Morning Rundown: Pirates select four on day one of MLB Draft, losing streak over
Pirates add four players to the system
The Pittsburgh Pirates selected four players on day one of the 2025 MLB Draft: two pitchers and two hitters.
With the sixth overall pick, they selected right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez from Corona High School. They doubled down on prep pitching with their second pick, taking RHP Angel Cervantes, another California native, 50th overall.
They converted to the hitting side of things with their final two picks, selecting a pair of college bats with a solid track record at the Cape Cod League.
Fresno State third baseman Murf Gray, who hit 18 home runs this past season, was their Competitive Balance pick, wrapping up the night with catcher Easton Carmichael from Oklahoma in the third round.
I’ll have an in-depth piece on their day one selections later today, and the rest of the draft is scheduled to start at 11:30 am ET.
If you’re brave enough and want to relive day one, I was on NS9 for over four hours discussing the draft and then random Pirates-related topics. Have a watch here.
On the major league side of things, the Pirates ended their eight-game losing streak as they head into the All-Star break after beating the Minnesota Twins 2-1.
Tommy Pham hit a solo home run in the top of the second, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Byron Buxton hit a double that scored Harrison Bader in the bottom of the third to tie it up.
Things stayed tied until the top of the ninth, where a Spencer Horwitz RBI groundout gave the Pirates the lead again. David Bednar got the final three outs for his 13th save, ending the losing streak.
Bucs on Deck: Pittsburgh Pirates Top 30 Midseason Update
We are past the halfway mark of the 2025 minor league season, and it seems like a perfect time for an update on our Top Prospect list, which has been expanded to 30 players.
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Not only do you gain access to our Top 30 scouting reports and 2025 updates, but also video breakdowns and player features, as well as live reports from my travels to minor league games.
Top Exit Velocity
Alika Williams - IND - 110.3 mph - Groundout
Spencer Howitz - PIT - 106.5 mph - Groundout
Yordany De Los Santos - BRD - 106.1 mph - Lineout
Brett Sullivan - IND - 105.6 mph - Lineout
Tommy Pham - PIT - 105.4 mph - Home Run
Top Pitch Velocity
Kyle Nicolas - IND - 100.7 mph
Kyle Nicolas - IND - 100.6 mph
Kyle Nicolas - IND - 100.5 mph
Kyle Nicolas - IND - 100.4 mph
Kyle Nicolas - IND - 100.3 mph
Most Whiffs
Hung-Leng Chang - GBO - 8
Dominic Perachi - BRD - 7
Brandan Bidois - ALT - 6
Mitch Keller - PIT - 5
David Bednar - PIT - 5
Thomas Harrington - IND - 5
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Indianapolis Indians - 6 vs Gwinnett Stripers - 5
Top Hitter - Nick Solak: 2-3, RBI, BB, HR, R
Top Pitcher - Kyle Nicolas: SV, IP, H, BB, K
Altoona Curve - 7 vs Binghamton - 5
Top Hitter - Duce Gourson: 3-5, HR, R, RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Beau Burrows: 2 IP, H, 2 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 4 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods
Top Hitter - Titus Dumitru: 3-3, RBI
Top Pitcher - Hung-Leng Chang, Joshua Loeschorn, Jake Shirk, Jarod Bayless: Perfect Game
Bradenton Marauders - 0 vs St. Lucie Mets - 2
Top Hitter - Richard Ramirez: 1-3
Top Pitcher - Dominic Perachi: 3 IP, BB, 4 K
Seeing quite a bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Bucs’ pitcher-heavy selection board. “We need bats, this offense is historically awful,” etc. Not here per se.
You won’t find a bigger football fan than me, but people have got to turn off their football brains during baseball season. You always take BPA in the baseball draft. It takes too long for kids to make it to the show — if they make it at all, which most don’t — to consider drafting for need.
I'm guessing not as rare as two perfect games in ten days but when was the last time a (true) high school had two players selected in the top 10 (Hernandez and Carlson)?