This impressive 2024 Pirates draft pick is not being talked about enough

The Pirates' farm system has been very exciting to watch this year, with multiple underrated prospects lighting things up. Esmerlyn Valdez has been headlining those unranked prospects, but another name that hasn't been talked about enough has been Will Taylor. He was the team's fifth-round pick last season and is looking like a steal.

Out of Clemson University, Taylor was known to have solid hit tools with great athleticism in the outfield. Through the first two months of the season, he has shown all of that, and this recent hot streak that is putting him on the map.

Taylor was riding a seven-game hit streak that was just snapped last night. Over that stretch, Taylor batted .433 with two home runs, seven RBI, and five multi-hit games. This stretch has really put him on the map and makes his future appear more significant.

Pirates prospect Will Taylor's hot streak puts him on the map as underrated draft pick.

This hot streak has really inflated his numbers on the season. Through just 25 games, Taylor is batting .333 with two home runs and seven stolen bases. His OPS is up to .958, stemming from an on-base percentage of .434 and a .524 slugging percentage. Along with that, he adds a 166 wRC+. One issue that stands out is his alarming strikeout rate of 27.3%.

Cutting down the strikeouts will be huge and the key factor towards getting him to the next level. Despite the strikeout issues, he brings a 15.2% walk rate to the table, so getting those numbers closer to each other would make him much better.

As he figures things out and develops his way through the organization, Taylor actually means a lot to the Pirates, despite being just a fifth-round pick. Pittsburgh lacks pure outfield prospects, with Billy Cook and Shalin Polanco being the primary ones below the surface. Both have not exactly gotten off to ideal starts to 2025, so Taylor adds much-needed depth with outfielders in the farm system.

Taylor is not expected to make an impact in Pittsburgh this season or next. If he continues to cut down strikeouts and hits the ball well, 2027 could be his year. There are not a lot of prospects holding him back in the outfield, so this could turn into a fifth-round steal in a couple of years for this organization.