MLB Draft 2025: Pirates double up on prep pitchers early

Pirates take a pair of prep pitching with first two picks, two hitters to follow up

Day one of the MLB Draft is over, and the Pittsburgh Pirates made four selections. Before I get too in-depth on everything, I’m going to do a little bit of a self-brag to start.

While Seth Hernandez was an obvious name to discuss as a potential pick for the Pirates, I touched on the other three names to some extent over the weekend as we prepared for the draft.

Hernandez was number one on my board to pick if he were there, even if I predicted Aiva Arquette in the morning. The other three I mention in my features discussing options outside of the first round.

After watching hundreds of videos and reading scouting reports, I narrowed down my list to about 40 names that interested me. Three of those 40 were taken by the Pirates, including the guy I was pounding the table for at the 50th overall pick.

Now on to business:

Round 1: Seth Hernandez, RHP Corona HS

I felt like Hernandez was the best player in this entire draft class, even as a prep pitcher. Just so much to like, even coming from the high school ranks. He has the frame to continue to grow into a potential workhorse starting pitcher, a clean delivery, and a quick arm.

All of that combined is someone who could eat plenty of innings down the road, while also adding some velocity, which he can already reach with his fastball, up to 97/98 mph at its peak.

His change-up was arguably the best in the draft, a potentially double-plus pitch, and he adds a curveball and slider. It’s the complete total package that is rare to see in a high-school pitcher.

I get it, the Pirates need hitting, and they do, but if you are trying to supplement the draft into immediate help for the major league roster, you are already set up to fail, and likely will.

Best. Player. Available. Forever and always.

This was as slam-dunk a pick as it got in the first round.

Round 2: Angel Cervantes, RHP Warren HS

Cervantes was one of the first prep pitchers I started to dig deep into, and he remained a player of interest for me through the draft until it got to a point where I was pounding the table at any opportunity I got to talk about the draft.

One of the youngest players in the draft, Cervantes has a fastball that has seen an uptick recently, but he still has some room to grow into some more down the road. It’s another clean delivery as well as a deadly change-up, one of the better ones in the draft class.

The breaking pitches will need some refinement, but he already has a great feel for pitching at a young age.

He checks a lot of the boxes that Levi Sterling did last year, but with a better current fastball.

Biggest note of the first two rounds: the Bradenton trip is going to be insane next year.

Competitive Balance Rd B: Murf Gray, 3B Fresno State

Even on top of an 80-grade name, there’s a lot to like here from Gray. He’s a masher with a super physical build who hit 18 home runs this past season for Fresno State and has a very encouraging track record with wooden bats.

Gray hit .329/.367/.500 with five home runs and nine doubles in 150 plate appearances with the wood bats at the Cape. He also struck out just 8% of the time there, and had a 10.7 K% rate with Fresno State in 2025.

So, he isn’t just a masher who is going to have contact issues. He had an in-zone contact rate of over 90% against fastballs in his draft year. FanGraphs is a big fan of him, placing him in the 19th in the class. They were also among the higher ones on Cam Smith and Theo Gillen last year, if that accounts for anything.

The question will be what position he plays. He’s listed as a third baseman, but his size may force him to move off the position. While he mashes in the zone, there has been some chase, so that will be something to monitor.

Round 3: Easton Carmichael, C Oklahoma

Wrapping up day one was a catcher. There may be some questions about his arm and if he can stick behind the plate, but he has surprising speed that may allow him to settle in the outfield.

The hit/power here is interesting. He had 13 home runs through his first two years on campus before hitting 17 this past season. Carmichael was another solid performer in the Cape Cod League.

Considering the fact that Oklahoma stepped up in competition overall with their move to the SEC, it’s encouraging to see him make that kind of improvement in production.

I like addressing the catcher position early. Omar Alfonzo is currently your best prospect at the position, but it’s not entirely clear if he will remain there due to his size.

Endy Rodriguez hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and while he’s taken strides defensively, Henry Davis remains a question mark at the plate.

Carmichael has more of a backup catcher’s profile, but with some added versatility to it, potentially.

Overall Thoughts

Best. Player. Available.

That’s all that needed to be said, and it’s what the Pirates did with their first pick. Hernandez was the best player still there, and the Pirates didn’t hesitate to take him.

I was shocked to see them double up with Cervantes, but honestly, getting perhaps the two best prep pitchers, a demographic you’ve historically had success with, is a big win.

Gray adds some power to the system, although he doesn’t come with the same risk that thumpers come with, and I believe Carmichael is a sneaky strong pick.

They’ve really doubled (tripled?) down on the prep pitchers recently, especially ones with the advanced change-ups.

It does remind me of when I talked to Justin Horowitz (Director of Amateur Scouting for the Pirates) about Sterling and his change-up. He mentioned that having that pitch can allow him to focus on his other pitchers, because he knows he has that pitch in his back pocket to come back to when in a pinch.

That’s three prep pitchers over the last two drafts they’ve taken that have ‘plus’ change-ups.

You can never have enough pitching, and they fortified their strength even further by selecting Hernandez and Cervantes. They were still able to grab a couple of interesting bats to round out day one.

Day two will be interesting to see how things fall into place. Many interesting names are still available to choose from. In the meantime, the Pirates have to be ecstatic with who they have brought in so far.

---

Support the site by becoming a paid member, and get access to all of our premium content, including our Top 25 list with complete player write-ups and video breakdowns, which come out weekly.

It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.

Bucs On Deck is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.