Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Five College Pitchers To Keep An Eye On

The Pittsburgh Pirates could focus on college pitcher's in this year's draft. Who are some arms they should keep tabs on?

The Pittsburgh Pirates best pitching prospects are still over a year away, at the very least. While you have some good talent like Quinn Priester, Mike Burrows, and Luis Ortiz, who are MLB-ready or near MLB-ready (Ortiz has already played a handful of MLBe games), the overall minor league pitching depth is lacking past the lower levels of the minor leagues.

Guys like Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Thomas Harrington are all stationed at High-A Greensboro. The Pirates also have a handful of teenage pitching prospects like Michael Kennedy, Jun-Seok Shim, and Pitterson Rosa, all of which have a ton of talent but are 19 or younger. Jared Jones is the closest MLB-ready young pitching prospect, who is 21 and at Altoona.

Because of the lack of soon-to-be-ready pitching talent in the Pirates’ system, it would be wise for them to take focus on college pitchers in this year’s draft. Earlier this week, we looked at five college outfield draft prospects for the Pirates to consider, another weak link in the system and another potential focus for this year’s draft. So let’s take a look at some college pitchers that could be or should be on their radar.

Note that I will be leaving off guys I’ve covered extensively. So Brandon Sproat (who was part of my first three-round mock draft and my second five-round mock draft), as well as Quinn Mathews (who I discussed here as well as here), will not be included, even if they are two college pitchers the Pirates should have on their radar.

Jackson Baumeister

Jackson Baumeister is a talented right-handed pitcher out of Florida State University. Although his surface numbers aren’t too impressive, Baumeister has the potential to be a top-three-round draft pick this year. Baumeister is also on the younger side, as this is only his age-20 campaign.

Baumeister has a poor 5.09 ERA and 1.42 WHIP throughout 69 innings for the Seminoles. However, his overall peripherals reflect a solid pitcher. Baumeister has struck out just over a quarter of the opponents he’s faced with a 25.7% strikeout rate while carrying a quality 0.65 HR/9. Baumeister isn’t a pitcher who relies on simply overpowering batters, either. He also has a solid 7.8% walk rate.

The right-hander displays an impressive fastball on the mound. He typically sits 92-95 MPH but cranks it up to 97 MPH. He takes a lot off his four-seamer to toss his mid-70s curveball. However, his low-80s slider is the best breaking ball in his arsenal. Baumeister also has a fourth pitch, specifically a change-up.

Baumeister has a strong build, standing at 6’4”, 226 pounds. His mechanics are fluid and a relatively low-effort delivery. Because of that, there’s certainly room for improvement regarding his command. His control has certainly improved this year, but consistent command remains his largest issue.

Baumeister will likely end up as a top-three-round pick. However, with him being a sophomore, he’ll have more leverage in negotiations. But there’s a lot to like about Baumeister. The stuff, the size and frame, and the makeup certainly are attractive qualities to his game.

Lucas Gordon

Lucas Gordon is a left-handed pitcher from the University of Texas. After piecing together a quality 2022 season, Gordon has produced a second straight good campaign for the Longhorns. While Gordon is far from the most popular player in this year’s draft, I think there’s enough to like about him to warrant him being on your radar.

In 95 innings, Gordon has a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 3.38 K:BB ratio. Gordon typically isn’t an overpowering-type pitcher, but he produced a 25.1% strikeout rate last season. He also had a quality 7.4% walk rate. His strikeout rate was an uptick by 3.9%, while his walk rate was relatively the same and only a small 0.3% increase from 2022. The only major change was in HR/9, which went from 0.21 to 0.76 this year.

Gordon’s development of a third pitch will be crucial for his long-term development. He’s primarily a fastball/change-up guy right now. He typically sits in the low-90s in the 90-92 range. His change-up has tumbling action, and both pitches project as average to above average. But his breaking ball has below-average traits. According to Joe Doyel of Future Star Series, the biggest thing he needs to work on is getting a better feel for spin for his breaking pitch.

Gordon is the typical lefty with pitchability. However, I like how well he’s done the last two seasons, and he’s a solid breaking ball away from having three reliable offerings. Gordon would definitely be on my post-round-five radar going into this year’s draft as a super-sleeper pick.

Seth Keener

Seth Kenner had a fantastic season at Wake Forest. Although he worked as a swing-man starter/reliever, Kenner definitely has the potential to primarily be a starting pitcher. He’s not a two-pitch pitcher either, so the worry about developing a third pitch shouldn’t be much of an issue for Kenner, given he throws three pitches with regularity.

Kenner finished out his season with a 2.23 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 5.38 K:BB ratio. Kenner has always posted strong strikeout rates throughout his college career, but his 33.7% strikeout rate was his best single-season mark. Both walks, and home runs were basically a non-issue for Kenner. He dished out a free pass to just 6.3% of the batters he faced while also allowing three home runs for a 0.42 HR/9 rate.

The right-hander has good velocity on his four-seam fastball. He sits right around 93-95 MPH while topping out at 97. His primary offering this year has been his mid-80s slider, which has sweeping action. Then there’s his changeup, an upper-80s offering. According to Baseball America, both his change-up and slider had whiff rates above 40% at the end of April.

Keener’s makeup could help him in the long term. Kenner is an athletic 6’2”, 195 pound pitcher. He also has great extension off the mound, adding some deception to his velocity. Keener spins his pitches well, clocking in with elite-level spin rates on his stuff. It’s also worth mentioning that Keener pitched well in the Cape Cod League, albeit in only 24 innings. Keener is a potential day-two pick. He’d definitely be a potential 4th or 5th round type selection.

Jake Bloss

Jake Bloss originally attended Lafayette College for the first three years of his college career. He then transferred to Georgetown University for his fourth and final college season. While he is a tad older, he’s definitely one of the best upper-classmen in this year’s draft.

In a career-high 76.2 innings at Georgetown, Bloss worked to an ERA under 3.00 (2.58) and a 1.07 WHIP. Bloss only allowed five home runs, resulting in a 0.59 HR/9 rate. Free passes were not an issue for Bloss either, as he had a 7.8% walk rate. The best number among his peripherals was his strikeout rate, which sat at 31.4%. Overall, his K:BB ratio was 4.0 on the dot.

For a starting pitcher, Bloss throws with some decent velocity. He typically sits 92-95 MPH but cranks it up to 97 regularly. However, velocity isn’t the only above-average trait on his four-seamer. Bloss spins his fastball to give it the riding fastball look.

His two breaking ball offerings include a slider and curveball. His curveball is more of a 12-6 offering, but he spins that well too. Bloss does well tunneling his fastball, slider, and curveball. He will occasionally throw a changeup, but it’s a show-me-type offering rather than a reliable pitch.

Bloss has a solid 6’2”, 200 pound build. He has some athleticism and is a guy who will likely go during day two of the draft. Given that he’s a little older and a senior, this could be a player the Pirates select with the intention of signing to an under-slot deal.