The Pittsburgh Pirates will make their final ten selections of the 2021 MLB amateur draft on Tuesday. They have the first overall selection once the festivities kick off today shortly after noon. We will have all ten of the picks covered in this post today, including reports, stats and videos (if available) for all ten players. Once the picks are made, the article will be updated with the information as soon as we can get it up. These picks should go fairly quickly, as there won’t be a minute on the clock for each pick like yesterday. The picks should come in rapid fire without delay. Join the discussion below in the comments.
Here are some links for the day:
Top Available Players for Day Three of the Draft
First Pitch: The Pirates Found a Way to Get Four First Round Talents in the 2021 Draft
2021 Draft Pick Signing Tracker (bookmark this link!)
With the first pick on day three in the 11th round, the Pittsburgh Pirates select Jack Carey, a right-handed pitcher out of Duke. He wasn’t rated in the top 250 for MLB Pipeline and he was #237 on the top 500 for Baseball America. In his junior year this season, he had a 5.24 ERA in 15 starts and 68.2 innings pitched, with 25 walks and 69 strikeouts. He had similar results as a bullpen arm as a freshman in 2019 and during the shortened 2020 season. According to BA, he has a low-90s fastball that hits 96 MPH. He has an inconsistent slider that looks good at times, to go along with a curve, changeup and cutter. Here’s a video from Prospect Live:
With their 12th round pick, the Pirates selected Chazz Martinez from Orange Coast College. He’s a 6’3″, 210 pound left-handed pitcher, who didn’t rank top 250/500 for either source. The videos below have radar for him and show a 92-93 MPH fastball early and 90-91 late, with a slider and changeup in the low 80’s, and one loopy curve in the 70s. In seven starts this year, he had a 4.50 ERA in 38 innings, with 44 strikeouts. He also put up a .721 OPS as a hitter.
Here are some videos from Prospect Pipeline
slowed down version
In the 13th round, the Pirates selected Owen Sharts, a 21-year-old, 6’2″, 190 pound right-handed pitcher out of Nevada. He had Tommy John surgery so he will begin his time in the system rehabbing. He throws 89-92 MPH, hits 95, and mixes it with a curve in the high-70s that is a plus pitch. He has a below average changeup and some control issues. He was a strong prospect out of high school, but all of the video on him available is at least 2-3 years old, so I didn’t include any below. BA ranked him 373rd and their draft expert Carlos Collazo said he had top five round potential coming into the year, so go get your jersey now.
Owen Sharts is dealing through four innings! The right hander has struck out five batters as we head to the fifth.
End 4 | Nevada 3, UNLV 0 pic.twitter.com/ldUf1JPoZn
— Nevada Baseball (@NevadaBaseball) February 28, 2021
In the 14th round, the Pirates select Braylon Bishop, who ranked 94th for Pipeline and 88 for BA, so he might be a difficult sign if they are short on bonus pool funds. He has a commitment to Arkansas. He’s 6’0″, 176 pound center fielder, with plus power and plus speed. He’s extremely athletic, with a lefty swing that shows good bat speed and plenty of hard contact. He has potential to be a plus defender in center field. This is a nice chance to take here. Maybe they have the money, or maybe they are close enough to give it a shot. At this point in the draft it’s a nice no-risk gamble.
Here’s a Prospect Live video
and a 2080 Baseball video
In the 15th round, the Pirates selected Tyler Samaniego, senior 6’4″, 205 left-handed pitcher from the University of Southern Alabama. He wasn’t a top 250/500 guy. He did two years at JUCO and two at Southern Alabama. This season in 22 appearances, he had a 4.08 ERA in 17.2 innings, with a .172 BAA and a 9:27 BB/SO ratio, picking up seven saves. Last year he had just four appearances and allowed four runs in 3.2 innings. He was a strong hitter in the JUCO ranks, batting .358 during his final season and .403 as a freshman, while also doing some pitching. Could not find a decent video of him.
In the 16th round, the Pirates selected prep shortstop Daniel Corona out of the Baylor Schools. He was unranked by Pipeline and BA has him 268th. He has a commit to Wake Forest. He’s 6’2″, 193 pounds and turns 18 next weekend. BA says that he has solid tools across the board, but no carrying tools yet. Scouts say he profiles better defensively at third base and he can also pitch. Pipeline calls him a skilled lefty hitter, who could develop into a power hitter down the line. He’s an average runner, strong arm, decent in the field, though the knock on his shortstop defense is the overall quickness (twitch speed). He’s another player who will require an over-slot bonus, so we will see if the Pirates have any draft bonus pool space left after signing the top ten round picks.
Once again, Prospect Live and 2080 Baseball are knocking it out of the park with videos:
and
In the 17th round, the Pirates selected Carlos Lomeli, senior right-handed pitcher, 22 years old, from St Mary’s College. He’s 6’2″, 195 pounds. In the video below, he’s hitting 87-88 MPH, with a mid-70s slider/breaking ball. In four years of college, he has a 3.62 ERA in 224 innings over 34 starts and 13 relief appearances, with 46 walks, 168 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP. He’s a strike-thrower obviously. His best results came as a sophomore, and his 4.21 ERA over 72.2 innings this year was his highest in college.
Here’s video from Prospect Pipeline.
In the 18th round, the Pirates selected 18-year-old prep shortstop AJ Graham out of Gaither HS in Florida. He’s 6’3″, 180 pounds and a right-handed hitter. He’s not ranked in the 250/500 rankings and there’s no video, so this report won’t be much here for now. According to Maxpreps, he hit .346 in 23 games this year, with a .414 OBP, 27 hits, 14 RBI, 18 runs, seven doubles, two homers (all of his available stats). In his junior year he hit .182 in seven games before the season was stopped. A scouting site had the following information for him:
4.12 home to first time, 96 MPH exit velocity, 6.61 60 yard dash, 92 MPH top infield throwing speed
In the 19th round, the Pirates selected Drew Irvine, 21-year-old, right-handed pitcher out of Iowa. He’s a 6’3″, 180 pound junior. He had a 6.43 ERA in 49 innings, with a 1.76 WHIP, 49 strikeouts and 31 walks as Iowa’s primary Saturday starter. He was a reliever his first two seasons, with a 6.62 ERA as a freshman and a 4.50 mark in last year’s shortened season. In 23 innings of college summer ball last year, he had a 1.96 ERA and 38 strikeouts, so there has been success for him against college competition. He has a four-pitch mix and used his curveball more often this year early and late in the counts. BA had him as the eighth best prospect in Iowa, with the top six all making their top 500.
In the 20th and final round, the Pirates selected JUCO shortstop Brenden Dixon out of Weatherford College. He’s 20 years old, right-handed hitter, stands 6’1″, 205 pounds. He has committed to playing at Arkansas in 2022 and he played at the University of Texas as a freshman in 2020, hitting .065 in 14 games before the season was stopped. This year he hit .335/.495/.633 in 53 games, with 12 doubles, ten homers, 47 walks and seven steals. He was a two-sport star in HS, also excelling in football
Here’s a video from 2019 while he was in high school
