Pittsburgh Pirates: Three High School Pitching Draft Prospects to Watch

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have an early-round selection in this year’s draft. So if they decide to go with a high school pitcher, who might be on their radar?

A last week, we took a look at three college pitchers to watch this year. Although there are plenty of talented college arms in this year’s draft, the most gifted arms are arguably high schoolers. It is rare to see a high school pitcher go early in the draft, as only nine have been selected within the first five picks dating back to the 2010 draft. After all, there is risk surrounding a super young arm. However, that could change this year.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be going into the draft with the 4th overall selection. They’ve gone with college position players in the last two drafts with their first-round pick. Ben Cherington and his group have picked-up Nick Gonzales and Henry Davis since becoming general manager of the Pirates.

However, with the farm system filled to the brim with talent that we’ll see within the next 1 to 3 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates might take a more youth-focused approach and focus on the long term. This is more than 4-6 years down the road. The last first-round high school arm the Pirates picked was Quinn Priester, who has worked out quite well for the organization.