Pirate 2018 draft

[jebrick]

From Keith Law:

South Alabama center fielder Travis Swaggerty (1) had a disappointing spring that probably cost him a shot at being a top-five pick, which could mean this was a great value selection for the Pirates at 10th overall. Swaggerty is a true center fielder, is a 65 or better runner, can work the count and shows at least average power, but he didn't hit well this spring in a bad conference. He tweaked several things in his stance and swing, so perhaps this is just a matter of getting him back to what he was before the season started. His secondary stats were all good, and the speed and defense never wavered.

Florida prep right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1A) did a great job cleaning up what had been a violent delivery before this spring. He's been up to 96 and tightened up his breaking ball. He's a great athlete as well, and the Pirates have had some success with taking guys such as Hoglund who are a little unrefined and still projectable, such as Mitch Keller and Braeden Ogle.

Braxton Ashcraft (2) was a reach for me in the second round, a slight pitcher who has touched 92 but showed a lot of 87-88 this spring in front of scouts. He does extend very well over his front side to help the fastball play up.

Connor Kaiser (3) is an above-average to plus defender at shortstop but with serious bat concerns, striking out in a quarter of his at-bats this spring. He had four career homers in three years with the Commodores before he rolled out a crazy three-homer outburst in Vanderbilt's regional game against Clemson over the weekend. Cal right-hander Aaron Shortridge (4) is a command/control starter, 88-92 with good extension out front and some feel for a curveball in the upper 70s. He's not going to miss a ton of bats with that stuff, but I could see a fifth or maybe even fourth starter here. He accelerates his arm very quickly but a tick late relative to when he lands.

Arkansas catcher Grant Koch (5) was the best hitter on Team USA last summer, then he hit .250/.366/.397 this spring for the Hogs, with the lowest average and slugging percentage of any of Arkansas' eight regulars and second-lowest OBP. He's an adequate receiver and thrower, but this has to be a bet that his spring production was an anomaly. Michael Flynn (6) -- tough name, kid -- was one of the many overused starters at Arizona the past three years (but I'm told he got plenty of naps), and he projects as a back-end starter due to his smooth delivery and the command that he gets from it. Lack of above-average secondary stuff limits his ceiling. Outfielder Brett Kinneman (7) has an intriguing power/speed combination but punched out 65 times this spring for NC State after a really rough performance on the Cape last summer.

[Ice]

Swaggerty. Somewhere, Ike Taylor is smiling.

[Jobu]

From Keith Law:

South Alabama center fielder Travis Swaggerty (1) had a disappointing spring that probably cost him a shot at being a top-five pick, which could mean this was a great value selection for the Pirates at 10th overall. Swaggerty is a true center fielder, is a 65 or better runner, can work the count and shows at least average power, but he didn't hit well this spring in a bad conference. He tweaked several things in his stance and swing, so perhaps this is just a matter of getting him back to what he was before the season started. His secondary stats were all good, and the speed and defense never wavered.

Florida prep right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1A) did a great job cleaning up what had been a violent delivery before this spring. He's been up to 96 and tightened up his breaking ball. He's a great athlete as well, and the Pirates have had some success with taking guys such as Hoglund who are a little unrefined and still projectable, such as Mitch Keller and Braeden Ogle.

Braxton Ashcraft (2) was a reach for me in the second round, a slight pitcher who has touched 92 but showed a lot of 87-88 this spring in front of scouts. He does extend very well over his front side to help the fastball play up.

Connor Kaiser (3) is an above-average to plus defender at shortstop but with serious bat concerns, striking out in a quarter of his at-bats this spring. He had four career homers in three years with the Commodores before he rolled out a crazy three-homer outburst in Vanderbilt's regional game against Clemson over the weekend. Cal right-hander Aaron Shortridge (4) is a command/control starter, 88-92 with good extension out front and some feel for a curveball in the upper 70s. He's not going to miss a ton of bats with that stuff, but I could see a fifth or maybe even fourth starter here. He accelerates his arm very quickly but a tick late relative to when he lands.

Arkansas catcher Grant Koch (5) was the best hitter on Team USA last summer, then he hit .250/.366/.397 this spring for the Hogs, with the lowest average and slugging percentage of any of Arkansas' eight regulars and second-lowest OBP. He's an adequate receiver and thrower, but this has to be a bet that his spring production was an anomaly. Michael Flynn (6) -- tough name, kid -- was one of the many overused starters at Arizona the past three years (but I'm told he got plenty of naps), and he projects as a back-end starter due to his smooth delivery and the command that he gets from it. Lack of above-average secondary stuff limits his ceiling. Outfielder Brett Kinneman (7) has an intriguing power/speed combination but punched out 65 times this spring for NC State after a really rough performance on the Cape last summer.

Hmmmm....

[Hacksaw Jim Duggan]

sound like a bunch of winners to add to the long list of impact players huntington has drafted

[jebrick]

sound like a bunch of winners to add to the long list of impact players huntington has drafted

My thought as well. A chance that the #1 pick may be good ( hate the term value pick). The rest are almost less than meh.

[Legacy User]

trading pawns to dump future contracts like Polanco, Harrison nova or marte.

[Obviously]

sound like a bunch of winners to add to the long list of impact players huntington has drafted

Was just going to say. Let's not forget to give credit to the Hoka Hey Minor League development system they have. Top notch.