'Take what the draft gives you': Pirates continue run on college players in MLB Draft

When the Pittsburgh Pirates owned the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, they employed a strategy to sign Louisville catcher Henry Davis to a below-slot bonus and used the savings to entice four top-100 prep prospects to bypass college scholarships with over-slot bonuses.

This year, after the Pirates selected LSU right-hander Paul Skenes with the first overall pick, it began a run of college pitchers in a draft deep with college prospects because of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Of their 21 draft choices, the Pirates selected 18 college prospects. They took 14 pitchers, with half of them from the SEC, including two pairs of teammates. On the third and final day of the MLB Draft, they used eight of their 10 picks on college players, adding five pitchers, three infielders and two catchers.

Pirates assistant general manager Steve Sanders said it showed how the team’s baseball operations and scouting departments “respond and react as nimbly as possible to take advantage of what the draft presents to us.”

“Our goal is to both plan and strategize and also be flexible enough to take what the draft gives you,” Sanders said. “Every draft is different in terms of talent. Obviously, we’re going to be picking at different parts of the draft. Some drafts are deeper in the high school pool, some are deeper in the college pool, some are deeper in position players, some are deeper in pitchers. At the end of the day, our goal is to come out of the draft adding as much impact to the organization as possible.”

The Pirates started Tuesday by taking Kentucky left-hander Magdiel Cotto in the 11th round. A 6-foot-5, 200-pounder, Cotto was 5-1 with a 6.37 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 59 1/3 innings over 39 appearances, including nine starts. The Pirates selected his Kentucky teammate, right-hander Austin Strickland, in the eighth round.

They added Arizona State right-hander Khristian Curtis, ranked No. 126 by Baseball America and No. 197 by MLB Pipeline, in the 12th round. Curtis started his career at Texas A&M but missed the 2021 season after undergoing ulnar nerve transposition surgery. He transferred to Arizona State and went 4-3 with a 7.03 ERA and 1.73 WHIP, allowing 12 homers while recording 58 strikeouts and 35 walks.

“Very pleased that Khristian got a chance to get on the mound this year, stay on the mound this year, show us a little bit coming out of his past health,” Pirates director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri said. “He did a really nice job posting. We feel strongly about tapping into even more of what he did this past year and definitely his pitches in particular.”

San Jose State second baseman Charles McAdoo was their 13th-round pick. The 6-2, 210-pounder, who also can play first base and right field, batted .325/.409/.543 with 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 47 RBIs in 58 games this past season. McAdoo is a cousin of Bob McAdoo, who won two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, and James Michael McAdoo, who won two NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors.

The Pirates added Alabama right-hander Garrett McMillan in the 14th round. The 6-4, 235-pounder was 8-7 with a 4.49 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 128 1/3 innings over 25 starts in two seasons with the Crimson Tide. They also took Alabama lefty Hunter Furtado in the sixth round.

The Pirates selected a pair of catchers in back-to-back picks in 17-year-old catcher John Lopez, a Bethune-Cookman recruit, from the Puerto Rico Academy in the 15th round and Kent State catcher Justin Miknis, who batted .318 with eight homers and 46 RBIs, in the 16th round.

Power-hitting third baseman Daniel Cuvet of ESB Academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla., a Miami recruit, was selected in the 17th round.

N.C. State shortstop Kalae Harrison, who slashed .313/.436/.426, was taken in the 18th round. His father, Kenny Harrison, played in the Pirates’ system for Lynchburg in 1986. His brother, K.J., played in the minors for Milwaukee and Baltimore.

Florida Southwestern State right-hander Tyler Kennedy, who pitched at Pitt in 2022, was their 19th-round pick. Kennedy was 4-5 with a 4.99 ERA in 48 2/3 innings over 14 starts this season. Nevada right-hander Payton Stumbo, who was 2-7 with a 7.63 ERA, was the 20th-round pick.