Pittsburgh Pirates: Ranking Neal Huntington’s First-Round Picks Part Two

Number 7 – Pitcher Quinn Priester

Entering the 2019 MLB Draft, righty Quinn Priester was viewed by many as the best prep pitcher in the draft. When the Pittsburgh Pirates made their selection with the 18th overall pick Priester was still on the board, and Huntington pounced.

Priester was selected out of Cary-Grove High School in Cary, Illinois, and he has quickly risen to being one of the Pirates’ top pitching prospects. He has also become a top 100 prospect in baseball. There may not be a player on this list with more room to grow moving forward than Priester.

After being drafted last summer, Priester pitched in nine games for the GCL Pirates with eight of them being starts. In these nine outings he logged 36.2 innings of work, allowing 32 hits, a home run, he walked 14 batters, and struck out 41. He posted a 3.19 ERA in his 36.2 innings of work.

Priester is a prospect that will be hurt by a lack of a minor league season in 2020. More than anything, the 19-year-old just needs innings and reps right now. Two things we will not get without a minor league system. Regardless, Priester appears to have all of the tools needed to be the ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation one day.

Number 6 – Shortstop Cole Tucker

2014 was the first of back-to-back drafts in which Huntington drafted a shortstop in the 1st round. The 2014 shortstop he took in the 1st round was the switch hitting, slick fielding Cole Tucker.

Tucker was touted as Gold Glove caliber shortstop with work to do offensively. That is exactly the player Tucker has been in his career. Although, since the start of 2018 Tucker has been an above average hitter in the minor leagues.

Due to injuries, Tucker made his MLB debut in 2019. While he hit what was essentially a walk off home run in his first career game, he hit a home run in the bottom of the 5th inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants to give the Pirates the lead and the game would then be called due to rain, it was obvious he was not ready offensively. Even though he finished the season strong, he still posted just a .211/.266/.361 slash line and a 61 wRC+ at the MLB level. However, his .150 ISO and 10.2% extra base hit rate were both encouraging.

Signs still point toward Tucker being the team’s shortstop of the future. New general manager Ben Cherington and his front office partners view Tucker as a future star at the shortstop position. While the shortstop position is currently occupied by a player we will get to later on the list, it would not be a surprise to see that player move to second base with Tucker taking over at shortstop.

Number 5 – Outfielder Austin Meadows

For a long time outfielder Austin Meadows looked like he would become a major part of the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates. From the time he was selected with the 9th overall pick in the 2013 draft, he became one of the top prospects in all of baseball.

After battling injuries for much of his minor league career, the lefty outfielder made his MLB debut with the Pirates in May 2018. In 2018 he logged 165 plate appearances in 49 games with the Pirates. He hit for a .292/.327/.468 slash line to go with a 111 wRC+ and appeared to be a star in the making.

Well, his Pirate career came to an abrupt end on July 31, 2018. It was on this day Meadows was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the Chris Archer trade. A trade that now stands as arguably the worst in Pirate history.

After having a cup of coffee with the Rays in September 2018, he burst onto the scene in 2019. Meadows reached his star potential batting for a .291/.364/.558 slash line to go with 33 home runs, a 142 wRC+ and a 4.0 fWAR. This led to Meadows making the first of what will undoubtedly be multiple All-Star Game appearances.

Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates will always wonder ‘what if?’ with Meadows. What if Huntington had not traded him to Tampa Bay? Imagine an outfield anchored by Meadows and Bryan Reynolds for the next 5-7 seasons. One thing that is for certain is if Meadows had not been traded, he would likely be even higher on this list.

Number 4 – Shortstop Kevin Newman

Had Meadows not been traded, he’d likely slot into this spot with Kevin Newman at number 5. While Newman had a terrific rookie campaign in 2019, he has just one strong season under his belt to Meadows’ two. Additionally, Meadows is a better hitter than Newman. But I digress.

Newman started the 2019 season as a bench bat for the Pirates. After a short stint on the injured list, he took off at the plate and won the team’s starting shortstop job. Playing in 130 games, Newman accumulated 531 plate appearances in his first full MLB season. He hit for a .308/.353/.446 slash line to go with a 110 wRC+, finishing the season with a 2.4 fWAR. He showed a knack for clutchness as he led the team with four walk off hits.

While, as I covered earlier in the offseason, there is reason for concern about Newman’s offense whenever play does resume, he appears to be an above average utility man at worst. At best, he could be one of the best middle infielders in the National League. Especially if he moves to second base where he is better suited defensively.

Regardless, to Newman’s credit, he grabbed the bull by the horns in 2019. He locked up a starting job, rather it be at shortstop or second base, and, for now at least, the job as the team’s primary lead off hitter as well.

Number 3 – Pitcher Jameson Taillon

There might be an argument to be made for putting Newman here. However, pitcher Jameson Taillon gets the nod due to having more than one season of above league average production under his belt.

Bryce Harper went 1st overall in the 2010 draft. With the 2nd pick in the draft that year, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Taillon. Unfortunately, it would not take long for the injury bug to start to bite Taillon.

Before making his MLB debut in 2016, Taillon had already undergone Tommy John Surgery and a hernia procedure. When he did finally reach the MLB level, it did not take Taillon long to make an impact. As a rookie in 2016, he posted a 1.7 fWAR, 3.38 ERA, 3.71 FIP, and logged 104 innings in 18 starts.

Taillon followed that up with 133.2 innings of 4.44 ERA, 3.48 FIP, and 3.2 fWAR baseball across 25 starts. Unfortunately, he would again miss time in 2017. This was due to being diagnosed with testicular cancer, further adding to the theory that Taillon might be the most unlucky man in the MLB.

2018 would be the one year Taillon spent an entire season at the MLB level and healthy. In 32 starts, he logged 191 innings. He posted a 3.20 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 3.9 fWAR, and was the only NL pitcher to have multiple complete games.

Taillon entered 2019 looking to solidify himself as one of the best starting pitchers in the NL. However, the injury bug bit again as he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery again after making just 7 starts.

Through the first 4 seasons of his MLB career, Taillon has posted a 3.67 ERA, 3.55 FIP and a 9.5 fWAR. These results have come in 466 innings of work across 82 starts. When healthy, Taillon appeared to be a rising star among NL starting pitchers. Hopefully, he can get back on the mound in 2021 and pick up where he left off prior to his most recent Tommy John Surgery.

Number 2 – Third Baseman/First Baseman Pedro Alvarez

The first pick Huntington ever made as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates was third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Huntington drafted Alvarez with the 2nd overall pick in the 2008 draft out of Vanderbilt.

Despite his shortcomings, Alvarez was one of the team’s most important players from 2012 – 2015. Alvarez was known for his big power, high strikeouts and poor defense that eventually moved him to first base with the Pirates. While he may have never lived up to what was expected from a player that was drafted number two overall, he still had a very good career with the Pirates.

In 742 games with the Pirates, Alvarez hit for a .236/.309/.441 slash line with a 106 wRC+, .205 ISO, 131 home runs, and an extra base hit rate of 9.8%. This came in 2,784 plate appearances in a Pirate uniform.

Those overall numbers do not do Alvarez justice, though. After a dreadful 2011 season, he turned a corner in 2012. From 2012 – 2015, Alvarez owned a 110 wRC+, .218 ISO, he crushed 111 home runs, and owned a 10.1% extra base hit rate in 573 games played. In these four seasons, he was worth a fWAR of 6.1.

While there is an argument to be made to have Alvarez 3rd and Taillon 2nd on this list, what gives Alvarez the edge is his postseason prowess. He missed the postseason in 2014 due to a foot injury, but in the 2013 and 2015 postseasons he combined to slash .261/.308/.696 with 3 home runs, a 17.4% extra base hit rate, a .435 ISO, and a 166 wRC+. Hell, Alvarez nearly single handily carried the Pirates past the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 NLDS.

Following the 2015 season, Alvarez was designated for assignment. He then signed with the Baltimore Orioles and played for the O’s from 2016 – 2018. He has not appeared in a MLB game since 2018.

Number 1 – Pitcher Gerrit Cole

Huntington had the number 1 overall pick in the draft just once. This came in 2011 and his one and only number 1 overall pick was also Huntington’s best first-round draft pick. That player? Pitcher Gerrit Cole.

Cole was selected out of UCLA, and was in the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation by June 2013. Cole spent five years anchoring the Pirate rotation, and, like Alvarez, was key cog in the team making the postseason in 2013 – 2015.

During his Pirate career Cole owned a 3.50 ERA, 3.27 FIP,6.3% walk rate, and a 22.8% strikeout rate in 782.1 innings pitched in 127 starts. All of this led to him being worth 15.5 fWAR in his Pirate career.

His best season in Pittsburgh came in 2015 when the Pirates won 98 games. Cole made 32 starts logging 208 innings. He posted a 2.60 ERA, 2.66 FIP, a 5.1 fWAR, and finished 3rd in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Cole’s career in Pittsburgh ended in January 2018 when Huntington traded him to the Hosuton Astros for four players. After arriving in Houston, Cole started to evolve into arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball while the players the Pirates got in return have all been below MLB average players with the exception of Joe Musgrove. This would prove to be the beginning of a chain of events that would lead to Huntington getting fired 22 months later.

That does it for ranking Huntington’s first-round draft picks as GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Do you agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments below!