5 underslot college seniors that should be on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ MLB Draft radar

Chris Cannizzaro

Micheletti isn’t the only senior from Virginia Tech who put up some impressive numbers in his final season. Outfielder Chris Cannizzaro has batted well over .300 throughout his college career while rarely striking out. Although his approach makes his profile risky, you can’t deny that it’s worked so far and could make him an interesting pick-up for the Pirates.

Cannizzaro slashed .346/.414/.626 through 209 plate appearances. Although not known for his huge power, he hit a career-high dozen homers with a .280 isolated slugging percentage this past season. However, the real attraction to Cannizzaro is his ability to make contact at a high rate and rack up a ton of hits.

This is the second year in a row Cannizzaro has batted over .330. His career batting average is .335. He struck out in just 11.5% of his plate appearances and can expand the zone. According to Baseball America, he made contact on fastballs 88% of the time this spring. Unfortunately, this approach leads to a mediocre walk rate. Cannizzaro has a career BB% of just 7.9% and he clocked in at 8.6% this year.

Cannizzaro mostly played left field in college, but has experience in all three outfield positions. His ability to make contact at such a high rate and spray hits all over the field makes him an intriguing fifth-year senior to consider taking. While he may never hit for much power, Cannizzaro gives you the chance to grab an outfielder who can consistently put up a good batting average.