Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Five 2021 Draft Picks Starting Strong

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Jul 18, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Henry Davis who was selected number one overall in the 2021 MLB first year player draft by the Pirates participates in bating practice before the Pirates play the New York Mets at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Many of the Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 draft picks are getting their first extended look against professional players, so how have five of those prospects faired so far?

The Pittsburgh Pirates had the first overall pick in the 2021 draft. They used their high draft pick and allotted slot value to the best of their ability, and it showed. Because they went under slot with a few early picks, they were able to get some outstanding talent later on with over slot selections.

We’re about a month into the minor league season, and while we’re looking at small sample sizes, I want to take a glance at how some of the team’s 2021 draft picks are performing to kick off the 2022 campaign. Note that all of these prospects are college picks, given that all of their high school picks have yet to play this year. That includes some pretty notable names like Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Lonnie White Jr. Regardless of how well or poorly some prospects are starting the 2022 campaign, let’s take a look at our first 2021 draft pick.

Catcher Henry Davis

When the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Henry Davis, he ended up being an under slot selection. This worked perfectly, as it helped them secure some of those highly talented high school picks we mentioned earlier. He might only have a small sample size of professional plate appearances under his belt, but he’s done exceptionally well since being drafted.

After putting up a 1.001 OPS and .439 wOBA throughout his college career at Louisville, Davis started his career with the Bucs off with eight hits through his first 31 plate appearances. Over half of those hits were extra bases, with two doubles, a triple, and three home runs. Davis has picked up where he left off in 2021 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

Davis, in 88 plate appearances, has 24 hits. He has hit four home runs, with two doubles and a triple. The slugging backstop has 18 K’s but eight walks as well. Another notable number is his five-for-six successful attempts at a stolen base. He might not be the fastest catcher ever, but he knows when he can take advantage of the other team and swipe an extra base.

Davis has some of the best power in the system. He’ll easily make enough contact with his plus-hit tool to make his 70-grade power work. Davis isn’t a phenomenal defender behind the dish and has spent eight games at designated hitter this year. With the amount of young catching depth in the system, a split between catcher and DH could be in his future. Regardless, he’s a guy with 30+ home run power who can give a .280 average and above-average on-base percentage each season.

Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports /

Infielder Jackson Glenn

Because the Pirates went noticeably over slot with four of their first five draft picks, they needed to go under slot at some point. One of those very under slot picks was Jackson Glenn. Glenn was signed for just $12,500, but his college numbers wouldn’t have told you that.

Glenn had a .967 OPS, 30 home runs, and 40 doubles throughout his time at Dallas Baptist University. Once the Pirates drafted him, he would continue being a doubles machine with 14 two-baggers in his 36 hits and 130 plate appearances. Another plus is his 23 walks and 22 K’s. Despite having zero round-trippers, he still put up a 161 wRC+ in his first taste of playing time.

The 2022 campaign hasn’t been so great for Glenn so far. He has just 14 hits in his first 58 plate appearances. He finally hit his first regular-season home run (he hit one in last year’s minor league postseason) but has just five doubles and 12 strikeouts.

Glenn has split his time between second base and third base. The infielder played at least one game at every infield position during his time at college and will likely end up as a utility man in the future. If Glenn can show any semblance of making contact the way he did in college and draw walks as he did in 2021, he could be a pretty underrated prospect.

Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /

Infielder Mike Jarvis

After the Pirates drafted Jackson Glenn, they went out and got themselves another under slot utility prospect. This time they went with Mike Jarvis, a San Diego State University draft pick. Jarvis showed an ability to avoid the strikeout and swipe bases in college, making him a potential swiss army knife for the future.

Jarvis had a .391 wOBA throughout college and an OPS approaching .900. He had 29 stolen bases in 36 attempts to go along with that. Jarvis continued to hit well once he was drafted, with 19 hits through his first 67 PA’s. He also showed some power with eight total extra-base hits (3 doubles/triples, two homers). Impressively, he was 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts.

Jarvis has started out his 2022 campaign with only nine hits in 42 trips to the plate. He does have a solid 3:5 BB:K walk rate but overall has a sub-.750 OPS. At the very least, he’s still showing off his utility with playing time at both middle infield positions and corner outfield spots.

Jarvis saw time at every position in college except for first base, catcher, and pitcher. But that versatility is quite useful, and if he can hit just a little, he could be the Pirates’ next Adam Frazier. After all, the two share a handful of similarities.

Outfielder Luke Brown

Luke Brown was a 9th-round pick from Louisville, as he was teammates with the Pirates’ first overall pick Henry Davis. Brown was a light-hitting/all-contact kind of hitter throughout his college career. He had zero home runs and a .413 slugging percentage in 487 plate appearances but had a .390 OBP and 39 stolen bases.

The start of Brown’s pro career wasn’t all that great. He had just seven hits through his first 53 plate appearances at Rookie-Ball last season. He did have five walks, but that was about the only positive from his first sample size of playing time in 2021.

2022 has been a bit kinder to Brown, albeit not that much. He has ten hits in 50 trips to the plate but has walked a whole lot more. He already has drawn eight base-on-balls, giving him a 16% walk rate. So while he might not be getting a ton of base hits, he’s still getting on base in some fashion. This lack of hits but tons of walks is reflected in his .244 average but .380 on-base percentage.

9th-round picks, especially under slot selections, aren’t necessarily seen as the cream-of-the-crop of your draft class, but Brown does have speed and has shown an ability to get on base. You can do a lot worse than a 9th round under slot selection if Brown ends up being a Billy Hamilton type player.

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Right-Handed Pitcher Carlos Lomeli

You might not expect much from a soft-tossing, command-centric 17th-round pick, but Carlos Lomeli has looked pretty solid in his first taste of professional playing time. He was a late-round draft pick, but could end up being a guy to keep an eye on, at the very least. What role he’ll serve as he moves up through the minors will remain to be seen, but he’s excelled as a reliever.

Lomeli only had a 3.62 ERA and 17.9% strikeout rate but a solid 1.17 WHIP throughout his time at St. Mary’s College of California. Those numbers might not stand out, but his 0.48 HR/9, 4.9% walk rate, and 3.65 K/BB ratio did. Although he was selected by the Pittbsurgh Pirates in 2021, he would not make his pro debut until this season.

Lomeli has just 12 innings pitched this season but has allowed three earned runs. On the plus side, he has a 30.8% strikeout rate and a 0.75 HR/9 rate. On the downside, he has an 11.5% walk rate. For a guy with a sub-5% mark throughout college, you’d like to see something under 8% rather than above 10%.

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Still, it’s the one flaw in his short sample size. He’s mostly been used as a multi-inning arm with seven total appearances. He also has two saves in his seven games. Unless the Pirates feel he can take on a more significant role, a multi-inning relief role might be what Lomeli ends up being in the future.

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