Pittsburgh Pirates Draft: Three College Pitchers to Watch

The Pittsburgh Pirates could use some pitching that can climb the farm system quickly, making these three college pitchers one to watch in July's draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates will likely put a focus on pitching in this year’s draft past the first round. The first overall pick should be reserved for Dylan Crews and Crews only (not his teammate Paul Skenes, despite him also being highly talented and maybe the best pitcher the draft has seen in a decade or longer). The Pirate system could definitely use a boost when it comes to pitching that is close to being Major League ready.

That’s not to say that the Pirates have no good pitching prospects. Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Jared Jones, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, and Jun-Seok Shim are all very talented, and all have the potential to be top 100 prospects if they aren’t already. Don’t forget about ones who have undergone Tommy John surgery, like Mike Burrows or Hunter Barco. But there definitely could be more depth, which is something the Pirates should think about adding in this year’s draft.

Today, I want to highlight some college pitchers the Pirates should have on their radar. I tried to keep this as close to the rankings and based on the Pirates’ draft slots as possible. Of course, rankings are just rankings and not where players are officially landing. Though you can at least get a general idea of who could go in what round based on the rankings.