Two potential LSU pitching prospects who could be on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ draft ra

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Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates took Paul Skenes first overall out of Louisiana State University. LSU is an SEC Division One school that has produced some of the best athletes in the United States, including great baseball players like Albert Belle, Alex Bregman, and Aaron Nola, just to name a few. Skenes was not the only LSU player to get selected in the 2023 draft; a dozen of his other teammates also got selected, ten of which signed. Many more will be drafted once again this year as well including slugger Tommy White who could be a first base prospect on the Pirates radar.

LSU, however, has two other higher-end pitching prospects currently in their starting rotation. Both could very well be on the Pirates’ radar as they could fall to the Bucs in the competitive balance round-A pick or their second or third-round picks as they are higher in the top third of each round. If the Pirates like what Skenes developed at his brief time at LSU then who is to say that other pitchers on their staff are not also being developed in similar ways? Now obviously no one has stuff like Skenes, that is what made him a 1:1 and named the top pitching prospect in Baseball. Still, there is always a need for pitching and sometimes dipping back in the same well makes a lot of sense.

So who are these two LSU pitchers? Well, let us take a look at the right-handed and left-handed pitchers. Both took similar paths as Paul Skenes did going from Air Force to LSU. Both pitchers are with LSU for 2024 after pitching elsewhere in 2023.

Luke Holman

Luke Holman wasn’t one of Skenes’ teammates last year but pitched for another SEC school, the University of Alabama. Holman has since transferred to LSU and has pitched great thus far. Holman was also previously drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 as a high schooler in the 20th round, but the two sides obviously did not come to an agreement, so Holman went to college instead.

Holman has pitched 39 innings in his junior season, working to a 1.38 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 4.69 K:BB ratio. The right-hander struggled with some inconsistent control in the past but currently holds an 8.3% walk rate. He’s also struck out 61 batters for a K% just a shade under 40% at 39.1%. On top of that, he’s allowed two dingers for a HR/9 rate of 0.46.

Holman has a four-pitch mix, with three pitches projecting above average or better. He typically sits low/mid-90s with his fastball with good carry through the zone. His best offering is his slider, which sits in the low-80s with what MLB Pipeline describes as two-plane depth. Holman has another breaking pitch, a curveball with some legit potential. Although Holman has a change-up, he hasn’t used it very much throughout college. Holman keeps a short arm through his wind-up with an over-head delivery.

Holman should be on the Pirates’ radar right now for a few reasons. First is that Holman is ranked around where the Pirates would be selecting their competitive balance round A pick, which is the 38th overall selection. MLB Pipeline currently pins him at #35 while Future Star Series has him at #40, and Baseball America pins him at #28. Future Star Series, which is written by Joe Doyle, currently has

Holman going to the Pirates with the 38th overall pick in his most recent mock draft, which was published on March 25th.

If Holman continues to improve and pitch as he has thus far, he might go before the draft reaches the Pirates’ competitive balance round A pick or their second-round selection. But as of right now, he’d probably still be on the board if the draft was tomorrow. Of course, there’s a lot of time between now and then, so things can always change, but at this moment, he’s definitely a pitcher to keep an eye on. Holman is also from Pennsylvania, specifically Reading, PA.

Gage Jump

Like Holman, Gage Jump also wasn’t a teammate of Skenes last year, and was also drafted by another MLB club in 2021. Jump was taken in the 18th round by the San Diego Padres. The lefty originally attended UCLA, but is now a Tiger. He missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but has thus far picked up right where he left off in 2022 with UCLA.

Jump has pitched 22.2 innings with a 2.38 ERA, 3.56 K:BB ratio, and 0.93 WHIP. He has struck out over a third of the batters who have squared off against him with a 34.8% K% while allowing just a single home run. Limiting walks, however, hasn’t been his strong suit so far, with a 9.8% BB% through the small sample size.

The Southpaw throws about as hard as Holman, sitting low/mid-90s with his fastball, but with good riding life. But his best pitch is his curveball with significant downward action. The rest of his repotier consists of a slider and a change-up. Between the two pitches, his slider is the better offering. But he has shown a feel for his off-speed pitch and it’s flashed potential throughout the year.

Jump is ranked as the 46th best draft prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 65th best by Baseball America, and the 77th best by Future Star Series. That would fall closer to the Pirates’ third-round pick than their second-round pick. Still, like stated earlier, there’s plenty of time between now and the draft to see where he eventually ends up. But I think there’s a real possibility he becomes an early second-round pick.

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Two potential LSU pitching prospects who could be on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ draft radar

Luke Holman

Holman going to the Pirates with the 38th overall pick in his most recent mock draft, which was published on March 25th.

Gage Jump

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