Nick Yorke's brother is an underrated name for the Pirates to watch in MLB Draft

The college baseball season is finally underway, and the Pirates have some scouting to do in order to get their farm system back up. According to Baseball America, the Pirates are ranked 16th across the league in prospect rankings, an estimation that has fallen since 2022, when their system was ranked third in the game.

That needs to improve, especially since the Pirates' payroll does not appear to be growing, currently sitting at $5 million less from last season. One way for that to improve this summer is via an infusion of talent in the 2025 MLB Draft. At pick No. 6, they will be able to get a solid prospect ranked highly.

But the Pirates' task doesn't stop atop the draft. As the event drags on, they'll have to uncover some interesting players that are under the radar and can still make a huge impact. In fact, newly acquired Spencer Horwitz was a 24th-round pick, and he put together an excellent rookie season in Toronto. If Pittsburgh's going to recover their farm system ranking, they're going to need to uncover a few late-round gems.

One player that stands out as a late-round, under-the-radar find is Zach Yorke, a slugging first baseman from Grand Canyon University. The Pirates might have an inside track on getting a detailed scouting report, given that Zach is the brother of current Pirates utility prospect Nick Yorke, who is getting a lot of praise entering 2025. Getting the brothers together would be a fun side quest, yet it also represent a potential major boost in talent to the roster.

The Pirates should scout Nick Yorke's younger brother Zach Yorke ahead of the 2025 MLB Draft.

Entering his junior season, Yorke has been a very impressive at the plate, consistenly walking more than he strikes out, a rarity in the modern game. Luis Arraez of the Padres is one of the notable players that still does this.

In his freshman season, Yorke posted a 147 wRC+ with eight home runs, driving in 61. His OPS reached 1.020, which came from an on-base percentage of .471 and a slugging percentage of .549. He walked at a 17.8% clip and struck out at just a 9.7% rate. These numbers were excellent, but he declined in his sophomore year.

Nonetheless, his numbers still were solid, belting 13 home runs and producing a 110 wRC+ and .868 OPS. He struck out at a 13.7% clip and walked at a 14.8% rate. Even in his down year, he was comparatively excellent offensively.

In his first game of 2025, he faced the No. 16 team in the country in Vanderbilt and took a southpaw deep for his first home run of the season.

Yorke is a very impressive first base prospect and has some notable (and translatable) skills at the plate. If he keeps it up and approaches the numbers from his freshman season, he will quickly climb up draft boards. The Pirates should try to be all over their underrated prospect's brother to boost their offense in a farm system that has dramatically changed over the last couple seasons.