Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Best Position Player Tools Available

The MLB draft is rapidly approaching, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have the number one overall pick. But who has the best tools among the group of position players?

The NCAA college season wrapped up with Louisiana State University taking two-of-three games in the Men’s College World Series against the University of Florida. MLB’s draft combine has also started. With that, the biggest event that amateur players have to look forward to now is the Major League Baseball draft, which will kick off July 9th during the week of All-Star festivities.

The Pittsburgh Pirates lucked themselves into the first overall pick. The first round of this year’s draft was decided through a draft lottery. That means while the Pirates have the number one pick, they’ll only have the fourth pick in the rounds following the first round. On top of that, they’ll also have a competitive balance round B pick, which is after the second round, and the 67th overall pick.

The draft, as usual, will have plenty of talent to keep an eye on. However, what players have the best tools? Today, we’ll look at the best tools among position players. This includes hit, power, speed, fielding ability, and arm.

Hit - Dylan Crews

This isn’t any shocker. When you bat over .400 and have reached base in every single game of the college season, you're going to get a lot of praise for your hit tool. However, unlike many players where you see an 80-grade hit tool, Dylan Crews is able to back it up with plus-plus power. There’s a reason why many see Crews shattering the current signing bonus record.

Crews finished off his junior season at Louisiana State by batting .426/.567/.714 through 344 plate appearances. Crews walked in a whopping 71 times he stepped to the plate, resulting in a 20.6% walk rate. While he may have been posting a Barry Bonds-esque walk rate, he also rarely struck out, with a K% clocking in at just 13.4%. His ability to avoid K’s, draw a ton of walks, and rack up so many base hits makes him the best hitter in this year’s draft.

Not only did he hit over .400 in 344 plate appearances, but he did so with power. Crews’ isolated slugging percentage clocked in at .287. Crews lifted 18 baseballs over the wall, which is a pace of about 31 in 600 plate appearances. He also hustled out 16 doubles. He probably could have gotten more extra-base hits had pitchers not started to work around him.

Many see Crews as a potential center fielder. While he’s far from the fastest runner in the draft, he clocks in at plus with his ability to run. His defense in center projects as above average, and he has potentially a plus-plus arm. At the very worst, Crews ends up in a corner outfield spot in the long run, where he could end up even better defensively.

Crews' ceiling is probably something like early-90s Barry Bonds, just with less speed. He has a early unparalleled combination to hit home runs, consistently bat over .300, and draw enough walks to be among the top of the leaderboard for on-base percentage.

Crews have gotten more than enough comparisons to Bryce Harper. Crews really do have a chance to go straight from college to the major leagues. There’s almost never been a player as talented as Crews in the draft. If the Pirates want to solve their lack of another outfielder to pair with Reynolds and Suwinski/Joe fast, Crews is the easy pick.

Power - Brock Wilken

Brock Wilken is one of the best infielders in this year’s draft. He’s projected to go within the back-half of the first round, but whatever team that picks him will arguably get the best power hitter the draft has to offer. A 6’4”, 225 pounds framed 21-year-old, Wilken can generate a ton of pull-side power.

The Wake Forest third baseman batted .345/.506/.807 throughout 320 plate appearances. Wilken went yard 31 times, with an isolated slugging percentage peaking over .800. With that many home runs, Wilken was on pace for 58 home runs in 600 plate appearances. His ISO reached .462. For reference of how high that is, Barry Bonds only ever once produced an ISO over .430, and when Aaron Judge broke the American League home run record last season, his ISO was just .375.

Wilken also significantly cut his strikeout rate down from 2022 to 2023, going from 24.2% to 18.1%. That’s still a tad high, but it does give him a brighter outlook. He also nearly doubled his walk rate, going from 11.6% to 23.2%. His hit tool entered the year as a fringe-45 tool, to a 50-grade weapon.

Although Wilken has a sky-high offensive ceiling, he could end up as a somewhat positionless defender. Wilken has a cannon of a right shoulder, able to make the deepest of throws from third base. But he’s a well below-average runner. He moves just well enough to defend the hot corner and has good hands at the position, but if he slows down just a bit, he could be in trouble.

Whichever team drafts Wilken is taking him for his bat. He has the potential to be a 40+ home run threat, but his long-term defensive home is far from certain. He’ll get every chance to prove he can remain at third base until he proves otherwise.

Arm - Nolan McLean

Nolan McLean is a two-way standout at Oklahoma State University. McLean was previously drafted in the third round by the Baltimore Orioles last season. However, the Orioles and McLean did not come to terms, and McLean returned to college for his junior season. He’ll once again look to get selected in the first three rounds.

McLean has the typical strengths and weaknesses you’d see from a young flamethrower and power hitter. As a batter, McLean hit .250/.379/.532. McLean had no problems drawing walks or racking up extra-base hits. He had a .282 isolated slugging percentage and a walk rate clocking in at 17.7%. However, he also struck out a whopping 37.2% of the time.

As a right-handed pitcher, McLean pitched to a 3.30 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and 2.0 K:BB ratio. Again, there are some very prototypical stats here. He allowed no home runs in 30 innings pitched, and he also struck out 24.1% of opponents. But this also came with an abysmal 12.1% walk rate.

McLean can fire upper-90s fastballs with low effort. His ability to throw so hard on the mound translates into an absolute cannon of an arm. McLean has experience at third base and the outfield, as well as second base and first base. Despite his arm, he has well below average speed, meaning that third base might end up being the only position he could reliably play. But his arm could make it worthwhile.

McLean is plus-plus when it comes to throwing a baseball or hitting a baseball far. His overall raw power is probably a 60-65. However, his ability to locate and to make contact is likely a 30 on the 20-80 scale. That makes him an interesting player in this year’s draft, and is an early day-two candidate. The Pirates did take a similar player in Jack Brannigan last year in the third round, though in comparison to McLean, Brannigan might as well have been Tony Gwynn with the bat, and Greg Maddux on the mound.