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.

Hunter Owen

Vanderbilt is one of the most famous baseball schools in the world. Many MLB All-Stars can trace their origins through Vandy, including Pirate All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The school will once again have multiple early-round players, one of which is a guy the Pirates could have available to them in the second round: left-hander Hunter Owen.

In 57 innings, Owen has a 3.16 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 4.19 K:BB ratio. Owen has a solid 0.95 HR/9 rate, but that’s arguably the weakest link in his statistics. He’s only walked 6.9% of the batters he’s faced while striking out 28.9% of opponents. His overall numbers may not be the most overpowering in college sports, but they’re overall very solid.

Owen typically sits 92-95 MPH with his fastball but has been able to crank up the heat when he needs to. While his four-seamer is an above-average offering, both his slider and curveball are arguably better pitches. His changeup tunnels really well with his four-seamer, adding deception to the off-speed offering.

Owen is a sizeable 6-foot-6 and weighs in at 260-LBS with a clean delivery. There have been some questions regarding his durability. He only pitched in 26.2 innings in 2022 and missed some time at the start of the 2023 campaign. This was the first time he was really given a chance to stretch out. He’s definitely a player I would seriously consider taking in the second round if I were in the Pirate war room.

Sean Sullivan

Not to be confused with that Sean Sullivan, this Sean Sullivan is a left-hander out of Wake Forest. The Southpaw wrapped up a highly productive season for his college team and is a potential third-round pick, based on current rankings.

Throughout 56.1 innings, Sullivan owned a 2.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 5.69 K:BB ratio. Sullivan’s peripherals were strong, as he struck out nearly 40% of the batters he faced (39.9% K-rate) with a walk rate of just 7%. Home runs and hit-by-pitches ended up being a weak spot in his stat line, however. A 1.10 HR/9 isn’t great, but still playable nonetheless, but he hit 11 batters. Granted, hit by pitches can greatly fluctuate, so it may have been a fluke.

Sullivan isn’t a hard-throwing pitcher, averaging out around 88-92 MPH while topping out at 95. However, despite his fastball lacking velocity, there are many traits in his game that make it play to a plus level. The first thing is his low release point. Because of his large 6-foot-4 frame, and wide angle, the pitch has outstanding carry, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a five-foot release height, per Baseball America.

His other two offerings are a slider and a change-up. Of the two secondaries, his changeup is the better offering. His primary off-speed pitch sits in the low-80s with fading action. His slider comes in the upper-70s with more sweeping action. Both pitches could be two more offerings that come out to an average level when he’s done developing.

Sullivan is younger than the other pitchers talked about today. He’s only 20 and won’t turn 21 until July 22nd. Although he is younger, he’s definitely a player the Pirates should at least keep on the radar. A good left-hander with some deception and control would be welcomed in any system.