Pittsburgh Pirates: Baseball America Projects 2021 Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates just finished up their 2020 Major League Baseball Draft.  What could the 2021 draft look like for the Bucs?

Let’s face it, this is a tough time for baseball, its fans, and anyone involved with the game.  With no baseball and the 2020 draft all wrapped up, all we can do as fans is wait and hold out hope that these two sides can figure something out.  Therefore, what better time than now to take a look at the 2021 draft class and what the Pittsburgh Pirates could do next year.

Recently, Baseball America posted an article called the “Way to Early” 2021 Mock Draft.  This outlined which teams they believe will be in the top 10 of the draft.  They then go on to mock a player to each team, giving their thoughts on who the top 10 talents are in the 2020 Class.

In this scenario, the site has the Pittsburgh Pirates drafting fifth overall.  If there is a shortened season then who knows what the standings could look like in the end.  However, Baseball America used FanGraph’s 2020 projections, which gave the Pirates the fifth worst record.  Furthermore,  this would give the Bucs the second worst record in the National League behind the Marlins, which is how the draft was this year.

With that being said, Baseball America is projecting UCLA shortstop Matt McLain at pick number five.  McClain is considered to be one of the best all-around players in next year’s draft, having a plus bat, plus speed, and plus defensive ability.  Furthermore, he was one of the Bruins best hitters in 2019, slashing .397/.422/621 through 13 games.  Here is more on McLain from Baseball America:

McLain was drafted in the back of the first round by the Diamondbacks in 2018, but opted to not sign and went to UCLA…building on an all-star summer in the Cape Cod League. He’s tapped into more power than expected out of high school

This would be an interesting selection after Ben Cherington used his 2020 first-round pick on infielder Nick Gonzales.  Gonzales will likely see time at both shortstop and second base upon entering the Pirates system.  Grabbing another high upside college bat would give the team a nice wave of fast-moving bats to go along with their upside prospect arms.