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

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.