Pittsburgh Pirates: Three College First Basemen To Watch This Year

Ethan Long

Baseball’s 2022 Mr. Irrelevant will re-enter the 2023 draft, that being Ethan Long. The San Francisco Giants picked Ethan Long with the 616th pick in the draft but were unable to come to terms with the corner infielder. This was mainly due to signability concerns, as he was still a sophomore and could go back to Arizona State for another season.

Long has done nothing but hit during his college career. In 359 plate appearances, Long has batted .318/.398/.620. In total, he’s had 45 extra-base hits. That includes 21 doubles, 23 home runs, and a triple. Long, despite not being extremely fast, has been able to swipe five bases in five attempts. Long is also selective at the dish, drawing a walk in 10% of his plate appearances.

The downside with Long is that he comes with swing-and-miss concern. He’s struck out 23.4% of the time. While he did cut his strikeout rate down from 24% to 22.8%, the high strikeouts are a concern. He plays in the PAC-12, a highly competitive and highly-ranked conference, but the issues are glaring.

Long has played at both corner infield positions but has mostly seen time at third base. He’s not a great defender but has the arm to play the hot corner. Long has also pitched 11 innings and has even closed out four games for Arizona. He’s also played a few games in both corner outfield positions.

But Long has the make-up to improve his game. Prospects Live lauded his work ethic and clubhouse leadership. MLB Pipeline also states he’s put in work to improve his defensive game, even if it is still below average at third base. Both sources have stated that he’s only gotten better since high school. That could point to a much brighter future than what he currently projects as. He’s trending in the right direction, and improvements this year could land him an early draft slot.

Long was ranked as the 302nd best draft prospect by Prospects Live and 232nd player from MLB Pipeline’s list. Depending on how the Pirates utilize their first few rounds and where Long sits after the ‘23 college campaign, he might end up on the Pirates’ radar in the 3rd or 4th round.

Nolan Schanuel

The risk you take with drafting Ethan Long or a similar prospect is that he’s a first base/designated hitter or bust. You won’t get much defensive value or versatility out of them. But the next player we’ll look at doesn’t come with that kind of risk. He’s a more well-rounded player who doesn’t do anything noticeably below average. That’s Nolan Schanuel.

Now that doesn’t mean Schanuel is a bad hitter. In 521 plate appearances, the first baseman has batted .357/.462/.619. He’s not hit for as much power as Long, but he still has 27 home runs, 28 doubles, and a .262 isolated slugging percentage. But here’s what separates Schanuel from guys like Long. The first is plate discipline. He’s had an excellent 12.9% walk rate but has only struck out 8.3% of the time. He’s also a solid runner with decent athleticism. He’s gone 17/20 in stolen base attempts.

Schanuel can also play the outfield, playing a total of 26 games in the grass between college and summer leagues (like the Cape Cod League). He’s projected to be a main cog in Florida Atlantic University’s outfield next year and has displayed enough athleticism to justify it. He also has a decent arm, which can help him out.

According to MLB Pipeline, Schanuel projects as average or better for all five tools. He also currently ranks as their 64th-best draft prospect as of right now. The left-handed batter has an atypical swing motion, but given his athleticism, advanced approach, and well-rounded profile, he’s a guy to watch as an early-round draft pick this upcoming summer.

Jack Moss

The third player we’ll look at today is Texas A&M infielder Jack Moss. Moss has some very nice skills at the plate, driving the ball with authority with plus-plus bat-to-ball ability, but he struggles with something that the Pirates’ current third baseman, Ke’Bryan Hayes, also struggles with; consistently lifting the ball.

Despite that, he’s still batted .351/.407/.508 with an OPS of just over .900 at .915. Even though Moss has struggled with getting the baseball in the air, he still has a dozen home runs in 479 plate appearances and 27 doubles. Moss has an 8.4% walk rate, which isn’t too impressive, but he’s only struck out at a 15.9% rate. His ability to consistently make contact is his strongest suit on the offensive side of the ball.

While Moss has had trouble with his launch angle, there’s certainly a lot to like about his overall game. He still hits the ball hard, with Prospects Live praising his raw power, placing it in the ‘plus’ range. Prospects Live also states that Moss has struggled to get lift on off-speed and breaking stuff, as his bat path can cause him to hit ground balls. But he started to show some improvement at the tail-end of the 2022 season.

Moss is a physical specimen, standing at 6’5”, 205 pounds. There’s no doubt the first baseman has the physical strength and tools to be a power hitter who doesn’t strikeout often in the future. He’ll need to keep improving on his swing to fully take advantage of his raw strength and bat-to-ball skill. Those two things could be a deadly combination if he puts everything together, and he could go within the first 3-5 rounds if he does make those improvements.