Pirates fans will love Baseball America's latest Mock Draft

The MLB Draft is just two months away, and the mock drafts continue to change. Baseball America published a new mock draft, and they have the Pirates getting a big-time college bat with the ninth overall pick. This slugger is Braden Montgomery from Texas A&M. MLB Pipeline has Montgomery ranked as the eighth-best prospect for this year's draft.

Montgomery began his collegiate career with two seasons at Stanford, but transferred to Texas A&M for the 2024 season. Joinging the Aggies program has increased his draft stock after a great junior season. Through 57 games, Montgomery has a .317 batting average with 26 home runs and 80 runs batted in. He also has an OPS of 1.193, which includes an on-base percentage of .451 and a slugging percentage of .742. His strikeout percentage is at 25.3% and his walk percentage is at 18.4%.

Montgomery has an excellent bat; in total, he has 41 extra-base hits and was given a hit grade of 50 and a power grade of 60. He has stolen five bases this season and is a 50-grade runner. He has pitched multiple innings, but he did not perform well on the mound, but he boasts a 70-grade arm. That great arm goes with a decent glove, which is graded at 50. All of this makes him a 60-grade prospect.

Getting a top outfielder is huge for the Pirates farm system as they do not have many outfield prospects. In fact, they do not have many top offensive prospects. Seven out of their top ten prospects are pitchers. The three hitters in the top 10 are Termarr Johnson, Mitch Jebb, and Tsung Che Cheng. All three of them have struggled this year and are middle infielders.

Lonnie White Jr. is the Pirates' highest-ranked outfield prospect at 11. Montgomery at pick nine would instantly put him in Pittsburgh's top three prospects and on multiple sites' top 100 lists.

If Braden Montgomery is still available for Ben Cherington when he is on the clock, then it is a no brainer.

This selection would help our offensive depth at the minor league level and give the Pirates an option for the future in the outfield. Being a college bat, Montgomery would more than likely start in Low-A or High-A, which would give him a head start through the minor leagues. If he can adjust to professional pitchers, then Montgomery could develop quickly. Management will definitely want to be careful with him as he is a very good prospect.

The draft will start on July 14. He is currently still playing in the NCAA Tournament, but it would be huge if Montgomery could find a way to pick nine.