Baseball America has Pirates selecting star collegiate outfielder in early Mock Draft

Miami v Clemson
Miami v Clemson | Eakin Howard/GettyImages

The 2025 MLB Draft is still a long way away, but that has not stopped way-to-early mock drafts from being released. Baseball America dropped an early mock draft shortly after the MLB Draft lottery results came out, which featured the Pittsburgh Pirates taking an interesting selection at pick No. 6.

After taking a prep school shortstop in Konnor Griffin last draft, Baseball America predicts that the Pirates will take another offensive player in the first round, with a college bat this time in Cam Cannarella. He comes from Clemson University and has great all-around tools.

The Pirates farm system currently lacks offensive propsects in general; entering 2025, their best outfield prospect is Lonnie White Jr., their 19th-ranked prospect overall. Though you always draft for skill rather than need, pitching is deep at every level of the Pirates' organization, and prioritizing offense in this year's draft would be wise. That is why Cannarella is an early and obvious potential future Pirate.

Baseball America has Pirates drafting Clemson outfielder Cam Cannarella in Mock Draft

Cannarella was part of the Clemson team that recently made it to the NCAA Super Regionals, but lost to Florida. He started at Clemson as a freshman two seasons ago and never looked back, emerging as a top prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft following his junior season.

In his two seasons with the Tigers, Cannarella has batted .363 with 107 runs driven in and 24 stolen bases. He has slugged 18 home runs, 32 doubles, and six triples to generate a slugging percentage of .561. That pairs with an on-base percentage of .440 to create an OPS of 1.001.

Those numbers are solid, but he brings a solid mix of scouting grades, too. MLB Pipeline assigned him the following:

Hit: 55. Power: 45. Run: 60. Arm: 40. Field: 60. Overall: 55.

Overall, he appears to be a well-rounded prospect for the Pirates to check out in the outfield. MLB Pipeline also has him as the 15th-ranked prospect for the draft, which makes this look like an underslot selection. In other mocks, he has risen as high as pick No. 2. He could break out even more in his junior year and skyrocket up the draft boards. That is likely what Baseball America believes will happen, considering where they currently see the Pirates selecting Cannarella.

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