Pirates GM Ben Cherington hopes 21-man draft class contains right mix of experience, potential

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected 21 players over the past three days of the MLB Draft in hopes of building a stronger farm system with prospects who someday might impact the playing field and clubhouse at PNC Park.

General manager Ben Cherington and his talent evaluators vetted and eventually selected 11 pitchers, four shortstops, three outfielders, two catchers and a third baseman.

Chertington and amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz believe it is a strong cross-section of experience and potential.

“Really excited about this draft class and the opportunity this group of players will have to get better in our system,” Cherington said Tuesday night on a conference call with Horowitz and reporters.

“You can’t predict timelines with any player, whether it be a college player or high school player, but we’re excited to bring this class in, start to work with them and let them join a bunch of other guys who are going to have a chance to help us win games in Pittsburgh one day.”

Added Horowitz: “I think we were able to acquire a broad and really talented group of players to bring into the Pirates organization, with a variety of different skill sets. I think some of the things we prioritized were athleticism, chance for impact talent up and down the board and high character individuals, too.”

Two of the more intriguing picks were Wake Forest pitcher Josh Hartle (third round) and Clemson outfielder Will Taylor (fifth), who were said to be potential first-round choices coming out of high school.

Hartle struggled this season with a 5.79 ERA and 1.55 WHIP, but he still struck out 81 in 742⁄3 innings while pitching much of the time against ACC hitters. Taylor played football and baseball and dealt with a torn ACL.

“Will Taylor is a world-class athlete,” Horowitz said. “We believe as a group that there is some serious underlying talent still in both of those guys. I think there was a chance to capture some value, tap into what we’ve seen potentially in previous seasons and continue to help them grow as athletes in a professional player development environment.”

The Pirates see Hartle as a starter.

“He’s an impressive kid. He’s got great feel to pitch,” Horowitz said. “He can pound the strike zone. He can move balls to both sides of the plate, and he can spread the zone. He tried some adjustments at the beginning of the season that didn’t really flow as well as he expected. We’re going to help him get back to being the guy we all know is in there, and who we thought he’d be coming into the spring.”

The Pirates’ eighth-round pick, former Florida State pitcher Gavin Adams, is recovering from Tommy John surgery in March. He was drafted last year in the 11th round by the Washington Nationals but didn’t sign and opted to stay in college.

“Gavin is a kid that, I think, has been on the Pirates’ radar for quite some time,” Horowitz said. “He’s got an electric arm. I had the opportunity myself to spend some time with him a few weeks back. He’s a great kid, ready to work, wants to get after it. He’s got a developing breaking ball. I think he’d be the first to admit that strikes will be the first thing that he has to focus on improving the most as he enters a pro system, but a kid with some serious natural talent.”

The Pirates drafted two college catchers, Derek Berg (10th round, Army) and Camden Janik (12th, Illinois). Horowitz was asked about Berg’s military commitment.

“As far as the service commitment goes, we expect to be able to get Derek on the field as soon as possible,” Horowitz said. “Obviously, there are some logistics that come along with that, but we believe that he is going to be able to enter a professional environment in baseball in the very near future.

“Derek’s a super athletic, strong kid. We view him primarily as a catcher but also believe he’s athletic enough and instinctual enough and hard working enough to learn other positions, if necessary.”

With their first and final picks Sunday and Tuesday, the Pirates took two high school players, shortstop Konnor Griffin in the first round and right-handed pitcher Taylor Penn in the 20th. Penn is committed to Western Kentucky.

“We look forward to spending more time with Taylor, someone our scouts got to know well,” Cherington said. “We know going into it what the expectations are. In some cases it’s very clear. In other cases, we know it will require more conversations. That’s probably the case with Taylor. He’s a talented young man. We’re looking forward to getting to know him better here.”