The Pirates are starting to follow a familiar formula. They loaded up on preps early, dropping over $12 million on four high schoolers with their first five picks (including over $11.5 million on the first three). After that, they continued another Pirates theme of recent years by buying low numerous post-hype prospects who came into the season looking to be high draft picks but, for one reason or another, faded backwards in 2024. Additionally, many of the arms Pittsburgh targeted this year follow similar profiles – Levi Sterling, Josh Hartle, and Matt Ager are all projectable 6'5" righties with command-over-stuff profiles who attack hitters from a lower arm slot and didn't have the 2024 season they were looking for.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. "2-50" would indicate that a player was drafted in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-9: SS Konnor Griffin, Jackson Prep HS [MS] {video}
Slot value: $6.22 million. Signing bonus: $6.53 million ($315,425 above slot value).
My rank: #10. MLB Pipeline: #9. Baseball America: #9.
The Pirates made a massive splash at pick #9, grabbing the first high school player off the board and making Konnor Griffin by far the highest paid prep of this class, having previously been committed to LSU. Previously a member of the 2025 class, he reclassified to 2024 to be with his age group. At the time, he was already one of the most famous names in the class, then he went out and had an absolutely bonkers senior season where he hit .556/.690/.966 with nine home runs and 87 stolen bases (or something like that, I've seen slight variations). That made him the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. Beyond the performance, Griffin is as tooled up as they come. Standing 6'4", he is a superb athlete that seems like he could succeed at any sport or athletic endeavor he set his mind too, showing up in virtually everything he does on the baseball field. He has an explosive right handed swing that produces plus power, and he'll likely continue getting stronger. The hit tool is his lone non-plus tool, grading out closer to average because his swing can get long and his performances against higher level showcase competition have been inconsistent. It's not a concern, per se, as he's shown well overall for a long time and absolutely demolished Jackson-area pitching this spring, but it was enough to push him closer to the back of the top ten. Beyond the power, Griffin is a plus runner who, as mentioned, stole 87 bases this spring, and if you had him race every prospect that possessed his kind of power, he'd torch dang near every one of them. If that's not enough, he has an absolute cannon arm in the field, a product of his pitching exploits in which he has touched 96 at peak. As of now, the jury is out as to where he'll play. Besides pitching, he has played a lot of shortstop in high school and certainly has the speed and arm to play there. The glovework is pretty good, too, and with a couple years of refinement in the Pirates system he could eventually play there in Pittsburgh. It's hard to pass up the upside in center field, though, where his speed and arm will make him a plus defender right away and potentially get him to the big leagues quicker. The possibilities are endless for the Pirates when it comes to Griffin's development, with the upside to become the very best player in this class. Really, potential questions about swing and miss in his game are the only things holding him back, so that will be closely watched as he works his way up.
CBA-37: RHP Levi Sterling, Notre Dame HS [CA] {video}
Slot value: $2.51 million. Signing bonus: $2.51 million ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #56. MLB Pipeline: #58. Baseball America: #55.
Levi Sterling is a really interesting arm, one which may require patience but which could pay off in a big way in time. Hailing from the same Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles that produced Jack McDowell, Giancarlo Stanton, and Hunter Greene, among many others, he entered the spring with considerable hype and was in the conversation for the top high school pitcher in the country. While he didn't take the step forward in 2024 that many had hoped, he didn't take a step back either, and still earned a $2.5 million signing bonus away from a Texas commitment. Sterling's running fastball sits in the low 90's at best, sometimes dipping below 90, and peaks at 94, which isn't exactly first round velocity. He has a sweeping curveball around 80 as well as a tighter cutter that can work into the upper 80's. At this point, his lone above average pitch is a splitter that disappears on hitters and represents one of the more advanced changeups in the prep class. While the stuff is just a bit light for this range of the draft, there are many reasons to be excited. Sterling has a very natural delivery with little wasted movement and low effort, enabling him to fill up the strike zone with all four pitches. He commands not just his fastball but his offspeed stuff as well, a separator for a high school arm. Additionally, the 6'5" righty is extremely projectable, giving him every opportunity to add power to his stuff. That is critical, because given Sterling's command and the depth of his arsenal, any additional power will benefit him tremendously. And lastly, he is extremely young for the class, having not turned 18 until September. While many peak with high velocity in high school or college, Sterling has the opportunity to progress naturally and peak at the right time as he approaches the majors.
2-47: SS Wyatt Sanford, Independence HS [TX] {video}
Slot value: $1.98 million. Signing bonus: $2.5 million ($512,700 above slot value).
My rank: #34. MLB Pipeline: #35. Baseball America: #42.
Ten picks later, the Pirates handed Wyatt Sanford a near-identical $2.5 million signing bonus to Levi Sterling to sign him away from a Texas A&M commitment. Sanford, who went to high school just down the street from where I lived for most of my time in Texas, is coming off a massive spring that rocketed him into the first round conversation. The hit tool is similar to Konnor Griffin from the left side in that he has performed admirably on the showcase circuit but has at times had trouble with quality offspeed stuff, then obliterated strong DFW pitching in 2024. He's never been a big power threat, but he showed up this spring looking much more physical and used that newfound strength to run into average power. He has a natural left handed swing in which he just throws the barrel at the ball with a leveraged bat path rather than selling out for power. As he continues to fill out his skinny 6'1" frame, he figures to continue to add pop and he could be good for 15-20 home runs per season at peak to go along with solid on-base percentages. Sanford shines on defense, with graceful actions and soft hands at shortstop that enable him to make all of the plays. His arm is closer to average than plus, causing him to double clutch on some throws, but similar to his power, that should continue to come along as he gets stronger and there's little doubt he'll stick at the premium position. That defensive prowess makes his bat look all that much better, and he has a shot to turn into a glove-first shortstop that hits plenty enough to play every day. For good measure, if we have any die hard Pirates fans out there with strong memories, his father Chance Sanford actually briefly wore the black and gold for fourteen games in 1998, slashing .143/.172/.250 in a utility infield role. Wyatt is expected to create a little more of an impact.
3-83: LHP Josh Hartle, Wake Forest {video}
Slot value: $920,800. Signing bonus: $850,000 ($70,800 below slot value).
My rank: #98. MLB Pipeline: #70. Baseball America: #75.
Josh Hartle has had an interesting run as a prospect. He was one of the best high school pitching prospects in the country back in 2021, but was intent on staying home to attend Wake Forest and ranked as the #2 unsigned prep pitching prospect in the country by my book (behind UCLA commit and later LSU Tiger Gage Jump, now of the A's). He jumped straight into the Demon Deacon rotation as a true freshman, no small feat at that pitching powerhouse, then put up a massive sophomore season in which he was named a Baseball America First Team All-American in 2023. A near-consensus first round prospect entering the season, he instead took a major step backwards in 2024 as his ERA doubled from 2.81 to 5.79 and his command ticked back. Hartle sits around 90 with his fastball and tops out at 94, and he works between a sinker and a cutter. The sinker is fairly generic and didn't miss many bats in 2024, while the cutter did a better job in that regard. He has a nice two-plane slurvy breaking ball that did most of his strikeout work in 2024, showing nice depth and sweep across the plate. The changeup is yet another solid average pitch, giving him a full arsenal. A year ago, Hartle commanded everything with precision to all four quadrants of the zone, continually putting his average stuff in a position to be successful and making it play way up – you don't strike out a third of your opponents while playing an ACC schedule by accident. This year, though, the command wasn't quite as crisp and he often got hit over the plate. His opponents' batting average rose from .237 to .291, while his strikeout rate dropped from 33.4% to 23.3% and his walk rate ticked up from 5.7% to 7.2%. Hartle still utilizes a simple, easy delivery and he was so untouchable in 2023 that it's hard to imagine he can't get back to something similar in the future. His profile is nearly a mirror image to CBA pick Levi Sterling, who possesses eerily similar stuff, command, frame, and mechanics to Hartle from the opposite side. Hartle, also listed at 6'5" like Sterling, is plenty projectable but we've been waiting for the velocity to tick up for years now and it hasn't quite. He's three and a half years older than Sterling and does come with ACC pedigree. It will be very interesting to see if the Pirates can either coax more velocity out of the North Carolina native or if they can get his command back to where it was in 2023. Doing either should make him an effective #4 starter at the big league level. Doing both could make him a true impact starting pitcher and justify his preseason first round projections. He did get into one game after being drafted, allowing four runs (three earned) over 1.2 innings for Low A Bradenton while striking out a pair.
4-112: SS Eddie Rynders, Wisconsin Lutheran HS [WI] {video}
Slot value: $649,700. Signing bonus: $649,700.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #229. Baseball America: #350.
Eddie Rynders is another prep coming off a strong spring. He's a physical, 6'2", 195 pound shortstop from the Milwaukee area that had previously been committed to Kent State, which is just 85 miles from Pittsburgh anyways. Rynders leverages his physicality well in the box, ripping off a strong, power-oriented left handed swing that helps him loft the ball with authority consistently. When he stays within himself, he also shows strong hitting ability and has a chance to be an average contact hitter with above average power if things break right. Rynders' swing can get a bit long as he looks to turn on the ball and do damage, so becoming more conscious of which pitches he can turn on and which he should shoot the other way will help him perform more consistently against better pitching. He has also played all over the infield and is likely to settle at third base, where his solid arm and good glovework will fit well. Rynders' physicality serves him well in the box and he moves pretty well, though it looks like the kind of frame that will slow down as he ages, which is why most scouts project him to move off shortstop. He has the upside of 20-25 home runs per season with decent on-base percentages, something like an early career Jake Lamb before he tapered off.
5-145: OF Will Taylor, Clemson {video}
Slot value: $471,400. Signing bonus: $500,000 ($28,600 above slot value).
My rank: #112. MLB Pipeline: #203. Baseball America: #165.
While Josh Hartle was the #2 pitching prospect to reach campus out of the 2021 high school class, Will Taylor was the #2 position player prospect behind Arkansas' Peyton Stovall (now with the Reds). Taylor was in the first round conversation out of high school, but was dead set on not only playing baseball, but playing football as well for Clemson. Unlike many of these two sport athletes, he actually got on the field for Dabo Swinney as a multi-faceted offensive weapon and caught a touchdown against Georgia Tech in 2022. Taylor's primary sport has always been baseball, though, and he gave up football after his sophomore season. Baseball-wise, he missed most of his freshman season after tearing his ACL playing football, but came back for a big sophomore season to put himself back in the second round conversation entering 2024. His junior season, though, was more of a mixed bag and he fell to the Pirates in the fifth round after breaking his wrist in April. The first thing that stands out about Taylor, of course, is his athleticism. He's smaller than you'd expect from a blue chip wide receiver at just 5'10", 180 pounds, but previously showed explosive speed in the outfield. He never fully reached his former peak after the ACL tear, now looking more like an above average runner that may fit better in left field, where he'd still be above average. The Columbia-area native is an extraordinarily patient hitter, running exceptionally low chase rates that help him draw a ton of walks and posting an excellent .470 career on-base percentage, buoyed by an 18.4% career walk rate. There's some juice in the bat, with the potential for 10-15 home runs per season and perhaps a bit more at peak, coming from an easy right handed swing and plenty of lean strength. The overall performance ticked down in 2024 and his batting average dropped from .362 to .230 (though his on-base percentage only dipped from .489 to .465) as he made less consistent contact despite the excellent approach. Those lower on Taylor believe the diminished athleticism since the ACL tear will make him a tweener type who struggles to carve out a clear role in the majors, but our optimists in Pittsburgh see a high IQ player who punches above his weight and can impact the game in a variety of ways. He hit .206/.329/.349 with two home runs and a 20/9 strikeout to walk ratio over seventeen games at Low A Bradenton after being drafted.
6-174: RHP Matt Ager, UC Santa Barbara {video}
Slot value: $359,900. Signing bonus: $357,400 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #174. MLB Pipeline: #135. Baseball America: #104.
Continuing the theme, Matt Ager was another well-known prep prospect that reached campus at UCSB. After serving as a reliever as a freshman, he jumped into the rotation as a sophomore with success, earning his way onto the US Collegiate National Team last summer. Like Josh Hartle and Will Taylor, though, his junior season was more up and down, and he eventually lost his spot in the Gauchos rotation after getting blown up at UC Irvine. He tried to recoup some stock on the Cape just before the draft, but got hit hard. Ager, like Levi Sterling and Hartle, is more of a command and control guy. He can sit in the low to mid 90's with his fastball and touch 96 at peak with some riding life, though he sat a bit below that in 2024 and even at its peak velocity the pitch didn't miss as many bats as you'd like. His best pitch historically has been a big, sweeping slider that flashed plus in 2023 but looked more like an above average pitch in 2024. He works in a truer 12-6 curveball and a changeup, giving him different looks to attack hitters with. After showing plus command and walking just 6.8% of his opponents in 2023, the walk rate jumped to 9.9% as he was more average in that regard in 2024. Still, the 6'5" righty remains very projectable and doesn't throw with much effort, looking like he could easily get back to his previous peak velocity and perhaps tick a little higher. Ager also looked much better in short stints in 2024, where he had an 0.83 ERA and a 20/6 strikeout to walk ratio over 21.2 innings, versus a 5.71 ERA and a 39/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 41 innings as a starter. Pittsburgh could choose to deploy him out of the bullpen and let him lean heavily on his slider, which would then help the fastball play up, and he could move quickly in turn. Or if they have more patience, they could continue to stretch him out and see if they can find a way to help him miss more bats with his fastball while hopefully getting the slider to tick back up to where it was. Those three variables will likely determine his future ceiling: fastball shape, slider quality, and command.
8-234: RHP Gavin Adams, Florida State {video}
Slot value: $224,500. Signing bonus: $172,500 ($52,000 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #306.
Gavin Adams is a name that has been familiar to Florida evaluators for a long time, though he hasn't quite put it together and broken through yet like many would like. He bounced around to two Florida junior colleges before ending up at Florida State in 2024, where unfortunately Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire junior season. The stuff is nasty. Adams' fastball sits in the mid 90's in short stints and has reached as high as 101, coming in with nasty run and sink from a lower slot. He rips off a sharp slider that he'll power past hitters, while his hard changeup looks like a third solid big league offering. The 6'4" righty has projection remaining, but that should come more in the form of durability than added velocity as he's probably not going to throw any harder. He does throw with effort, with a late arm and some head whack that give him below average command, which the Pirates will hope to clean up in pro ball. Given the durability and command questions, Adams feels like a pretty good bet to wind up in the bullpen long term, where he can regularly touch the upper 90's and blow hitters away with his power stuff. The Pirates will just have to get him healthy enough and under control enough to do that consistently.
9-264: 2B Duce Gourson, UCLA {video}
Slot value: $196,100. Signing bonus: $187,500 ($8,600 below slot value).
My rank: #203. MLB Pipeline: #158. Baseball America: #231.
Duce Gourson won't bring the flashiest tools to Pittsburgh, but he has been as steady as they come for UCLA and played in 168 of the Bruins' 169 games over the past three seasons, starting 166 of them. He's a reasonably patient hitter that uses the whole field effectively, helping his fringy pure bat to ball skills play up to an average hit tool. It's a line drive-oriented approach where he doesn't try to do too much, but his strong pitch recognition helps him identify pitches he can turn on and tap his average raw power in games. He has the potential to hit 10-15 home runs per season with solid, walk-driven on-base percentages at peak so long as he continues to control the strike zone well against more advanced pitching. Defensively, he shows nice glovework and strong feel for the infield, though his average physicality will likely push him to second base in the long term. It's a profile filled with 45's and 50's on the 20-80 scale, with no carrying tool but a lack of glaring weaknesses besides in-zone swing and miss. The Pirates hope the San Diego native can add up to more than the sum of his parts and serve in a utility infield role in the near future. Similar to Will Taylor, he hit .203/.379/.270 with a 21/15 strikeout to walk ratio over 22 games between Low A Bradenton and High A Greensboro.
13-384: RHP Matt McShane, Saint Joseph's {video}
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $150,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Matt McShane brings the Pirates a Keystone State native in the thirteenth round, albeit from the other side. He grew up in Bensalem, a northeastern suburb of Philadelphia, then stayed home to attend St. Joseph's University in the city. He's been up and down in three seasons with the Hawks but brings plenty of arm strength to Pittsburgh. McShane's fastball sits in the low 90's in longer outings and reaches the mid 90's in shorter stints, topping out around 96, and he adds a nice slider and hard changeup to round out his arsenal. He's extremely physical at a listed 6'4", 220 pounds, with a durable frame to last through the rigors of a pro season. While McShane is not the most athletic mover on the mound, he repeats his simple delivery well and has run sub-10% walk rates in each of his three seasons at St. Joseph's, pointing to average command. The Pirates could try him out as a starter but his likely destination is long relief, where he can pound the zone with three average pitches and give that length out of the bullpen.
