Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: FanGraphs Projects Top Four Picks

So far, all the major mock drafts have only previewed the Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick.  Yesterday, Fangraphs has released their mock draft for the first overall day.

This coming Monday will be the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.  This is one of the most important events of the year for the Pittsburgh Pirates and all the other teams in the league.  This is the chance for the Bucs to build up their farm system and find some premium prospects to help them sustain success.

This year the Bucs will have four picks on the first day of the draft.  They have two first round picks at number 18 and number 37 overall.  The 18th pick is their traditional first round pick, while the number 37 pick is compensation for their failure to sign Gunnar Hoglund last year.  Then the team will make two selections in the second round at number 57 and number 72 overall.  Once again, their 57th pick is their traditional second round pick and their number 72 pick is from the Competitive Balance lottery.

The team should have a great opportunity to add a few top prospects.  However, it is hard to say who will be available to them at those other picks.  Most mock drafts that are out now are covering the first 32 picks, or the first round.  Therefore, only one of the Pittsburgh Pirates picks is being projected by these sites.  Finally, FanGraphs has released their updated mock draft that covers the whole first day of the Draft.

In their updated mock draft they have the Pittsburgh Pirates taking right-handed prep pitcher Quinn Priester.  Priester is a 6’3” power arm out of a high school in Illinois.  He already can hit as high as 97 on the gun.  However, his low 90s two-seam fastball is considered his best pitch, something that definitely would interest the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Then with the next pick, they projected the Bucs to take another prep player in Gunnar Henderson.  Henderson has been mocked to the Bucs at pick number 18 as well, which will make in interesting to see if he lasts until pick number 37.  Henderson is a projectable power-hitting shortstop from a high school in Alabama.  Both of these names have been linked to the Bucs in several mock drafts.

For the Bucs second round picks, FanGraphs projects a high school and college combination.  With the 57th pick, they have the team selecting Texas high school right-hander Jimmy Lewis.  Lewis is 6’6” and already weighs 200 pounds.  The LSU commit has a projectable frame with a fastball that already reaches 95 miles per hour.

With the last pick at number 72 overall they have the Pittsburgh Pirates taking Duke left-hander Graeme Stinson.  Stinson is an interesting prospect who could fill a big hole in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, that being no real quality left-handed pitching prospects.  He is 6’5” and is already filled out at 260 pounds.  His fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s.  The big concern with Stinson is that he has had trouble staying healthy this year.

These all seem like really solid picks for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The team loves to get big, projectable right-handed pitchers.  They also get a much-needed shortstop prospect as well as as a left-handed pitching prospect.  While this is just a mock draft, this would make out to be a very good haul for the Pittsburgh Pirates.