Players You Forgot The Pittsburgh Pirates Drafted: Part 3

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FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 29: Ke’Bryan Hayes #13 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the spring training game against the Minnesota Twins at Century Link Sports Complex on February 29, 2020 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

The Pittsburgh Pirates have chosen many different players who have become successful Major League players. But did you know they drafted these four? There is a good chance that you did not!

The MLB draft is where many teams find their next star. That’s how the Pittsburgh Pirates found players such as Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and many more. But, sometimes, the team is unable to sign players and they get redrafted the next year. Other times, they are traded before they make their debut, and sometimes their tenure with the team that drafted them is just forgotten.

Every MLB team can make an All-Star quality lineup and pitching staff from players that their fans have likely forgotten that their team drafted. Unfortunately, the Pirates are no different than the rest of baseball when it comes to this.

Today, let’s go over yet another list of names you likely forgot the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted. If you are looking for a specific name that the Pirates drafted not many know about, I probably talked about it in parts one or two. But it would likely be a lot less painful for you if you did not reopen some of those wounds.

Bronson Arroyo

Bronson Arroyo was selected by the Pirates in the 3rd round of the 1995 MLB Draft. Arroyo was never a top prospect, but he did post some pretty solid numbers in the minors including in 1996 when he had a 3.51 ERA and 3.59 FIP. He also showed great control when he walked batters at a 5% rate in 1997.

Arroyo did make his debut with the Pirates. In 2000, Arroyo pitched in 20 games, 12 being starts, but surrendered 50 earned runs, 88 hits, 10 home runs, and 36 walks to combat 56 strike outs in 71.2 innings. He also pitched pretty poorly in 2001 (5.09 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.51 WHIP) and only logged 27 innings in 2002. Overall, his Pirates tenure ended with a 5.44 ERA, 4.97 FIP, and 1.62 WHIP in 187 innings of work.

He was eventually claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox in 2003, and that is where he would become the durable Major League starter we know today. From 2004 up until his final full season in 2013, Arroyo posted a 4.10 ERA, 4.52 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP. He is best known for his Cincinnati Reds tenure from 2006 to 2013, and a short send off tour in 2017. Although he was an overall a slightly average pitcher with a 105 ERA+, Arroyo failed to reach 200 innings just once between 2005 to 2013. That one year in 2011 when he didn’t reach 200 innings, he missed it by just 1.

Lonnie Chisenhall

Hey, remember that guy the Pittsburgh Pirates signed last offseason who played a few spring training games, got injured, and was never heard from again? Well his name was Lonnie Chisenhall, and he was originally drafted by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 2006 MLB Draft.

Chisenhall chose not to sign with the Pirates and instead attended the University of South Carolina. He would then be selected by the Cleveland Indians in 1st round of the 2008 draft. Chisenhall looked like the Indians’ next star as he was putting up pretty good numbers throughout the minors. He even ranked as high as the 25th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America in 2010.

But like his Pirates tenure, his career was completely derailed by injuries.

Even though he made his debut in 2011, the corner infielder/outfielder reached 500 plate appearances in a season just once in eight different years. However, he was a pretty good bat when he was healthy. In his final 783 plate appearances of his career, Chisenhall posted a .291/.347/.468 line, and 111 OPS+. That was enough for the Pirates to decide to give him a contract, but we all know how that turned out. Chisenhall officially announced his retirement on February 23rd, 2020. Sadly, his career will go down as another one of the “what-if’s” in baseball history.

Jeremy Guthrie

In 2001, the Pittsburgh Pirates used their 3rd round pick to select right handed pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. However, the team was unable to sign the right-handed pitcher. Guthrie eventually entered the draft again in 2002, one of the worst in Pirates’ history, and was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round.

Guthrie showed some promise early on in his career, ranking as the 70th and 53rd best prospects in baseball in 2003 and 2004 (Baseball America), but his tenure with the Indians would be very short. Guthrie made his debut in 2004, and remained in the Indians organization until 2006. His MLB tenure with the Orioles consisted of just 37 innings where he surrendered 25 earned runs, 5 home runs, issued 25 walks, and struck out just 24 batters.

Although he was never a great pitcher, he, like Arroyo, would become a solid, durable starter for a handful of years. From 2007 to 2014, Guthrie pitched to the tune of a 4.18 ERA, 4.67 FIP and 1.31 WHIP. He walked only 6.5% of the batters he faced. He also averaged nearly 200 innings a season with the Orioles, Rockies and Royals. He also got the ball from Royals’ manager Ned Yost in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.

Jake Lamb

Arizona Diamondbacks’ slugger, Jake Lamb, was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 38th round of the 2009 draft. Lamb didn’t sign with the Bucs that year, and would eventually be picked by the Diamondbacks in the 6th round of the 2012 draft.

Lamb quickly found his way throughout pro ball. In his first two professional seasons in 2012 and 2013, he posted an OPS above .900 in both years. In 2014, he had a minor league OPS of .973, and was ranked as the 78th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America.

However, the success Lamb had with the bat in the minors didn’t translate to the MLB immediately. His first 523 plate appearances in 2014 and 2015 yielded a line of just .254/.314/.382 with an 88 OPS+ and 10 home runs. However, he did post some pretty good numbers at the hot corner including a +16 defensive runs saved mark, 4.3 UZR and .4 range runs.

But in 2016 and 2017, Lamb would have almost identically strong seasons back-to-back. Overall, he hit .248/.345/.498 with 59 long balls and a 113 OPS+. Lamb’s power finally came around with 29 home runs in 2015 and 30 in 2016. He also had an isolated slugging of .249. But as his defense took off, his defense was some of the worst in baseball (-14 DRS, -19.3 UZR, -13.9 range runs). Regardless, he made the All-Star Game in 2016.

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But in the last two seasons, Lamb has regressed back to a glove only kind of player. He has hit just .208/.315/.350 with a dozen home runs. However, his glove has bounced back to a +6 DRS, -1.6 UZR and -3 range runs. But some of his struggles can be attributed to his struggles with injuries. He has played just 134 games in total the past two years after playing 300 in 2016 and 2017.

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