I was presently surprised to read/see that Sterling was a strike thrower and had plus control. It just adds so much to the profile. It gives a pitcher that high “floor”. And then if you do get the velo increase you have a Zebby Matthews, Chase Hampton or Gary Gill Hill.
One, projecting the hit tool is almost complete BS. Everybody absolutely sucks at this.
B, there isn't a chance in hell that 18 yo Oneil Cruz had better hit tool projection than Griffin and the Pirates have done just fine developing the former into a budding star.
Agree, that's why I focus on college bats. At least with them you can tell about their zone judgment, contact vs. velocity and offspeed and game power to a degree. Even with that, until they hit the upper minors who really knows.
Mackey has a good column up about day 1 that includes the tidbit that Griffin and Sterling roomed together for some of their time with Team USA and got along well.
Is that the Trib article? The quote is…deliberately vague.
“He will start throwing pretty soon coming out of the break…our expectation is that he’s back starting games for us in the major leagues as we keep playing this thing and we get into August and September.” So if he starts throwing in Florida later this week (best case scenario) he’s probably ready end of month.
EL's summary (check the article for his summaries of the other 29 teams):
"The Pirates’ first day of picks was pretty ballsy because they took all high schoolers at a moment when their big league teams really needs competent hitters to surround their studly young arms. They haven’t shown the ability to max out the talented guys they do have, and now Konnor Griffin and Wyatt Sanford (who both have hit tool question marks but huge upside) are in the fold. It makes sense for the Pirates to take a shot on someone like Griffin who, if he hits, is the sort of player the Pirates can’t sign in free agency. Sanford’s glove gives him a floor of sorts, but he needs to get stronger. Levi Sterling is a skinny 6-foot-5 righty with a relatively advanced repertoire and an effortless delivery. He’s a lower-variance high school prospect with backend starter projection."
"The Pirates excel at this, and they’ve leaned into it and are doing it again."
I like the picks and am optimistic, but the comment related to Sterling seems premature. I'm not saying it's wrong, but that with only having had time to get Jones to the majors it's just too soon to know if they truly excel.
“Development” by MLB franchises is one of the most overblown things ever. Of course the good teams/coaches do a little bit better and bad teams/coaches do a little bit worse. But for the most part, a player is who he is and will mostly develop regardless of franchise. TB would not have made Cole Tucker into Wade Boggs. And BOS would not make Henry Davis into Johnny Bench. Talent identification and acquisition is much more important. MUCH more.
I think part of talent (or a talent) is the ability to adapt and develop. We may be seeing that with Nicky G.--it's not that the Pirates did that much to develop him (so I can agree with part of your statement) but that he has the talent to identify weaknesses and take steps to correct them, as he evidently did over the winter on his own.
I would disagree. Otherwise teams that draft early every year like the pirates would be much better. Pirates have drafted many prospects whom the experts love and yet the players never take the next step. I think player development is a huge factor
I dunno. I get the feeling that Cherington _thinks_ development moves the needle a ton and that's why he's promoted a totally experienceless dutch movement guru and adherent of Frans Bosch (https://www.fransbosch.systems/) Bart Hanegraaff as Director of Methodology. The hilarious thing is, there's recent research that's come out that definitely shows that all practice-based coaching should be 1000% as close to approximating real gameplay as possible and that all this abstract mumbo-jumbo stuff is worthless but here we are.
The Pirates have been very explicit that they think development plays a big role, AND that they think off-field work is as useful as games. It’s obvious if you’ve been going to Pirate City for years during spring training. There’s far less on-field activity, drills, etc., than there was before this FO took over.
As they should. I will always lean towards they picked the wrong players more than the development system wasnt good enuf. That said, I truly did hate the sinker emphasis a few years back.
I've not complained about a Cherrington draft till now. If Griffin does not hit because he cannot hit, then his other tools are irrelevant. Moreover, the Pirates haven't developed a hitter under Cherrington's system. Not one. Griffin's ceiling is as high as his hit tool. The organization has spent tens of millions of dollars and have nothing to show for that money. Finally, because of this organizational incompetence, the Pirates lack hitting prospects above A+. So, the organization will need to acquire hitting in the FA market or the trade market. Cherrington has not shown himself shrewd in either market.
Cherington's staff is similar to the Angels in that it has no talent for developing hitters. The Angels are different in that they've figured out they're bad at it and have started focusing on hitters who need less development. Maybe Ben will try that next year or maybe in 2029. We'll see.
The history of inability to draft and develop OF bats precedes Cherington even. The last +1 WAR OFers drafted were Connor Joe and Jordan Luplow in 2014 lol. Since we've seen first round hits like Travis Swaggerty and Austin Meadows. Sammy "I Can't Hit" Siani and Lonnie White who's hitting .190 in A+ were other draft picks. But sure, they'll get it right _this time_ with Griffin.
I agree. I think I would have gone with Montgomery in round 1. I get the upside of Griffin, but boy that contact issue is a huge red flag. Pick 37 I would gone with White. Power 3b that could be moved to 1B. 1B is another position the Pirates haven't gotten right in decades besides a few flashes from Bell. Those 2 guys if all went right could have helped this team in 2026 when Skenes and Jones are still here. Griffin will be 2028 maybe when most of the current team will be gone or getting ready to go.
Griffin can be a valuable piece along with pitching to sweeten the deal for a GM. He's not putting all his eggs into an arm, he gets an upside bat too.
I was presently surprised to read/see that Sterling was a strike thrower and had plus control. It just adds so much to the profile. It gives a pitcher that high “floor”. And then if you do get the velo increase you have a Zebby Matthews, Chase Hampton or Gary Gill Hill.
next-level references.
Will Taylor? The Original Bubba.
One, projecting the hit tool is almost complete BS. Everybody absolutely sucks at this.
B, there isn't a chance in hell that 18 yo Oneil Cruz had better hit tool projection than Griffin and the Pirates have done just fine developing the former into a budding star.
Agree, that's why I focus on college bats. At least with them you can tell about their zone judgment, contact vs. velocity and offspeed and game power to a degree. Even with that, until they hit the upper minors who really knows.
Mackey has a good column up about day 1 that includes the tidbit that Griffin and Sterling roomed together for some of their time with Team USA and got along well.
And Griffin seems like a high-character guy.
I hoping that at worst Griffin is Cruz but in CF.
Not draft related but just saw Cherington is saying Jones expected back in August or September.
Is that the Trib article? The quote is…deliberately vague.
“He will start throwing pretty soon coming out of the break…our expectation is that he’s back starting games for us in the major leagues as we keep playing this thing and we get into August and September.” So if he starts throwing in Florida later this week (best case scenario) he’s probably ready end of month.
whoa, what?
rest up JJ - we need you in the stretch run
EL's summary (check the article for his summaries of the other 29 teams):
"The Pirates’ first day of picks was pretty ballsy because they took all high schoolers at a moment when their big league teams really needs competent hitters to surround their studly young arms. They haven’t shown the ability to max out the talented guys they do have, and now Konnor Griffin and Wyatt Sanford (who both have hit tool question marks but huge upside) are in the fold. It makes sense for the Pirates to take a shot on someone like Griffin who, if he hits, is the sort of player the Pirates can’t sign in free agency. Sanford’s glove gives him a floor of sorts, but he needs to get stronger. Levi Sterling is a skinny 6-foot-5 righty with a relatively advanced repertoire and an effortless delivery. He’s a lower-variance high school prospect with backend starter projection."
"The Pirates excel at this, and they’ve leaned into it and are doing it again."
I like the picks and am optimistic, but the comment related to Sterling seems premature. I'm not saying it's wrong, but that with only having had time to get Jones to the majors it's just too soon to know if they truly excel.
Maybe "If the Pirates excel at anything, it might be this" haha
Hoping for Tears, Sirota, Bailey, Aiden Harris or Jared Jones with the 3rd round pick.
If they want an under slot Jackson Appel.
I put them in order of my preference. I'll add Jeremiah Jenkins before Jones, based off just his 3 year stats.
Casey Saucke of U. Virginia intrigues me if available 4th or 5th round.
That's where I'd place him and their lefty corner out fielder. I know it starts with a D but I'm drawing a blank on his name lol.
It came to me Harrison Diadwick, not sure on the spelling.
getting harris would be nice....making up for missing out on cuvet, last year
Harris having commitment to Virginia would be very hard to buy out of.
True but I think he reclassified to be draft eligible this year but not sure. He doesn't turn 18 until September.
Joe Perez was released, assuming it’s not another MiLB.com error.
maybe i'm way off base but i'm pretty excited about these first 2 picks.
“Development” by MLB franchises is one of the most overblown things ever. Of course the good teams/coaches do a little bit better and bad teams/coaches do a little bit worse. But for the most part, a player is who he is and will mostly develop regardless of franchise. TB would not have made Cole Tucker into Wade Boggs. And BOS would not make Henry Davis into Johnny Bench. Talent identification and acquisition is much more important. MUCH more.
I think part of talent (or a talent) is the ability to adapt and develop. We may be seeing that with Nicky G.--it's not that the Pirates did that much to develop him (so I can agree with part of your statement) but that he has the talent to identify weaknesses and take steps to correct them, as he evidently did over the winter on his own.
I would disagree. Otherwise teams that draft early every year like the pirates would be much better. Pirates have drafted many prospects whom the experts love and yet the players never take the next step. I think player development is a huge factor
I dunno. I get the feeling that Cherington _thinks_ development moves the needle a ton and that's why he's promoted a totally experienceless dutch movement guru and adherent of Frans Bosch (https://www.fransbosch.systems/) Bart Hanegraaff as Director of Methodology. The hilarious thing is, there's recent research that's come out that definitely shows that all practice-based coaching should be 1000% as close to approximating real gameplay as possible and that all this abstract mumbo-jumbo stuff is worthless but here we are.
The Pirates have been very explicit that they think development plays a big role, AND that they think off-field work is as useful as games. It’s obvious if you’ve been going to Pirate City for years during spring training. There’s far less on-field activity, drills, etc., than there was before this FO took over.
Great, so the useless stuff. It shows up in games.
If you’ve watched every team in the system fail 100% of the time against the delayed double steal, yeah.
Even Bart seems surprised a MLB team employs him:
https://honkbalsoftbal.nl/2021/09/09/bart-hanegraaff-als-coach-actief-in-de-major-league/?fbclid=IwAR1eDpVEzEEd6GkmrkqpEGiEyC4pSw8Ecxv9_gpRKHN6oHoFuP5osvXOSKc
Ben’s scouts find this discouraging.
As they should. I will always lean towards they picked the wrong players more than the development system wasnt good enuf. That said, I truly did hate the sinker emphasis a few years back.
Hunter Stratton just got sent on rehab to the FCL, so there's some progress.
I've not complained about a Cherrington draft till now. If Griffin does not hit because he cannot hit, then his other tools are irrelevant. Moreover, the Pirates haven't developed a hitter under Cherrington's system. Not one. Griffin's ceiling is as high as his hit tool. The organization has spent tens of millions of dollars and have nothing to show for that money. Finally, because of this organizational incompetence, the Pirates lack hitting prospects above A+. So, the organization will need to acquire hitting in the FA market or the trade market. Cherrington has not shown himself shrewd in either market.
After tank, which hitter prospect has not developed?
Canaan Smith Njiba, Lonnie White, Travis Swaggerty, Liover Peguero, Will Craig, and so on and so on.
Lonnie is still tba - as far as i can see, he hits when healthy - also, no reason why Peguero isnt on the big league club right now
The others hadnt had much talent to start with - you missed Cole Tucker - - those dudes all represent a drafting problem
We'll see if Justin Horowitz is any better there than Joe DelliCarri. His first day one looks pretty bad to me the day after.
Lonnie White's hitting .170 in A+ as a 21 year old so I'm guessing his odds aren't good.
I count Nick Gonzales as a self-development win. Meaning, Gonzales gets the win, not the Pirates. They haven't fixed Hayes. Etc.
Cherington's staff is similar to the Angels in that it has no talent for developing hitters. The Angels are different in that they've figured out they're bad at it and have started focusing on hitters who need less development. Maybe Ben will try that next year or maybe in 2029. We'll see.
The history of inability to draft and develop OF bats precedes Cherington even. The last +1 WAR OFers drafted were Connor Joe and Jordan Luplow in 2014 lol. Since we've seen first round hits like Travis Swaggerty and Austin Meadows. Sammy "I Can't Hit" Siani and Lonnie White who's hitting .190 in A+ were other draft picks. But sure, they'll get it right _this time_ with Griffin.
I agree. I think I would have gone with Montgomery in round 1. I get the upside of Griffin, but boy that contact issue is a huge red flag. Pick 37 I would gone with White. Power 3b that could be moved to 1B. 1B is another position the Pirates haven't gotten right in decades besides a few flashes from Bell. Those 2 guys if all went right could have helped this team in 2026 when Skenes and Jones are still here. Griffin will be 2028 maybe when most of the current team will be gone or getting ready to go.
Geesh Griffin's stock is really high.......how long do we have to wait before trading him?
Seriously?
Do you want to win in the Paul Skenes window or not? We need bats in '25-26.
We have an abundance of arms to deal. We need high upside bats now, next year, and forever.
Griffin can be a valuable piece along with pitching to sweeten the deal for a GM. He's not putting all his eggs into an arm, he gets an upside bat too.
I’d certainly trade Griffin and a pitcher for a GM.
😂
I think it's a lifetime appointment for Bob though....
hey i can comment on this post. yay