Pittsburgh Pirates: College Pitchers Should Be Focus in the Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates could use some arms who are not far off from MLB-readiness, and should put a focus on college arms.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of talented pitching prospects. However, many of their best arms are still two or more away from making their MLB debuts. Last year, they selected Bubba Chandler and Anthony Solometo, but both are still younger than 20-years-old. The Pirates do have Jared Jones, another highly talented right-hander, but he’s likely not going to be a significant factor until 2024.

The only high-end pitching talents we may see between this year and next season are Michael Burrows, Quinn Priester, and Carmen Mlodzinski. That’s not to say that guys like Kyle Nicolas, J.C. Flowers, or Cody Bolton won’t be impactful, but Priester, Burrows, and Mlodzinski are their highest end and most MLB-ready. That is why I think the Pirates should put a focus on college pitchers after the first round of this year’s draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the fourth overall pick in a high school heavy draft. Even past the likes of Druw Jones, Jackson Holliday, Termarr Johnson, and Elijah Green, most of the top draft prospects consist of position players like Jacob Berry, Brooks Lee, Kevin Parada, and Jace Jung. The only college arm in either of FanGraphs or MLB Pipeline’s top 10 draft prospect lists is Brandon Barreira, who clocks in at no. 10 on FanGraphs’ list.

However, the Pirates have a competitive balance pick (#36), the 44th overall selection, the 83rd overall pick, 110th pick, and 140th pick. That makes up the Pirates’ selections for the first five rounds of the draft. There might not be too many college arms among the top five picks; there are plenty of college pitchers they could choose from in their other selections.

The Pirates may have the likes of Kumar Rocker, Landon Sims, Thomas Harrington, or Parker Messick available to them at picks no. 36 and no. 44. Among them, Rocker stands out the most. Rocker was seen as one of the best overall players in last year’s draft. But inconsistent velocity and some injury concerns led to him being selected by the New York Mets at #10. However, the sides failed to reach an agreement because of medicals. Parker Messick would be my personal selection with either pick. He’s a southpaw who brings a fire to the mound you don’t usually see from starting pitchers. Plus, he has a good selection of pitches, decent command, and a deceptive delivery.

At no. 86, the team may have the opportunity to select any of Carson Palmquist, Connor Staine, or Jake Bennett. Palmquist is definitely the most intriguing arm among this group. The southpaw has drawn comparisons to Chris Sale for his delivery and arm slot. Palmquist may end up as a reliever, though, given that he has two great pitches between his fastball and slider, but his change-up definitely needs refining. On the other hand, Staine and Bennett have a pretty good opportunity to stay in the rotation long-term.

You might not find many guys with the ceiling of an ace in the fourth round, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good pitchers available. I recently highlighted Trey Dombrowski as a guy to watch. Dombrowski has four average pitches and 70-grade control, per MLB Pipeline. He’s a southpaw with arguably the best command in the draft and a variety of pitches. There’s a lot of upside there. Brandon Sport is a right-hander with a big fastball and nasty slider. Though his change-up and curveball aren’t the best, they’re two pitches with the potential to become average offerings. The only downside is he doesn’t have great control, though that’s fairly common with young arms who regularly work in the upper-90s.

The Pirates can still find upside in the fifth round. Long Beach State right-hander Luis Ramirez has dominated batters in the Big West Conference. He’s allowed just three home runs in his entire college career and currently has a K:BB ratio just under 3.5. There’s nothing overly powerful about Ramirez’s arsenal, but his sinking fastball has helped him put up a ground ball rate over 60%. He also throws a slider with improving movement and a change-up that has been effective this year. Ramirez might be a very good pitcher for the Pirates in the 5th round.

Picking some college arms gives the Pittsburgh Pirates system what it needs; pitchers who can be called upon within the next two years. Although I doubt the Pirates draft pitchers with five of their first six picks of this year’s draft (but not ruling it out since that’s what they did in 2020), they should use a few of those picks on college arms. It’s not an immediate fix, but it helps the long-term outlook for the Bucs’ pitching staff.