing and miss potential. This past season Busby struck out 59 times in 60 games played.  This is something that the Bucs have tended to stay away from in recent draft.

Next: Shane Baz, First Round Pick

The best thing about this pick is that fact that it is a safe pick.  He is a college third baseman/outfielder who is going to sign.  They should be able to save some money and use it to help sign Shane Baz and Connor Uselton. Furthermore, third base is a position of little depth in the organization outside of Ke’Bryan Hayes. So the  Bucs may be adding another decent third base prospect.