Pittsburgh Pirates: New Mock Draft with Prep Pitchers

The MLB Draft is officially just days away.  The Pittsburgh Pirates will be on the clock at pick ten on Monday, June 4th. Here is the latest mocked pick for the Bucs.

Well, it is officially MLB draft month.  With the calendar turning from May to June today, the biggest event on the MLB calendar for the month is the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are picking in the top 10 for the first time since 2013.  This is always exciting as the Bucs are looking to add another premium prospect to a system that is slowly becoming one of the better ones in baseball once again.

So what type of player could the Pittsburgh Pirates look to add this year at pick number 10?  Last year the team invested the number 12 overall pick by taking prep righty Shane Baz.  In the previous three drafts, the team went for infield hitters taking Will Craig (’16), Kevin Newman (’15), and Cole Tucker (’14). So could the Pittsburgh Pirates look at maybe an outfield bat, or could they go pitching once more?  Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline has the Bucs taking in his latest mock draft right-handed prep pitcher Cole Winn.  Here is some of Mayo’s analysis on the Bucs pick at number 10:

"“The Pirates are leaning high school, though they’ll react accordingly should a college player fall to them or they want to consider someone like Gilbert. While a bat like Kelenic could be in play, it’s mostly been arms being mentioned…”"

Winn is a right-handed pitcher out of Orange Lutheran High School in California.  He has an average build for a right-handed starter, standing at 6’2”, but of course he has room to fill out weighing 195 pounds. He is one of the younger prep pitchers being that he will not turn 19 until the end of this calendar year.  According to scouting reports from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, Winn’s fastball sits 92-94 and he carries the velocity deep into games.  Furthermore, he has a power slider and a 12-6 curveball.  Both pitches are supposedly above average.  The only pitch that is missing is a changeup, something that the Pittsburgh Pirates are known for focusing on in the minors. He could join Shane Baz and make a nice one-two punch down the road.

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Prep Arm a Lock?

Other names that Mayo suggests are of course outfielder Jared Kelenic, who has been mocked to the Pittsburgh Pirates before.  However, the Bucs added multiple prep outfielders in last years draft and could add more with their pick at number 36 or number 51.  Mayo also adds big prep Texas righty Grayson Rodriguez, prep lefty Ryan Weathers, and 6’6” prep arm Carter Stewart as potential picks.  One other thing to keep in mind is that Jonathan Mayo has a lot of connections to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.  He is from New Castle, Pennsylvania and always has a good handle on the team’s farm system.  So if he is getting the feeling that the team is leaning toward prep arms then they most likely are.  He does note that they could look at the college ranks if someone slips, which happens every year.