Pirates System Got A Heavy Dose Of Pitching Prospects From 2023 Draft

In three of the four levels the Pirates had a pitcher from the 2023 draft playing.

Photo Credit: WTM

There was a lot of high-end pitching going on throughout the games affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It just wasn’t always their own prospects.

First overall pick Paul Skenes pitched on Saturday, his first appearance at the Double-A level, but he wasn’t alone.

Noble Meyer, who was the consensus pick as the top high school arm available, pitched for the Jupiter Hammerheads against Bradenton.

The 10th overall pick, Meyer pitched 1.1 innings on Saturday, striking out two batters (Lonnie White Jr., Jesus Castillo), and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk.

He quickly worked through the first inning, allowing just a base hit to Cal Mitchell. The second was a different story, as he allowed four of the first hitters to reach base (three hits, one walk), before a Mitch Jebb groundout and then getting pulled from the game.

Meyer wasn’t the only 2023 draft pick to pitch in that game either, as the Pirates had a pair also take the mound. Landon Tomkins hans’t been great but threw two-shutout innings, allowing just one hit.

Jaden Woods had his first blow-up game, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings, but has been solid throughout his early pro career. In 10.2 total innings, the lefty from Georgia has 15 strikeouts and just two walks.

Facing Greensboro was 24th overall pick Hurston Waldrep, another SEC pitcher like Skenes. When it comes to pure stuff, Waldrep was among the best in the class but there were questions about his control.

The former Florida Gator retired 14 Grasshopper batters on Saturday, 10 of which came by strikeout. He struck out multiple batters in an inning three times, including all three in the first.

Skenes of course was the headliner of the night, being the first overall pick and making his Double-A debut.

The stat line wasn’t pretty, but we got to see Skenes ‘the pitcher’ a little bit more, as he relied less on his fastball in certain key situations and more on his secondary stuff.

That’ll be something to monitor going forward, as will be his usage of his ‘sinker’ - especially with questions about the shape of his four-seam.

The 2023 draft was very deep, especially when it comes to pitching, and that was evident by three high end prospects all factoring in some way or another throughout the Pirates system.

While two didn’t have the most ideal stat line, you could see why they were so highly touted at times (didn’t actually see Meyer, but striking out a couple of hitters in Single-A at 18 is impressive nonetheless).