Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Former Late Round Draft Picks to Watch

Outfielder Braylon Bishop

This one might feel a bit like cheating, but the Pirates got a huge draft steal in the 14th round of this year’s draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected highly athletic high school outfielder Braylon Bishop with the 403rd overall selection. Bishop was originally projected to go within the first 100 picks, but because of his commitment to college, he ended up in the 14th round.

Bishop was highly praised for his athleticism. He has the speed you want to see from a center fielder, as well as the glove and arm. All three tools rate as above average according to MLB Pipeline, but his speed is his best tool right now coming in with a 60-grade. He also generates a fair amount of power from his bat speed and strong 6’2″, 193 pound frame. Just look at the lighting-fast rate he moves the bat through the zone:

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The only real knock on Bishop is that he can get swing-happy against better pitching. He only has a 45-grade hit tool, according to Pipeline, which still is his only below-average tool. But right now, that shouldn’t be a major concern. He’s still only 18-years-old and won’t turn 19 until late August.

Bishop is one of the highest ceiling outfielders currently in the Pirate organization. He has speed, excellent defense, a strong arm, and some pop. He might need to work on his ability to make contact, but there are no major red flags or any real negatives that come with an 18-year-old.

Reliever Tyler Samaniego

One round later after the Pirates drafted Braylon Bishop, the Pirates picked up left-handed relief pitching prospect Tyler Samaniego. The southpaw is coming out of the University of Southern Alabama. During his final season, Samaniego posted a 4.08 ERA and poor 12.2% walk rate but punched out batters at a 36.4% pace while allowing just 1 home run in 17.2 innings of work.

Samaniego pitched a few innings with the Bradenton Marauders. He tallied 7 innings, allowing just a single earned run, struck out 15 of the 28 batters he faced, allowed just 2 walks, and one home run. Overall, he had a pretty good start to his pro career. He also had a 50% ground ball rate and 0.77 xFIP.

Samaniego works in the mid-to-upper-90’s. He also uses a slider to get outs. He has the typical relief pitcher repertoire, but the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t had a consistently good lefty relief pitcher for a handful of seasons since another later-round draft pick, Tony Watson. Next year will be his age-23 campaign. Since he did well in his brief stint at Low-A he has a good chance to get things kicked off at High-A Greensboro, possibly even Double-A if the Pittsburgh Pirates feel aggressive.

Samaniego has late-inning arm written all over him. He might have been a late-round pick, but the Pirates could use another lefty reliever from within the system. Currently, their only lefty relievers are Sam Howard and Anthony Banda. Given his age, he’s a potential rookie reliever you could even see late into 2022 if he continues to perform anything as he did in his first taste of professional action.

Pitcher Trey McGough

Another left-handed pitcher, Trey McGough, a Johnstown, PA, native, could be in the Majors as soon as early next season. McGough was a 24th round pick. He might not be a highly touted pitching prospect like Quinn Priester or Roansy Contreras, but to get even a back-of-the-rotation arm or solid swingman from a 24th round selection is a win.

Last season McGough spent most of his season at Double-A Altoona. He pitched very solid as well. In 95 innings, the southpaw had a 3.41 ERA, 3.55 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP. He wasn’t a big strikeout pitcher, getting only 19.7% of batters to go down on strike three. But he limited walks at a 5.4% rate. Plus he surrendered just 7 home runs for a 0.66 HR/9.

McGough wasn’t just good at limiting walks, but he was also good at keeping the ball on the ground. The southpaw got batters to hit a ground ball 46.8% of the time while having a phenomenal 14.2% line drive rate. That helped to keep the ball in the yard.

McGough mainly worked as a starting pitcher this year but worked solely as a reliever in 2019. As a reliever, he struck out 29.5% of batters faced, so maybe he can get his K% back into the 20-22% range now that he’s gotten used to starting full time. As you could probably tell, Trey isn’t a hard thrower. He only averages out in the low-90’s with his fastball. He also throws a curveball and slider.

McGough will probably start 2022 at Triple-A Indianapolis. His solid work at Double-A earned the promotion and it will also be his age-24 season. He could be called up early in the year if the team doesn’t want to promote another top prospect too early, or if injuries occur. He could also give the team a solid left-handed pitcher right now. Outside of Jose Quintana, the only LHPs currently on the 40-man roster are Howard, Banda, and Dillon Peters. It’s far from a guarantee that any of the three survive the offseason on the 40-man.

Pitcher Michael Burrows

Michael Burrows was the Bucs’ 11th round pick in 2018. The right-hander’s first two seasons in pro ball were so-so. He started off reeling off 14 straight scoreless innings. But while he pitched decently and only allowed 2 home runs in 57.2 innings, Burrows walked a fair amount of batters and didn’t strike out very many either.

Burrows pitched the entire 2021 season at High-A Greensboro. The late-round pick seemed to reach a breakout season, posting a strong 2.20 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and .898 WHIP in 49 innings. Burrows struck out 34.7% of all the batters he faced while keeping up a strong .55 HR/9. Walks were still a problem for Burrows. He had a 10.4% walk rate. The biggest issue was that he had a ground ball rate of just 29.7%, but a solid 20.8% line-drive rate. He gave up more fly balls than you’d like. He had a 49.5% fly ball rate, well over 12% higher than in 2019. His poor batted ball rates resulted in a 4.36 xFIP.

Burrows is a spin-rate monster. His four-seam fastball comes in at 2550 RPM. Meanwhile, his curve averages out with 2800 RPM. He also added some velo this year. He was working in the low-to-mid-90’s heading into this year but was more consistently working in the mid-90’s in 2021. Both his curveball and fastball project as above average. Between the two, his curve is the better offering, which FanGraphs grades out as a 60-grade offering. Though his fastball still projects to be a 55-grade pitch.

The problem with Burrows is that’s all he throws. He has two effective pitches, but only two nonetheless. He’ll occasionally throw a changeup, but it’s a work in progress at best. FanGraphs doesn’t even recognize his changeup. Baseball America seems pretty high on him if you want a more optimistic outlook on his chances as a starting pitcher. They even project him to be part of the Pirates’ 2025 rotation.

Burrows real challenge will be Double-A and Triple-A, two levels he could reach in 2022. He’s still a bit young as he’ll be 22 for the entirety of the ‘22 season. But only two offerings will get exposed in the upper levels of the minors. But even if he has to move to the bullpen, he has the lights out stuff you like to see from late-inning arms.

Outfielder Jack Herman

Jack Herman came in the 30th round of the 2018 MLB draft. Quite a late pick, but Herman has done solid throughout his minor league career so far. Across 795 total plate appearances, Herman has batted .266/.346/.466 with a .354 wOBA. He’s hit for some pop, blasting 30 long balls and having an isolated slugging percentage of .200 on the dot. Plus he’s posted a solid 10.1% walk rate. But this has come with the caveat he’s struck out 27% of the time.

This past season, Herman played a little bit everywhere. He saw time with the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate, and up to High-A. All told, he posted a .238/.307/.456 line, blasted 15 home runs in 326 trips to the plate and had a .334 wOBA. Herman continued to show his prowess to hit for extra bases, cranking out 15 homers and running out 17 doubles. All told, he had a healthy .218 ISO. But he walked in just 8.9% of all his plate appearances while still having a high strikeout rate of 31.6%.

Herman did very well at the Complex League and did solid at A-Ball Bradenton. But once he made it to High-A, he struggled mightily. He posted a -14 wRC+ in 54 plate appearances. He struck out in 26 of those trips to the plate, resulting in his high strikeout rate. Between the FCL and Bradenton, he had a strikeout rate of 28.3%. Still not great, but also under 30%.

Herman is projected to have above-average raw and game power, as well as a solid glove and strong arm. But his hit tool and speed project as just 40-grade weapons. Herman just turned 22 at the very end of September. He’s still young and Greensboro and Altoona will be the real test for the outfield slugger. If he can hit in the upper minors, he might be a potential future outfielder for the Bucs.