clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2010 Draft Day Two: Open Thread And Rundowns Of Picks Three Through Eight

The Pirates went crazy for pitching today after doing pretty much the same thing last year. It may be worth pointing out here that the Bucs already had a ton of interesting pitchers at the low levels of the minors and that their lowest-level affiliate currently playing (West Virginia) hasn't hit particularly well this year, so I'm not sure how all these pitchers are going to work in terms of organizational need, but a lot of the picks are certainly pretty interesting. I've already written about the Bucs' first two picks, Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie, who are a pair of high-upside, high-velocity high school pitchers. I'm not too worried about the Pirates signing Taillon, but Allie will require a substantial bonus too.

Here's what I can glean about the other picks. Thanks to everyone who hung out in the threads and posted about these picks as they happened; I'm going to crib a bunch of stuff from there. The only position player the Bucs took in the first ten rounds was third-rounder Mel Rojas Jr., a very toolsy junior college outfielder. You can watch him take BP here:

You can check out a scouting report here. He doesn't project as much of a power hitter, but he has a good package of speed and defense, and he could stick in center. He looks like a very good pick for the third round.

In the fourth round, the Pirates grabbed Nicholas Kingham, a tall high school RHP from Nevada. He has a good fastball and a strong changeup, so there's reason to hope he'll end up making it as a decent starter. 

Fifth rounder Tyler Waldron is a pitcher out of Oregon State. He was supposed to be OSU's ace last year, but he struggled mentally and ended up as their closer.

Sixth-rounder Jason Hursh is a Texas high school pitcher who will probably require a large bonus, as he's committed to Oklahoma State. He rose late in the draft and appears to have good upside, although he doesn't have a long track record of success and will probably be a bit of a project.

Seventh-rounder Austin Kubitza is another high school arm who will probably require substantial money to keep him from going to Rice. Baseball America thinks highly of him. Eighth-rounder Dace Kime is yet another high school pitcher, and he'll also probably require an over-slot bonus--he's committed to Louisville.

We're going to learn a lot more about these guys in the coming weeks, but again, I'm guessing that the Pirates aren't planning on signing all of them. I'm guessing Waldron won't be much of a problem, and that Rojas will be signable, but Allie, Hursh, Kubitza and Kime will be a little more complicated. (13th-rounder Christopher Kirsch, who was another late riser in the draft, might be also; I'm not sure.) I'm speculating somewhat here--I'm just learning about these guys too--so if you've found other information, let me know in the comments.

UPDATE 5:56 PM: Among the later-round picks, 19th-rounder Kent Emanuel and 21st-rounder Dale Carey might be ones to watch. Emanuel has a commitment to UNC. Carey, in particular, sounds like he's a much better prospect than his round would suggest. With a strong commitment to the University of Miami, it sounds like it could take six figures to sign him.