Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Names to Watch With the 34th Overall Pick

Right-Handed Pitcher Peyton Pallette

There are usually one or two high-end starting pitching prospects in the draft who fall to the end of the first round or at the start of the second round because of injuries. Last year, that was Jaden Hill. Hill was on the level of both Rocker and Jack Leiter, but after undergoing Tommy John surgery at the start of the 2021 season, Hill fell to the Colorado Rockies with the 44th overall pick. This year’s Jaden Hill (per se) is right-hander Peyton Pallette.

Pallette is teammates with Cayden Wallace at Arkansas. He’s only pitched 61.2 innings with an unimpressive 3.79 ERA but has given up just three home runs, a 25.9% strikeout rate, and an 8.5% walk rate. His peripherals don’t fully reflect his ERA, nor his talent.

MLB Pipeline draws comparisons to Walker Buehler because of a similar build (6’1, 180 LBS, only an inch shorter and 5 pounds lighter) and quality offerings. Palette has a four-seam fastball that averages around the mid-90s but can reach back and hit 99 MPH. His curveball is arguably the best curve in the draft, an upper-70’s-to-low-80’s pitch with high spin. He’s mainly used his change-up against left-handers, an offering that hits the upper-80s with sink. FanGraphs also grades out a well above-average slider.

Pallette was a projected top 10 pick before undergoing Tommy John surgery. Because of his injury, he’s ranked among the top 30-35 top prospects available in the draft. Picking Pallette would likely be close to a slot-value pick. His price will be brought down because of his injury, but his talent was up there among the top prospects in the draft.