The Pittsburgh Pirates 2025 draft haul is the second-best in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis.
The Pirates trailed only the Baltimore Orioles, who had four picks before the start of the second round and an unprecedented bonus pool.
Pittsburgh used it’s first-round pick on prep right-hander Seth Hernandez from Corona High School in California. Hernandez was considered by some to be the best high school pitcher in MLB Draft history. He was ranked No. 2 on Pittsburgh Baseball Now’s big board.
“For the second straight Draft, Pittsburgh landed the player with the most pure talent in the Draft despite not owning a top-five selection” wrote Callis. “After getting Konnor Griffin at No. 9 last year while several teams had concerns about his swing, the Pirates were gifted Seth Hernandez at No. 6 because the industry is skittish about the risk associated with high school right-handers.”
Pipeline went on to mention several of the Pirates’ other picks, including right-hander Angel Cervantes (second round), catcher Easton Carmichael (third round), shortstop Gustavo Melendez (fourth round) and first baseman Jared Jones (ninth round).
Of the club’s 21 draft picks, 14 came from the college ranks and seven were out of high school. Eight of the nine pitchers the Pirates took are right-handers. On the position player side of things, Pittsburgh landed two catchers, six infielders and four outfielders.