Pirates 2021 Draft: Key players entering critical 2025 season
A few members of the 2021 draft class enter a critical season in 2025
At the time, the Pirates were praised for their approach to the 2021 MLB Draft. By taking the top college hitter in the draft, Henry Davis, they saved money to take a group of high-upside prep players and sign them away from college.
According to MLB Pipeline, they ended up with five of the Top 100 prospects in the draft, an excellent haul.
Despite some injuries, Davis ascended to the majors rapidly, as hoped, and after being drafted as a two-way player, one of the prep players has turned into one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.
The Bubba Chandler Draft
Despite being selected in the third round, Bubba Chandler had the highest upside of any player the Pirates took, handing him a $3 million bonus to sign him away from his college commitment to Clemson.
Not only was he going to be a two-way baseball player, but he was also a four-star quarterback.
After getting a brief opportunity to hit (he will at least be able to say he hit a home run in his last-ever at-bat), Chandler turned his entire focus on pitching for the 2023 season, which has paid off.
Chandler has become one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball and is in the early mix for Rookie of the Year in 2025.
While you never truly know how someone will respond to facing major-league hitting, it seems like a safe bet that they will get some sort of positive impact from Chandler.
With his upside, Chandler could emerge and join Paul Skenes, giving the Pirates one of the best 1/2 punches in baseball.
Players who enter a critical 2025 season
Henry Davis
Anthony Solometo
Lonnie White Jr.
Braylon Bishop
Davis, the first overall pick in 2021, has yet to establish himself as a major league regular fully. He was awful in 2024, posting a wRC+ of 30 in 37 games with the Pirates.
He does have the inside track on the backup catcher job behind Joey Bart, with Endy Rodriguez coming off missing the majority of the 2024 season. Regardless of his position, he was drafted for his ability to hit, and the Pirates need offense in the worst way heading into the 2025 season.
Anthony Solometo is in a weird position. He made it to Double-A in 2023 and was one of the youngest players at the level. He didn’t look out of place, but nothing really stood out, and he eventually took a huge step back in 2024, posting a 5.98 ERA with Altoona.
Injuries have slowed down Lonnie White Jr., and when he’s been on the field, he has shown some major contact issues. The tools still shine through on occasion, and he is a plus defender at any one of three outfield positions, but he needs to stay on the field.
If he had gone the college route, this upcoming season would be his first full pro season, so it’s not too late for him, but there needs to be some quick signs of progress.
Drafted in the 14th round, Braylon Bishop has also missed some time with injuries and has dealt with some swing-and-miss issues. There were concerns about his swing during the draft process, and with a strikeout rate right at 30%, that seemed to be true.
He’s another solid fielder with easy plus speed while showing the ability to at least take a walk, so there is something to work with. They could push him to Greensboro to try and get him to catch up, but he hasn’t shown much to say he would be able to handle it.
Returning from injury
Sean Sullivan
Owen Kellington
I’ll preface by saying there is no exact known reason why Sean Sullivan missed the last part of the season. Until told otherwise, we will assume he will be ready when the 2025 season starts.
If not for his injury, he probably makes it to Triple-A by the end of the season, so we will see how the Pirates handle him. At this point, you are probably looking at some sort of transition to the bullpen, hoping the stuff trends up.
Owen Kellington was the least known of the prep players the Pirates took, and he flashed some interesting stuff despite a fastball that averaged 90 mph but missed all of 2024 with Tommy John.
That’s after having most of his 2022 season cut short by an injury. If he stays healthy and the fastball trends up, he is still a pitcher to watch.
Depth guys
Brenden Dixon
Tyler Samaniego
Jack Carey
Justin Meis
Luke Brown
Wyatt Hendrie
Mike Jarvis
Jackson Glenn
These players have more or less taken on depth roles in the system. Tyler Samaniego is probably the most intriguing out of the bunch who could have an outside shot at making the majors.
Already released
Drew Irvine
AJ Graham
Carlos Lomeli
Owen Sharts
These players have been since released from the organization. AJ Graham only got 34 at-bats but hit .088 in them. Carlos Lomeli spent two years in Bradenton before getting released.
This draft was heralded at the time, and while there is still time to get more out of it, things aren’t trending in the best direction at the moment.
Going so prep-heavy at the top buys them some time—the top player available at the time still hasn’t even made his major league debut (Marcelo Mayer). Davis will get another shot to show he’s a major leaguer, and Chandler finally figured things out and is ready to kick down the door.
The rest have hit a rut but have the chance to get over the hump.
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For any draft beatniks, BA always has a Friday Draft pod on the upcoming class. A short chat this week, but the last 15 mins was fun. Chatting college bats, they look at contact/power/chase rates. According to the pods, there aren’t very many well-rounded bats like Kurtz/Wetherholt/Bazzana in 2024. Looking at contact rate (over 77.7%) and 90th percentile exit velocity(over 105.6), there is only one hitter (Dean Curley) and another who just missed (Aiva Arquette) among their ranked players. Much more power over hit guys (Schubert, Peterson, Petry) who had poor contact rates.
They cited a few more well-rounded bats who aren’t top 10 now: Henry Godbout(?), and Brandon Cumpton. Anyway a fun listen.
Watching spring training at Pirate City last year, Henry Davis stood out just as much as anyone. In batting practice, he crushed the ball hitting 6 or 7 moon-shots in a row. I was especially impressed with his rapport with the pitchers, especially Jared Jones.
This is where I am no expert, but it seemed he had an all-or-nothing swing in the majors that just didn't work. When they sent him to Indy I thought they were going to change his swing, but I don't think they did. I am hoping he reports to spring with a new approach at the plate. I think what he can offer this team goes beyond the numbers, but only if he can hit.