Pittsburgh Pirates: Baseball America Mocks New Name in Latest Update

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of Major League Baseball will participate in some form of the Draft in 2020.  Here is who Baseball America is mocking to the Bucs.

Over the last few months, major amateur baseball sites have started to produce their content for the 2020 Major League Draft class.  This includes top overall prospect lists and mock drafts. The two most popular sites that cover the draft are Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are slated to have the seventh overall pick in the 2020 Draft.

With the team having such a high draft pick, Ben Cherington is in a position to add a significant talent to the minor league system and hopefully the Major League club one day.  Who could the team take with the 7th overall pick?  Well, barring any of the top five prospects falling to them, the team will likely be set to take a college arm at number seven.

In Baseball America’s previous mock draft, they had the Pittsburgh Pirates taking left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers, from Louisville.  He would immediately become the team’s top left-handed pitching prospect if the team went with him.

However, in Baseball America’s latest mock draft, which was published over the weekend, they had Detmers going to the Angels who have the 10th pick.  Instead, Baseball America is mocking a rising prospect, Max Meyer, to the Bucs.  This is the first time I have seen Meyer in the top 10 of a mock draft (on BA).

Meyer is a power right-handed starter who has really impressive stuff.  His fastball sits in the mid-90s consistently and he has a plus slider that he throws in the high 80s.  Furthermore, his changeup is considered a potential plus offering which would give him three quality out pitches.

The biggest question mark about Meyer, however, is that he only stands a 6’0”.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have always liked a big, projectable, right-handed pitcher.  Still, the team has a new Front Office and they could stray from that way of thinking.  This is something that the Baseball America team also pointed out in their mock draft.  Here is more from Baseball America on Meyer:

"“If you’re looking for the best pure stuff in the 2020 draft class, Max Meyer might be your guy…Meyer successfully transitioned to a starting role in 2019, when he posted a 2.11 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 76.2 innings. He took over the Friday night role this spring and was rapidly ascending draft boards before the season was cut short. Meyer has two 70-grade offerings with a fastball that he runs up to 97-98 and holds in the mid-90s deep into outings, along with the best slider in the 2020 class.”"

While Meyer may be undersized, it sounds like he has some of the most electric stuff in the draft class.  Being a college pitcher with such advanced pitches, Meyer could be a candidate to move through the minor league system quickly.  The fact that he has experience as a starter and a reliever could allow him to début quicker than most, à la David Price, Mike Leake, and Brandon Finnegan.

Max Meyer sounds like he could have a lot of upside despite his lack of physical projectability.  Still, the philosophy under the previous regime was to take these big, projectable pitchers.  This is something that did not exactly work out for Neal Huntington.

Ben Cherington has said it time and time again, that he wants to add the best talent possible. Max Meyer sounds like a pitcher who could have front of the rotation stuff and help the team sooner than later.  If Ben Cherington and assistant GM Steve Sanders believe his stuff will project long term as a starter, then he could be a really good get at number seven.