The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to make their first-round selection in the 2024 MLB Draft with the 9th overall pick.
Exploring Potential Fits for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1st Round of the 2024 MLB Draft
The Pittsburgh Pirates appear to have struck gold with their 2023 selection of Paul Skenes. Can they follow that up with another home run selection nex🍬t month?
The Pirates have a bevy of talented young arms in their system and in Pittsburgh already, so Keith Law’s selection of Texas A&M outfielder Braden Montgomery makes a bunch of sense for the Pirates.
“I know individual scouts who see Montgomery as a top-five talent in the draft, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go higher than this, although the strong returns of Kurtz and Wetherholt off of their injuries probably push him into the 6-10 range. The Pirates are likely the ceiling for prep shortstop Bryce Rainer and would be fits for Griffin or Tibbs.”
Montgomery displayed more power than hitting ability while in high school, but his profile has flipped sin꧒ce entering college. He is a switch-hitter with strong, aggressive swings from both sides of the plate, but he is more impactful as a left-handed hitter with excellent power to all fields. Over the past two seasons, his plate discipline and ability to handle breaking pitches have improved, but he still struggles with swinging and missing too many strikes and chasing non-fastballs.
With average speed and a very strong arm, Montgomery is best suited for right field. As a pitcher, he is capable of reaching 96 mph with his fastball♒ and generating swings and misses with both his low-80s slider and mid-80s changeup. However, his lack of control and command restrict his effectiveness on the mound, and his potential as an outfielder is substantially higher than as a pitcher.
Yahoo! Sports’ recent mock draft .
“Montgomery certainly has top 4-5 pick potential. However, he suffered a brutal-looking lower leg injury in the Super Regionals. It has not come out the official word on the injury, but if he avoided significant ligament/tendon damage I don’t believe his fall will be precipitous on draft day. I tentatively dropped him to the back of this tier of college hitters until more clarity comes out on his injury.”
MLB.com’s Jim Callis sees it differently, .
“Wetherholt and Kurtz ranked 1-2 on our preseason Top 100 and might both be available to the Pirates. Wetherholt missed half the season with a recurring hamstring injury that has made it difficult to evaluate him at shortstop, but he has performed to his usual high standard when in the lineup, and he offers a very similar profile to Bazzana at what will be a lesser price. Montgomery, Wetherholt, and Kurtz appear to be ahead of Griffin and Rainer in Pittsburgh’s pecking order.”
A Pittsburgh area native, Wetherholt has been impressive in college ball, winning the Division I batting title and earning Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. He’s known as one of the best amateur bats and has shown great hitting and base-stealing skills. The only question mark is his defensive position, but his strong bat makes him a top prospect.
Jonathan Mayo but this time it’s prep shortstop Bryce Rainer from Harvard-Westlake High School in California.
“He’s a big, left-handed-hitting shortstop, so of course he gives off Corey Seager vibes. Many scouts have more conviction in his hit tool compared to the next prep bat to come off the board …”
