{"id":20004,"date":"2022-07-20T08:36:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T08:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/pirates-continue-to-load-up-on-pitching-taking-8-on-final-day-of-mlb-draft\/"},"modified":"2022-07-20T08:36:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T08:36:42","slug":"pirates-continue-to-load-up-on-pitching-taking-8-on-final-day-of-mlb-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/pirates-continue-to-load-up-on-pitching-taking-8-on-final-day-of-mlb-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates continue to load up on pitching, taking 8 on final day of MLB Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ben Cherington was adamant the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t set out to stockpile pitchers in the MLB Draft but it certainly worked out that way when their three-day total amounted to 16 arms out of 21 picks.\n<\/p>\n

The Pirates used eight of their final 10 picks Tuesday on pitchers. In total, they took 10 right-handers, six lefties, a catcher, first baseman, shortstop, two outfielders and a two-way player who is expected to play third base but touched triple digits on the mound as a reliever.\n<\/p>\n

Even so, Cherington denied the Pirates prioritized pitching \u2014 \u201cthe short answer is no\u201d \u2014 so much as they took advantage of the draft’s depth where they could. The first round was position player-heavy, so they selected the best pure hitter in prep middle infielder Termarr Johnson at No. 4 overall and added Notre Dame third baseman\/right-hander Jack Brannigan in the third round.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re looking for the best players,\u201d Cherington said. \u201cI think once you get to a certain part of the draft, you need to start looking at where we can impact the system in the best way. We do have to be mindful of areas in the system where we’ve already got a lot of players that need opportunity. So you look at that a little bit as you get deeper in the draft, but we didn’t go into the draft looking to take ‘X’ number of pitchers. It’s just how the draft fell, and we are excited to bring a good amount of what we think is talented pitching into the organization and have a chance to work with it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The long answer is more complicated. The Pirates ended up picking 14 pitchers from the college ranks, including Brannigan, in a sign they are looking for more immediate help.\n<\/p>\n

That included drafting a Division III star in the 11th round in lefty Dominic Perachi, who was 9-1 with a 1.00 ERA and 120 strikeouts against 20 walks in 71 2\/3 innings at Regina Salve.\n<\/p>\n

The Pirates took Mississippi State righty KC (short for Kyle Clemente) Hunt, the younger brother of former Minnesota Twins first-rounder Shooter Hunt, in the 12th round. Then they chose a converted outfielder in Cowley County (Kan.) Community College lefty Miguel Fulgencio, who went 13-1 with six saves and 103 strikeouts in 45 games over two seasons.\n<\/p>\n

The final day of the draft also found the Pirates taking South Carolina players in back-to-back rounds (14 and 15) in left-hander Julian Bosnic and first baseman Josiah Sightler, a 6-foot-5, 234-pounder who led the Gamecocks with 15 home runs. After taking Rutgers catcher Nick Cimillo, the Pirates finished with four right-handers: Houston’s Jaycob Deese, Pacific’s Elijah Birdsong, North Broward (Fla.) Prep’s Yoel Tejeda \u2014 a 6-foot-7 Florida recruit who can play first base and outfield \u2014 and Long Island University’s Joshua Loeschorn.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s just a coincidence. It’s how the draft fell,\u201d Cherington said of the run on college arms. \u201cWe’re excited. A lot of those college players were pitchers. I think we have an opportunity to take advantage of the resources we put into pitching development, to pick up where guys have left off with their college programs and try to help them forward. We’ll get a lot of chances to do that with the volume of pitching that we’re bringing in. No intent going into the draft to go toward a demographic or high school\/college. Just the best player available. This is how the draft fell for us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .<\/p>\n