The Pittsburgh Pirates recently added two of their 2019 draft picks to their minor league active rosters, with 13th round pick Chase Murray joining Greensboro yesterday and 20th round pick Jake Snider going to Bradenton on Thursday. It’s a good time to see where the entire 2019 draft group is after losing their first full season to the crazy 2020 campaign.
The Pirates signed 38 players from this draft class out of 42 picks. That’s an insane amount and one that we will likely never see again. That’s especially true if they decide to stick with 20 rounds in the draft (new for this year), which seems extremely likely. If anything, the amount of rounds could be lower, not higher in the future, depending on how this draft leagues work out this summer. Anyway, here are the 38 players from the 2019 draft who signed and a very quick update on each of them. They are listed in draft order.
Quinn Priester, Greensboro – One of the top prospects in the system, the first round pick is in High-A ball with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 25.2 innings over six starts. He previously had just one start over the Gulf Coast League.
Sammy Siani, Bradenton – The 37th overall pick is in the outfield for Low-A Bradenton, where he’s hitting .213/.369/.404 in 28 games, with ten extra-base hits and 24 walks. I just noticed that he’s 9-for-9 in steals during his career.
Matt Gorski, Greensboro – The second round pick is in High-A, where he’s hitting .220/.310/.410 in 28 games, with 11 extra-base hits and a huge strikeout rate.
Jared Triolo, Greensboro – The 72nd overall pick, he’s batting .259/.344/.380 in 30 games, with four doubles and three homers.
Matt Fraizer, Greensboro – One of the best surprises early on, he’s batting .333/.428/.538 in 31 games, with six homers and nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts (22) in 31 games.
JC Flowers, Greensboro – He began the year at Bradenton, but quickly moved up a level. Combined between the two spots, he has a 1.71 ERA and an 0.76 WHIP in 21 innings, with a 27:3 SO/BB ratio and a .178 BAA.
Grant Ford, Greensboro – The fifth round pick is struggling in relief, albeit with a nice strikeout rate. In 18.1 innings, he has a 5.40 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP and 22 strikeouts.
Will Matthiessen, Greensboro – He got off to a rough start with Bradenton, but injuries forced him up to Greensboro. He’s hitting .193/.343/.361 in 25 games, with 41 strikeouts in 83 at-bats. He has 19 walks and seven extra-base hits.
Blake Sabol, Bradenton – He got a late start to the season, then got injured after three games, so this is a bit of a lost season for the seventh round pick.
Austin Roberts, Greensboro – He’s off to a rough start with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP, but the strikeouts have been huge, with 30 in just 17.1 innings.
Ethan Paul, Indianapolis – He surprisingly started in Altoona, then moved to Indianapolis when they needed warm bodies. Not surprisingly, he’s struggling with the extremely advanced placement, hitting .160/.276/.180 in 19 games.
Cameron Junker, Bradenton – It seems like the relievers here in the top ten picks all have the same story. Junker has a 4.86 ERA in Low-A, with a 1.38 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in only 16.2 innings.
Jase Bowen, Bradenton – The Pirates overslot signing in the 11th round is hitting .266/.341/.505 in 30 games, with 12 extra-base hits.
Kyle Wilkie, Greensboro – The 12th round pick out of Clemson has played just six games for Greensboro as their third-string catcher.
Chase Murray, Greensboro – Debuted yesterday
Aaron Shackelford, Greensboro – He’s making a lot of noise with his power this year, though he did the same in college in 2019, so it shouldn’t be any surprise. He’s hitting .226/.355/.530 with ten homers and 22 walks in 32 games.
Garrett Leonard, Greensboro – He has a 4.42 ERA in 18.1 innings of relief, with ten strikeouts and a 1.36 WHIP.
Eli Wilson, Bradenton – He’s platooning with the top catching prospect in the system (Endy Rodriguez), giving the Pirates their two best catching prospects at the same level. Wilson is hitting .364/.541/.545…yes, a .541 OBP. He has 16 walks in 15 games.
Ryan Harbin, EST – A high school pitcher, Harbin is in Extended Spring Training.
Cory Wood, EST – A college infielder, Wood is in Extended Spring Training.
Jake Snider, Bradenton – He just joined Bradenton on Thursday
Alex Roth, EST – A college pitcher, he’s in Extended Spring Training.
Andres Alvarez, EST – Injured
Jasiah Dixon, Bradenton – High school outfielder, he’s hitting .172/.300/194 in 26 games, with a 13-for-13 record in the stolen base department.
Trey McGough, Altoona – He moved up to Altoona for his last start. Between two stops he has a 2.91 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 21.2 innings, with 19 strikeouts.
Ethan Goforth, Bradenton – He was recently moved from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day IL. He had just seven at-bats in four games prior to the injury.
Ryan Troutman, Bradenton – Just recently joined Bradenton from EST. Has allowed three runs in 2.2 innings.
Sampson Abernathy – Released earlier this year
Bear Bellomy, Greensboro – He has a 5.06 ERA in 16 innings of relief, with 15 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP.
Marshall Gilbert – The 29th round pick retired last year
Josh Bissonette, Altoona – He was pushed to Altoona where he’s a backup infielder, though the injury to Ji-Hwan Bae is giving him more time. He’s hitting .191/.269/.213 in 16 games.
Jake Wright, EST – He’s a college outfielder in Extended Spring Training
Ernny Ordonez, Bradenton – He was a late arrival to Bradenton, who is hitting .289/.404/.500 in 12 games.
Dylan Shockley, Greensboro – The backup catcher in Greensboro, he’s hitting .091 in seven games.
Deion Walker, EST – High school outfielder, overslot signing in the 34th round. He’s at Pirate City
Jake Sweeney, EST – He was a college/JUCO pick, but still 18 years old when drafted. He’s also at Pirate City
CJ Dandeneau – He was one of the cuts last summer when minor league rosters were being trimmed
Daniel Ross – The 40th round pick was released the same day as Dandeneau
