Every team hopes it has a good draft class. The Pittsburgh Pirates have had some quality draft classes in recent history, with three of their five picks in 2020 becoming solid Major League regulars, their 2023 class producing Paul Skenes, and their 2024 class bringing them Konnor Griffin. However, the Pirates’ 2025 class looks like it could trump all of Ben Cherington’s current draft classes and become one of the best in franchise history.
Seth Hernandez is the obvious star of this class. The first round pick became one of the most highly touted high school arms ever to enter the draft. Early returns are promising, as Hernandez has allowed just three earned runs, struck out 48.1% of batters faced, and has a walk rate of just 6.7% over 28.1 innings of work at A-Ball Bradenton. Hernandez is also hitting 100+ MPH. Despite being just 19 and not turning 20 until late June, the Pirates are already promoting Hernandez to High-A Greensboro.
Hernandez is far from being their only prospect from this class performing exceptionally well. Their second round competitive balance pick, Murf Gray, is also off to a scorching hot start at Bradenton. The Bucs selected the corner infielder out of Fresno State. His first 141 plate appearances have yielded a .353/.436/.588 triple-slash with a .466 wOBA, and 171 wRC+. Gray is making contact on nearly 80% of his swings (79.4% contact rate) and has a K% of just 17.1%. On top of that, he has a respectable 9.2% walk rate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OCxUV0u-Bc
You don’t have to look too far down the draft list to find the next Pirates pick who is doing very well. Easton Carmichael was drafted in the third round and is ripping apart High-A pitching to the tune of a .318/.375/.527 slash, .399 wOBA, and 128 wRC+. Like Gray, Carmichael is making plenty of contact with a 79.1% contact rate and 12.1% strikeout percentage. He is also walking 8.3% of the time. Carmichael already has five home runs over 120 plate appearances. Despite his primary position coming from behind the plate, Carmichael is a surprisingly aggressive baserunner and has gone seven-for-eight in stolen base attempts.
The Pirates took one of the most powerful draft prospects in the ninth round, as they took Jared Jones out of Louisiana State University. Jones is batting .304/.371/.471 with a .380 wOBA, and 116 wRC+ through 115 plate appearances at Greensboro. The power is starting to come around for Jones, as he’s hit three home runs over his last ten games. He also has a solid 10.4% walk rate, but the biggest question is whether he’ll make enough contact for his elite raw power to appear in games enough. Jones has a 33.9% K% and 67.4% contact rate.
Don’t sleep on any of the Pirates’ later round picks. 10th-round pick Matt King has shown off an elite contact tool. He is batting .306/.471/.323 over 88 plate appearances at High-A Greensboro. King’s contact rate comes in at 84.6% and has only struck out nine times. To make matters even better, King has drawn 13 walks and has gone 10-for-11 in stolen base attempts.
King isn’t the only elite contact hitter the Pirates drafted. Dylan Palmer also fits the bill, batting .269/.393/.366 with a 118 wRC+ at Bradenton. He is making even more contact than King, with an 86% contact percentage. He has only struck out in 16.8% of his plate appearances, and has drawn walks at a 15.8% rate.
McLane Moody might just be one of the Pirates’ most interesting late-round picks from last year. A high school draft pick, Moody is listed at an intimidating 6’7”, 210 pounds. While Moody will not turn 20 until early September, the right-hander is already showing off impressive velocity for his age, sitting 93-94 MPH in his Florida Complex League affiliate.
While the Pirates’ 2025 draft class isn’t even a full year old yet, the early returns have been about as good as you can hope for. This is even after the Pirates failed to sign their second-round pick, Angel Cervantes. However, three out of their first three picks look outstanding, and a handful of their late-round selections are doing great. It’s going about as well as the Pirates have hoped it could go for their 2025 draft picks.
