Pirates preparing for draft
PITTSBURGH -- General manager Neal Huntington, scouting director Greg Smith and the rest of the Pirates' front office and scouts bunkered in Bradenton, Fla., during the first three days of the week to begin serious preparations for the first-year draft.
The Pirates have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, which will be a three-day affair this year, beginning June 9, and the first round will be televised by the MLB Network and held at its studios in Secaucus, N.J.
Quite naturally, the decision makers are playing it close to the vest about whom they might take with their first-round draft.
However, this much is certain: They won't be getting San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg. The Pirates would love to take him, but Washington plans to use the first pick on him.
The best hitter in the draft, North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley, also figures to be gone by the time the Pirates' turn comes. If Seattle does not take him with the second pick, he isn't likely to get past San Diego at No. 3.
Based on the way the talent shapes up beyond Strasburg and Ackley and the dearth of top-flight pitching prospects in the organization, it seems likely the Pirates will take a college pitcher with their pick. There are a number of starters scouts believe could get to the major leagues quickly.
That list is headed by Missouri right-hander Kyle Gibson, someone the Pirates are said to like quite a bit.
The 6-foot-6, 208-pound native of Greenfield, Ind., was 9-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 14 games, 13 starts, going into the Big 12 Conference tournament, allowing 86 hits while posting an outstanding strikeout/walk ratio of 115/16.
Gibson's fastball sits in the 89-93 mph range and tends to jump on hitters quickly. He also has a good changeup, but his slider is somewhat inconsistent.
While he has the stuff of a No. 3 starting pitcher in the big leagues, his mound presence and aptitude give him a chance to be a No. 2, according to many scouts who have watched him.
Right behind Gibson on the list of advanced college pitchers is North Carolina right-hander Alex White and former Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow, who is pitching for the Fort Worth Cats of the independent American Association. Crow tossed five shutout innings in his season debut last week.
Huntington watched White's start at Boston College last week, in which he consistently threw his fastball at 92 mph. White, though, can turn the dial on his heater up to 95 mph. The knock against him is that he tries to be too much of a finesse pitcher by throwing his slider and splitter more than the fastball.
White, a 6-foot-3, 200-pounder from Greenville, N.C., was 7-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 12 starts going into the Atlantic Coast Conference tourney, giving up 67 hits in 82 2/3 innings while striking out 88 and walking 32.
Crow was Washington's first-round pick last season after starring collegiately at Missouri, where he won 23 games and struck out 177 in three seasons, but the Nationals failed to come to contract terms with him. He is a pure power pitcher with a fastball that reaches 95 mph and a slider that tops out at 87 mph. He also is developing a good feel for the changeup.
