Looking at The Pirates 2020 Draft Picks One Year Later
The 2021 MLB Draft is upon us as we get ready to meet the next generation of Pittsburgh Pirates players. It will be an exciting couple of days for athletes across the country as they are hoping their dreams to become professional baseball players are realized. For General Manager Ben Cherington and his team, it is their second draft as members of the Pirates front office, and they are looking to continue to add talent to this organization during their rebuild. 2020 was a difficult year to draft talent with COVID running rampant across the country, but they were able to bring in six talented players to the organization. Those six may not have exactly gotten the start they wanted to their pro careers, but are now getting to showcase their skills as they look to climb the Pirates organization.
On the eve of the 2021 MLB Draft, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at these 2020 draftees and check their progress. The only way to evaluate and get better from the previous year is to look back at the past. We all have heard about the progress of first-round picks Nick Gonzales and Carmen Mlodzinski, but how did Cherington do when it came to the later rounds of the draft? Luckily the Pirates were able to sign all six players and get them into the organization as soon as possible. The draft is a little later this year than in previous years, but that just means the Pirates have had longer to scout out talent. Today, we look back at the progress of the Pirates' 2020 draft picks as we get ready to welcome in a new class of talent with the 2021 MLB Draft.
Round 1: Nick Gonzales (.240, 5 HR, 11 RBI)
Considered by many scouts to be the best pure hitter in the 2020 Draft, the Pirates selected SS Nick Gonzales with the #7 overall pick. He earned an invite to Spring Training to start 2021 and was sent to High-A Greensboro to start his professional career. He started hot out of the gates, with hits in four straight games to start his career, and was hitting .467. By May 19th, he was still hitting .294 and had nine extra-base hits, including two home runs, in his first 13 professional games. However, on May 19th, he would get hit in the hand and had to go to the 7-day IL, missing a little more than a month of the season. He came back without going on a rehab assignment on June 26th and hasn't been the same ever since.
In his four June games, he hit just .176 and has followed that up with a .179 batting average so far in July. Overall, his average has dropped to .240 and he has only had four extra-base hits over his last 11 games. He has gone just 8-45 (.179) and has struck out 16 times in 11 games. It is his first real slump in professional baseball, and the key is going to be how he is able to come back from it and turn into the top hitter he was at the beginning of the season. However, on the defensive side of the ball, he has been flawless at second base not committing an error in his first 202.1 innings at the position. Gonzales still has some adjustments to make against professional pitching, and we will have to see how he responds for the Grasshoppers moving forward.
Competitive Balance Round A: Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2, 2.65 ERA, 37.1 IP)
In the Competitive Balance Round A, the Pirates went to the mound, choosing Carmen Mlodzinski with the 31st overall selection. Mlodzinski was a power arm from South Carolina, with a fastball that could reach in the mid to upper 90s. He made his professional debut as the Hopper's fifth starter on May 9th and had a strong debut. He went 3.0 innings of no-hit ball, which is customary in A-Ball while walking one and striking out four. Much like Gonzales, Mlodzinski used the momentum from a strong debut to carry him to a hit start. Over his first five starts for the Grasshoppers, Mlodzinski went 1-1 with an 0.84 ERA in 21.1 innings of work. He walked just seven batters during that span and struck out 31 as he used a fastball/slider combo to get hitters out.
He continued his solid efforts through the month of June and had a 1.72 ERA as he headed into July. However, his first July start didn't go as planned as he allowed five runs in 6.0 innings of work and was killed by the home run ball on July 6th. It was the first time all season that Mlodzinski had allowed more than three earned runs in an outing all season. However, the positive thing is his struggles weren't due to command issues as he walked just one batter. Command was a problem for Mlodzinski early in his career, but he has since straightened that out and has walked just 6.8% of the batters he faced this season. It will be interesting to see how Mlodzonski continues to work through this season, but he is showing that he can be a strong starter in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues.
Second Round: RHP Jared Jones (1-0, 3.18 ERA, 22.2 IP)
After taking two college players in the first two picks of the draft, Cherington went with a high schooler with a big arm in the second round. Jared Jones came to the Pirates from La Miranda High School and came to the Pirates with a big arm. His fastball was touching 97 mph at the time he was selected, and he had a slider to go with it that a lot of scouts say has a chance to be a high-upside pitch. So far, he has used that velocity to his advantage in Bradenton, going 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in seven games, five starts. He has been tracking up the strikeouts in his pro debut, with 39 in 22.2 innings, but his control still needs a little improvement as he has a walk rate of 10.2%. However, he has yet to give up more than three earned runs in an outing and is building up his stamina with 4.0 innings worked in each of his last three starts.
Third Round: RHP Nick Garcia (4-2, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP)
In college, Nick Garcia was one of the most dominant pitchers in Division III baseball and led Chapman University to the DIII National title. Much like Jones, Garcia also relied on his velocity to get by as his fastball topped out at 96 mph. However, being that he was facing Division III competition, there were some questions about how his stuff would translate to pro ball. So far it has been a good showing for the right-handed as he has pitched to a 4-2 record with a 3.21 ERA in 33.2 innings of work. Garcia just took up pitching last season, so he has a lot of work to do, but he does have good command of the strike zone with 38 strikeouts this season. His walk rate is higher than you would like to see at 12.9%, but as he has gone on he has gotten better with only two walks in each of his last two starts.
Fourth Round: Jack Hartman (Has Not Pitched)
Of the Pirate's six draft picks last season, one of the only ones not to appear on the Pirate's Top 30 prospects list is Jack Hartman. He was the third of the Pirate's six draft picks to sign but hasn't been able to take the mound yet. He was forced to undergo Tommy John Surgery and us out until at least the 2022 season. It was an injury that he suffered during his time at Appalachian State but didn't surface until Hartman joined the Pirates. His fastball is his best pitch coming in in the mid-90s, and he has a plus breaking ball that he can build off of it with. Unfortunately, the Pirates won't get to see Hartman pitch until 2022, but the right-hander is hoping to be worth the wait.
Fifth Round: Logan Hofmann (3-1, 2.13 ERA, 38 IP)
As the 2020 MLB Draft wrapped up, the Pirates went into the fifth round looking for more pitching. They would find it in Northwestern alumni Logan Hofmann who put together an impressive college resume during his sophomore season. In his first year in the Northwestern rotation, he went 4-0 and did not allow an earned run in 28 innings of work while striking out 38 batters. The Pirates may have picked him last in the 2020 draft, but he has been the best performer so far out of any of them. He is with Low-A Bradenton and is pitching to a 3-1 record with a 2.13 ERA in 38 innings of work. He has impressed with his ability to set down the competition, with a 32% strikeout rate, and has shown good control with an 8.2% walk rate. He started his career as a reliever but is now transitioning into a strong starting pitching option for the Pirates.
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