Pittsburgh Pirates: Three 2023 Draft Picks Who Could Quickly Climb Through the Minors

Garret Forrester

The Pirates took Garret Forrester with their 3rd round pick. The corner infielder out of Oregon State brings a balanced approach to the plate. He is a contact hitter, first and foremost. But that doesn’t mean he’s like Kevin Newman, with little to no power projection. He can also draw some walks and projects to have average power.

In his last year at Oregon, Forrester slashed .341/.485/.522 with ten home runs through 304 plate appearances. Forrester walked (59) more often than he struck out (51), marking the second college season in a row he accomplished that feat. In 2022, he also drew 64 walks with 48 strikeouts. 2023 was the first year he collected double-digit home runs and doubles (12).

Forrester continued this trend into Bradenton, where he drew ten walks to oppose seven strikeouts. None of his five hits went for extra bases, however. But it was a small sample size, so take it with a grain of salt. Forrester only stepped to the plate a total of 29 times. For what it’s worth, he did have a 167 wRC+ in the microscopic sample size.

Forrester’s hit tool could end up as a plus weapon in his skillset. His BB:K ratio throughout college was 1.14, and he got a hit in over a third of his at-bats in 2022-2023. He has excellent bat-to-ball and pitch recognition skills that both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline praise. He isn’t a physical monster, standing at 6’0”, 208 pounds, but he can generate solid raw power numbers with his bat speed. He has a quick swing that includes a short leg kick. His swing isn’t built for big home run pop, but he showed an outstanding ability to drive the gaps to all fields in 2023.

Forrester is a corner infielder with experience at first and third base. The Pirates drafted him for the hot corner, but most of his college games were across the diamond. Forrester can play third but lacks good range. That could make him a candidate for the Pirates’ next first baseman.

Forrester’s pure hitting ability could help him move through the system with some authority. He will likely start the year at Low-A Bradenton once again but could move to High-A Greensboro if he gets off to a good start, akin to Tres Gonzalez last year.

Carlson Reed

The Pirates selected Carlson Reed in the 4th round out of West Virginia University. The right-handed reliever served as WVU’s late-inning closing/set-up pitcher, tossing 38 innings, all out of the bullpen. Reed had an outstanding 2.61 ERA while only allowing two home runs and striking out nearly 35% of the batters he faced. But while Reed was great at striking out batters, he also dished out a ton of walks with a 14.5% walk rate.

Carlson made his pro debut at the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate, pitching seven innings. He allowed three walks and he hit a batter, but struck out six and allowed two earned runs. Two of Reed’s four appearances were starts, but he was never used for more than three innings, which was out of the bullpen. Don’t take his bottom line too seriously, as it was less than one whole game’s worth of innings.

Reed throws hard, sitting mid-90s with his four-seam fastball. However, his velocity looks even faster out of the hand. Reed stands at a lankly 6’4”, 200 pounds. He has a great release point extension. This is a plus pitch because of his extension. His best secondary pitch is a low-80s slider, but he’ll also mix in a mid-80s change-up. According to Baseball America, he mixed in the change a lot more often than you would typically see from a reliever.

Even though he already tops out at 98, there’s potential for more velocity because of his physical projectability. Reed only turned 21 in late November. While Reed’s stuff looks good, his command is shaky. His motion has a handful of moving parts, partly because of his size. Some simplification of his wind-up may help him in the long run.

Relievers can be moved through a farm system with a little more authority. It’s harder to develop a guy to throw 5-7 good innings than only one or two great innings. Most relief prospects already have good stuff, with command being the bigger issue. Carlson could figure out his command. BA made a comparison between Reed and Orion Kerkering from the Phillies, a hard-throwing young reliever who significantly improved his command in one year and made his MLB debut in the next season. Could Reed be the next Kerkering? Only time will tell, but the talent is there.

Patrick Reilly

Carlson wasn’t the only relief prospect that the Pirates selected in the 2023 draft. They also selected Patrick Reilly. Reilly was taken out of Vanderbilt in the 5th round. Reilly wasn’t as dominant as Carlson in college. In 48.1 innings, Reilly had a 5.77 ERA and 1.53 WHIP while walking 13.3% of the batters he faced. On the plus side, he did have a 28.9% strikeout rate and a respectable 1.12 HR/9. Reilly started the year in Vandy’s rotation but was moved to the bullpen.

In Reilly’s defense, he was much more effective out of the bullpen, where he had a 3.89 ERA in 37 innings. But that didn’t fully translate into the professional levels, at least not yet. He only pitched 10.2 innings but allowed seven earned runs, two homers, and eight walks. He kept striking out a lot of batters as 19 went down on strike three.

Reilly has a great fastball. He sits mid-90s and tops out around 99, but with good life because he averages out above 2500 RPM. His most used secondary offering as a pro was his cutter, a low-90s pitch with around 2200 RPM. He’ll also tinker with a two-seam/sinker, but his command might benefit from honing in on just his four-seamer and cutter.

He may also benefit from working just one or two innings at a time. Despite getting moved to the bullpen, Reilly was used as a long reliever more than anything else. His five longest outings of the season were as a relief pitcher with only one of his four starts going longer than three innings.

Reilly could quickly make his way through the Pirate farm system and make his MLB debut within a year for the same reasons Carlson could. He’s a power reliever with good stuff. Moving him into a one or two-inning role and focusing on just his best pitches could improve his overall ability.