Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Two Prep Arms to Watch at Pick No. 36

Many mock drafts around the web have the Pittsburgh Pirates taking one of these two high school pitchers with the 36th overall selection in the upcoming MLB Draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the 36th overall pick in the upcoming draft as a competitive balance pick. There have been many mock drafts coming up as we get closer and closer to the draft. We’re less than a week away at this point, and draft rumors and draft predictions are starting to heat up.

There seems to be a consensus that the Pirates will take Brooks Lee with their 4th overall pick. They have picked a college position player in the first round of the last two drafts. However, this year’s draft is top-heavy with high school talents like Druw Jones, Jackson Holliday, Termarr Johnson, and Elijah Green. Plus, last year, the Pirates were predicted to take Marcelo Mayer, the guy who was considered the best draft prospect.

Mock drafts are just that: predictions. However, I still think it’s worth going through and looking at some of the guys prospect experts have the Pirates taking. They’re much more connected to the professional baseball world than many of us are. Many of the mock drafts have us taking a high school pitcher, so who are these arms that reporters have us taking?

Right-hand pitcher Jacob Miller

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo seems pretty confident that Liberty Union right-hander Jacob Miller and the Pirates make a good fit. Mayo has pinned him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in his most recent mock draft, as well as the one he published on June 1st. Miller is a very talented right-hander hailing from Ohio.

Miller brings a four-pitch mix to the table, which includes a fastball, curveball, slider, and change-up. The right-hander is already averaging out around 91-95 MPH as a high school product with his four-seamer. He also has displayed some arm-side movement with his fastball. His best pitch is probably his curveball, which has a high spin rate and comes in the upper-70s/low-80s. His slider is a third plus offering that sits in the mid-80s. His change-up has fading action and sits in the low-80s as well.

His knee-buckling curve is shown off best in this video by Thomas Wilson of the Eagle-Gazette:

Miller can fill the strike zone with his offerings. There are some questions about his mechanics, but he has the athleticism and make-up to where those issues could be fixed in due time. After all, he is a high school pitcher and will turn 19 in August. Miller stands at 6’2″, 180 pounds, so there’s plenty of frame there to fill out.