Pirates take OF Travis Swaggerty in 1st round

With the tenth pick of the 2018 amateur draft the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Travis Swaggerty, a left-handed hitting outfielder who was a three year starter at the University of Southern Alabama in the Sunbelt Conference. He stands 5-11 and weighs 180 pounds, and will turn 21 on Aug. 19.

Year Age  BA/ OB/ SA   G  PA  AB  R  H DO TR HR RBI SB CS BB SO HP SH SF DP
2016  18 303/428/422  59 269 218 47 66 12  4  4  27 20 11 42 49  7  2  0  2
2017  19 356/480/571  58 281 219 55 78 12  1 11  60 19  6 49 45  8  2  3  1
2018  20 296/455/526  57 277 213 57 63 10  0 13  38  9  5 54 38  9  0  1  1 

FanGraph’s Kiley McDaniel noted that some believe Swaggerty is “the best college bat in the country” although Oliver reserves that honor for Seth Beer, but top comps for Swaggerty are Joc Pederson and Jonathan Singleton.

mlb says: “Up-the-middle college athletes are hard to find, and Swaggerty is the best in the 2018 Draft class. He’s got a chance to have solid or better tools across the board, as his sneaky power and plus speed could make him a 20-20 player. He has a penchant for drawing walks but also can get overly aggressive at times. Swaggerty is definitely going to stay in center field, but he has the arm for right field if needed.”