Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Potential Rule 5 Draft Selections

Left-handed pitcher Seth Corry

Seth Corry is another San Francisco Giant prospect. The southpaw was a third-round pick by the Giants in the 2017 draft. After a strong 2019 campaign, Corry entered the 2020 season as a top 100 prospect by MLB Pipeline. While he no longer ranks as a to 100 arm, he’s still intriguing nonetheless.

Last season Corry pitched 67.2 innings with the Giants High-A affiliate. We’ll start with the good. He had a 31.5% strikeout rate, as well as a strong batted ball profile. The lefty induced ground balls at a 47.1% rate and only had a 16.7% line-drive rate. He has a plus fastball that comes in around 93-96 MPH, and a curveball that projects as plus-plus. To go with it, he also has a solid change-up.

Now here’s the downside. Corry has very poor command. He walked 19.9% of all batters faced last year. This, in part, led to a 5.99 ERA, 5.25 FIP, and 1.71 WHIP. Some might point out his high batting average on balls in play at .363, but a near-20% walk rate isn’t going to cut it, no matter what his other numbers suggest. He’s always had a 10%+ walk rate. Even in his strong 2019 season, he walked 11.4% of all batters faced.

Still, he’s pretty much what many teams like in a Rule 5 pick. A high-upside pitcher who has good raw stuff, and is only amplified by the fact he’s a lefty. Corry could slot in as a lefty reliever in the pen right now. Currently, the only lefties the Pittsburgh Pirates have as relievers are Anthony Banda and Sam Howard.