Day one of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft is in the books. Here is a recap of the day the Pittsburgh Pirates had. The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the first day of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft with three picks to be made. Holding the 10th, 36th, and 51st overall picks, Neal Huntington and his scouts were ready to add to the Pirate farm system. With the 10th overall pick in the draft the Pirates selected University of South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty. Swaggerty, on top of being a member of the all-name team, has the potential to be a five-tool outfielder. This is why Keith Law of ESPN.com had Swaggerty ranked 4th on his pre-draft big board. Swaggerty slashed .296/.455/.526/.981 with a .230 ISO this past season for the Jaguars. You can read more about Swaggerty and what he brings to the table for the Pirates here. Now that Austin Meadows is in the Major Leagues, look for Swaggerty to become the team’s top hitting prospect. At pick number 36 the Pirates selected right-handed high school pitcher Gunnar Hoglund. The Hudson, Florida, native checks in at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. And, like Swaggerty, is a member of the all-name team. According to Perfect Game, Hoglund has deception to his delivery, a 3/4 arm slot, and he hides the ball well. He already throws a plus curveball to go with his low-to-mid 90s fastball. Something to watch is that Hoglund is currently committed to Ole Miss. This commitment could make Hoglund a tough sign. However, the money the Pirates saved by drafting Swaggerty at number 10 could help them sign Hoglund for over slot value. You can read more about Hoglund here. Right-handed Texas prep pitcher Braxton Ashcraft was drafted by the Pirates 51st overall. This completed the Pirates run on members of the all-name team on day one of the draft. Baseball America had Ashcraft as the draft’s 58th best prospect. Ashcraft has a great frame checking in at 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds. He has an extended 3/4 arm slot that creates angle. He throws a power sinker, and already as an advanced slider and changeup. He is currently committed to Baylor University. You can read more about Ashcraft here. Stay tuned here at Rum Bunter for breakdowns and analysis of players drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as days two and three of the MLB Draft unfold today and tomorrow.<doc-sep>It is finally draft day and the Pittsburgh Pirates have the 10th pick tonight. Here is one last look at the mock drafts leading up to the event. Tonight marks the start of new careers that will be closely followed by many fans across the MLB. However, tonight is also one of the most important nights of the calendar year for teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates. Smaller market teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates have to nail their MLB draft picks. It is through the draft that they will get their keys to future success. The Bucs have a real chance to do that tonight with the number 10 overall pick. This is a spot where they can add a legitimate high-end talent. They also have a competitive balance pick at number 36 overall and their second-round pick is number 51. While it is impossible to predict who the Pittsburgh Pirates will end up with at pick number 10, there are several predictions from draft experts on who it could be. Here is who Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo are predicting as of this morning on their MLB Pipeline article. Jim Callis Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline is predicting the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a high-end prep pitcher. In an earlier mock draft, he had the Bucs looking at high school outfielder Jared Kelenic. However, as the draft has approached he and Mayo have started focusing more on prep pitchers for the Bucs. In his final mock draft, he has the Pittsburgh Pirates taking left-handed pitcher, Mathew Liberatore. Liberatore is a big lefty from Arizona. He has the talent to go higher than 10, but Callis believes that he may slip down the board a little due to teams drafting more college hitters toward the top. Callis also notes prep righty Grayson Rodriguez and prep outfielder Jordyn Adams as possibilities. Jonathan Mayo Jonathan Mayo also believes the Pittsburgh Pirates are leaning towards the prep pitching market. In his mock draft over the weekend he had the Bucs selecting California prep righty Cole Winn. In the mock this morning he still has the Bucs targeting Winn. Mayo, of course, lives in the Pittsburgh area and usually has a good sense of what the Pittsburgh Pirates organization is doing. Mayo also notes Rodriguez as a possibility. Furthermore, he writes that the Bucs like the college bats, but unless one that is projected ahead of them falls to number 10 they likely will stick with a prep arm. College hitters that he could be talking about are Florida infielder Jonathan India, Wichita State infielder Alec Bohm, and South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty. The draft starts at 7:00 pm ETA and it will be broadcasted on the MLB Network. With the tenth pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates will not be on the board until closer to 8:00. Make sure to check back for immediate information on the new prospects and how they will fit into the system going forward.<doc-sep>After taking a college outfielder and a high school right-handed pitcher, the Pittsburgh Pirates made their second-round pick at number 51 overall. The Pittsburgh Pirates were able to add two very intriguing prospects with their first two picks in the draft. At pick number 10 they took college outfielder Travis Swaggerty. Then they added a big, power righty in Gunnar Hoglund with their Competitive Balance pick at number 36. The team had another high pick at number 51, which was their second-round pick. With this pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates took another big prep righty by the name of Braxton Ashcraft. Ashcraft is a tall righty out of Robinson High School in Texas. He stands at 6’5” and weighs 195 pounds. Based on this frame, Ashcraft has a lot of room to continue and grow into as he gets older. When the Pittsburgh Pirates draft players like this they plan on them physically maturing into their bodies and therefore adding more miles per hour to their fastball. Ashcraft as of now is throwing in the high 80s and gets into the lower 90s, but with his frame should reach to the mid-90s when it is all said and done. Here is more of a scouting report from MLB Pipeline: “Ashcraft has a loose, quick arm yet there were games this spring when he was pitching at 85-88 mph in the late innings. He created excitement among scouts when he began sitting at 92 mph and topping out at 94 during the postseason, and his heater also features sink and his 6-foot-5 frame creates difficult extension and angle. He has promising tilt on his slider that currently sits in the upper 70s but should be at least a solid offering once he adds more consistent power.” The first thing that pops out from his scouting report is that his fastball has sink to it. As many Pittsburgh Pirates fans know, the Bucs love to develop movement of their pitcher’s fastballs. The fact that Ashcraft is already throwing a sinking fastball gets him a little ahead of other pitchers in the Bucs lower minors. MLB Pipeline had the Baylor commit ranked as the number 64 best prospect available. Meanwhile, Baseball America had him ranked number 58. While he was a little bit of a reach at number 51, he has all the tools the Pittsburgh Pirates look for in young prep arms. The Bucs were allotted $1.38 million and while he has a strong commitment to Baylor, the team should be able to give him more money than he expected by reaching on him by a few picks.<doc-sep>The 2018 MLB Draft is underway. The Pittsburgh Pirates 86th overall pick in the third round has come and gone. The Pirates have selected Connor Kaiser with their first selection of the second day. The Pirates selected an athletic collegiate outfielder from South Alabama in Travis Swaggerty with their first pick of the draft, and followed that pick up with high school arms Gunnar Hoglund and Braxton Ashcraft in with their next two picks, both fitting the traditional mold of Pirates prep pitchers. Their third round selection and first pick of the day is Connor Kaiser, a shortstop from Vanderbilt. The slot value of the third round pick is $673,200 so the Pirates will likely save from their draft pool to spread out to Hoglund, Ashcraft, and/or a prep arm selected later. The Vandy shortstop bats from the right side and stands at 6’4″ and 205 pounds. He’s listed as a college hitter on Fangraphs The Board, ultimately making him a college bat who will sign below slot. On Baseball America, the shortstop ranks 211th and it is noted that, “he’s a reliable shortstop who has average range and an above-average arm with a long track record of modest success while playing in the Southeastern Conference, which makes him a useful day two pick.” For the Commodores, Kaiser is hitting .298/.397/.452 with a 19.4 percent strikeout rate and 12.1 percent walk rate while homering six times. There’s value in a player like this, save money for higher end talent while getting a safe collegiate bat who can play and stick at shortstop. Kaiser probably projects best as a backup middle infielder and won’t crack any top 30 lists, but Baseball America notes he hits the balls on the ground more than in the air. Make a swing adjustment to get more under the ball, and perhaps there’s more power in the 6’4″ frame than he’s currently shown. College bats this early who are ranked so low usually sign below slot, and that should be the expectation for Kaiser. What this allows the Pirates to do is get creative and spread money around while adding another shortstop into the fold in the minor leagues.<doc-sep>
The Pittsburgh Pirates made their number 10 overall pick and now have made their number 36 overall pick. They added a quality outfield prospect at number 10, so what did they add at number 36? The Pittsburgh Pirates also had the number 36 overall pick in the draft. This pick came after the first round and before the second round. The pick is considered a competitive balance pick and they were awarded it via lottery. The top 10 smallest market teams and smallest revenue teams are put into a lottery. Last year, the Bucs had a pick in Competitive Balance B round, after the second round. This year they were given the top pick in Competitive Balance A. With the pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected righty prep pitcher Gunnar Hoglund. Hoglund comes from the high school ranks out of Florida. He is the prototypical, big framer, power arm righty that teams dream on. The righty stands at 6’4” and weighs 210 pounds. He has a college commitment to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). MLB Pipeline has him ranked as the number 66 best player in the draft and Baseball America has him ranked at number 84. While he seems like a bit of a reach, Baseball America had his stock rising as of this morning. Also, this is not of character for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2016, they took righty pitcher Travis MacGregor who was ranked a little lower, but so far he has looked very impressive in the minors. Here is MLB Pipeline’s scouting report on Hoglund: “The right-hander throws strikes with a three-pitch mix, pitching mostly off of his fastball, which he’ll throw anywhere in the 89-95 mph range. He throws his heater with good angle and plane, keeping it down in the zone. Hoglund does show an ability to spin a breaking ball, though he doesn’t always stay on top of it, which keeps it from having enough bite at times. He has feel for a changeup, though he doesn’t use it much.” Hoglund is all about projection. He has the size and arm that the Pittsburgh Pirates have done a good job of developing during Neal Huntington’s tenure. As of now, he has a relatively strong commitment to Ole Miss, but the Bucs have a good bit of money to spend to lure him from it. For the number 36 pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates have $1.9 million to spend. There is a good chance that they will save some money on their first-round pick Travis Swaggerty. If that is the case they will likely use some of the money to sweeten Hoglund’s bonus.