\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”thumbnail_url”:null,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”The Pirates didn’t hesitate to call up Hunter Barco in 2022 after the left-hander underwent Tommy John surgery, and they were rewarded with an intriguing prospect ((No. 15)(https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2023/pirates/hunter-barco-682995) in the system) who is putting up solid numbers in hitter-friendly Class High-A Greensboro. It’s an apples-and-oranges situation between a left-handed pitcher like Barco and a hard-hitting right-hander like Adams, but the Pirates have shown they can rehab and prepare pitchers for pro ball.”,”type”:”text”}),,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/pirates-day-2-mlb-draft-selections”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”Throughout the lead-up to the draft, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and director of amateur scouting Justin Horowitz have insisted they’re going to select the best players available. In the first two rounds, their draft board led them to three of the top high school talents: shortstops Konnor Griffin and Wyatt”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:({“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-134″,”title”:”Pittsburgh Pirates”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:134″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-draft”,”title”:”MLB Draft”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”alex-stumpf”,”title”:”Alex Stumpf”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”mlb-top-prospects”,”title”:”Top MLB Prospects”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-691776″,”title”:”Josh Hartle”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:691776″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-696142″,”title”:”Will Taylor”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:696142″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-701400″,”title”:”Gavin Adams”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:701400″},”type”:”player”}),,”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/{formatInstructions}/mlb/e392zcucorp83vkczabt”,”title”:”Pirates’ Day 2 MLB Draft Picks”}},”Team:134″:{“__typename”:”Team”,”id”:134},”Person:691776″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:691776},”Person:696142″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:696142},”Person:701400″:{“__typename”:”Person”,”id”:701400}}} window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”} window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Major League Baseball”,”lang”:”en”} window.appId = ” /*–>*/
July 15, 2024
Throughout the lead-up to the draft, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and director of amateur scouting Justin Horowitz insisted they were going to select the best players available. In the first two rounds, their selection committee led them to three of the top high school talents: shortstops Konnor Griffin and Wyatt Sanford, and right-handed pitcher Levi Sterling.
The second day of the draft was much more focused on college players, with the Pirates selecting seven college players out of their eight picks. Their version of selecting the best player on the board also seemed to involve taking on more risk for upside, as evidenced by these three selections:
At the beginning of the year, Hartle looked like he could be a first-round pick and one of the best college pitchers in this draft class. In fact, if you just look at his 2023 resume, it looks like a steal. He was named to the All-ACC first team in 2023 after going 11-2 with a 2.81 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings. He was a Golden Spikes semifinalist that year. Coming out of high school in 2021, he was the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and the No. 2 overall prospect in North Carolina, according to Perfect Game.
Then things went south in 2024 and his ERA jumped to 5.79. He still averaged over a three-strikeout per inning, but his draft buzz has faded considerably.
Despite his disappointing junior year, MLB Pipeline still ranked him as the No. 70 prospect in the class and gave favorable grades to all of his break and offspeed offerings. The MLB.com livestream alluded to a suboptimal pitch mix as one of the reasons for his struggles last season.
The Pirates aren’t just analyzing college stats, and if it could be made to look like the 2023 roster or modified, it might just work.
Three years ago, Taylor could have been a first-round pick, ranked No. 20 among MLB Pipeline’s 2021 draft prospects. But he wanted to go to Clemson to play baseball and football, and ended up suffering an ACL injury playing the latter. That caused him to miss the remainder of the 2021 football season and most of his freshman baseball season.
The injury knocked him from a plus-plus to a mid-speed rusher, but he still has some upside, even if he hasn’t fully developed as scouts had originally hoped. He ranked 203rd on this year’s draft prospects list, so he’s not the same player teams tried to convince to forgo college in 2021, but he still posted an impressive .362/.489/.523 as a sophomore. He saw his average drop to .230 this year (his OPS didn’t drop as much, still finishing at .945), but a fractured left wrist ended his season prematurely.
He does have some raw power, is a good defender and was once one of the best young players in the country. Can he recapture his former form?
A year ago, Adams was a low-ball prospect in the MLB Pipeline draft and was selected in the 11th round by the Nationals. He declined the offer to start his professional career and was traded to Florida State, where he was expected to be one of their top relievers, but he ended up having Tommy John surgery in early March and never pitched for them.
The typical Tommy John recovery schedule is about 14 to 16 months, so doing some rough math, he should be able to pitch and get stronger by spring training next year and potentially play in games by midseason in 2025, assuming all goes well. But that’s still a considerable risk.
There is some potential, though. Adams can throw triple-digit pitches while combining a slider and changeup, which led him to strike out 44 batters in 26 1/3 innings for Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla., as a sophomore.
The Pirates didn’t hesitate to sign Hunter Barco in 2022 after the lefty underwent Tommy John surgery, and they were rewarded with an intriguing prospect (No. 15 in the system) who has a solid track record on a hitter-friendly High-A Greensboro team. It’s an apples-and-oranges situation between a left-handed pitcher like Barco and a hard-hitting righty like Adams, but the Pirates have shown they can rehab and prepare pitchers for professional baseball.