Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Five Players to Watch During Day Two

RHP Jonathan Cannon

Jonathan Cannon is the best college arm still on MLB Pipeline’s board. Cannon ranks as the 60th best prospect in the draft per Pipeline, and comes in as FanGraphs’ 67th best draft prospect. If the Pirates were to take him in Day 2, he would be their third college right-hander taken in this year’s draft for the Bucs.

Cannon didn’t put up eye-popping numbers in college. The University of Georgia product had 4.02 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, and 1.10 HR/9 in 78.1 innings, but there’s more to this right-hander than what those numbers tell you. Cannon only walked 3.7% of batters faced this year while being the owner of a 1.00 WHIP. He has upper-tier command and showed it off this season.

Cannon sat in the low-to-mid-90s this year with his fastball, averaging out at 92-96 MPH. He also throws a slider, which is improving, and a change-up. But the real attraction here, aside from his command, is his cutter. He throws this offering in the upper-80s and misses a fair amount of bats with it. It’s arguably his best pitch.

There’s still a decent amount of projectability here. Cannon stands at a towering 6’6″ despite turning 22 tomorrow. He’s definitely an arm to watch in Day 2 depending on what the Pirates do. He could be another under slot guy if the Pittsburgh Pirates decide to go that route and save for another pick today.