Paul Skenes' meteoric rise aside, development process takes time for Pirates draft picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates are treating the drafting and development of Paul Skenes like a phenomenon, given his unprecedented rise from No. 1 overall pick to the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.

With Skenes serving as an anomaly by making an immediate impact, the Pirates focused on the future when they selected prep shortstop Konnor Griffin in the first round of in the 2024 MLB Draft on Sunday.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound shortstop is regarded by talent evaluators as the prospect with the highest ceiling in the draft class but just turned 18 in April, so he won’t be ready to reach the majors for a few years, at the earliest. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington can’t look into a crystal ball to predict how long it will take Griffin and other members of their draft class to climb through the minor league system.

“There’s no blueprint for how to do it,” Cherington said. “Our job is to put our guys in the best position to develop the skill they need to develop, and as soon as they’re ready to be challenged by the next level, we have no concern about pushing them.”

The first step, Cherington reminded, is to sign Griffin, who is committed to LSU but said he plans to play professionally. The slot value for the No. 9 pick is $6,216,600.

The Pirates used their first three picks — and four of their first five — on prep prospects. After taking Griffin, they selected right-handed pitcher Levi Sterling with their Competitive Balance A-round pick (No. 37 overall) and shortstops Wyatt Sanford (second round, No. 47) and Eddie Rynders (fourth round, No. 112) before going heavy on college players.

Where Sterling, who doesn’t turn 18 until Sept. 2, is one of the youngest prospects in the draft, Griffin reclassified so that he wouldn’t be one of the oldest next year. Griffin still won Gatorade national player of the year honors at Jackson Prep in Florence, Miss., so he’s unfazed by the challenge of facing older players in the professional ranks.

“I wanted to push myself to face some adversity,” Griffin said. “Going into pro ball is going to be a tough journey, and I needed to be experienced of how to handle that adversity and grow as a player. That was really the main reason, and I wouldn’t be sitting here today if I didn’t do it, so I think it was a great decision. Super glad I did it.”

Cherington emphasized the need to introduce high school players to the professional baseball environment at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., where they can meet the coaching and performance staffs, meet with a nutritionist and strength and conditioning coaches and learn how to use the available technology and equipment. Typically, draftees start with games at the Florida Complex League before advancing to Low-A Bradenton. Their initial season, however, is usually abbreviated.

“The goal is to go into an offseason with every player, but particularly a high school player that often have a little less experience around these resources, with a really clear plan of attack for the offseason and be in position to have a really productive first full season that would start in 2025,” Cherington said. “From there, they’ll tell us how fast they move.”

Cherington’s initial first-round pick, Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales, was considered the best hitter in college baseball as a junior at New Mexico State but still required almost three years before making his major league debut last year. It took as long for Carmen Mlodzinski, drafted out of South Carolina as a starter before converting to reliever. And the 2020 second-rounder, rookie right-hander Jared Jones, spent three full seasons in the minors before earning a spot in the starting rotation this spring.

The Pirates rushed 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis through the system, as he made only 605 plate appearances in 122 games over four levels of the minors before being promoted to the majors last summer. Drafted as a catcher, Davis instead made his debut in right field before returning to his natural position this season, when he has bounced back and forth between the majors and Triple-A Indianapolis.

A pair of players drafted out of high school, 2022 first-rounder Termarr Johnson and 2021 third-rounder Bubba Chandler, represented the Pirates on the National League team in the Futures All-Star Game on Saturday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Where Chandler, drafted as a two-way player, is dominating Double-A as a pitcher, Johnson is finding his stride at the plate in his second season at High-A Greensboro.

“There is no hard and fast timeline, obviously,” Cherington said. “It will continue to be case by case. We’ll certainly focus on what is best for this particular player, what we feel this player would benefit from being from and how they’re being challenged.

“If past history informs us at all, just since 2020 since I’ve been here, we’re seeing Jared Jones make an impact in the big leagues this year. He was a high school draft (choice). Over the course of time, we’ve taken other high school players. Termarr Johnson is having a really successful year in High-A a couple years out of his draft class. We see other high school players coming through the system.”

Outfielder Lonnie White, selected 64th overall in the 2021 Competitive Balance-B round, was enticed to bypass playing football at Penn State with a $1.5 million signing bonus but was sidelined with a slew of injuries. The Pirates’ No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, White is batting .190 but has 20 extra-base hits in 53 games at High-A Greensboro.

Right-hander Zander Mueth, selected 67th overall last year in the Competitive Balance-B round out of Belleville (Ill.), is still pitching in the FCL but is ranked the Pirates’ No. 11 prospect.

And left-hander Michael Kennedy, a 2022 fourth-round pick out of Troy (N.Y.) High School, skipped his commitment to LSU after signing for a $1 million bonus. Despite not pitching that summer, Kennedy started in the Florida Complex League last year before being bumped to Bradenton and is now ranked their No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Promoted as a “potential five-tool superstar” by Pirates amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz, Griffin knows scouts had concerns about his swing and isn’t sure whether he will stay at shortstop or move to center field, a position he played for USA Baseball. But he expressed his gratitude that the Pirates made him the first high school player selected in the 2024 MLB Draft and a top-10 pick at that.

“Just for the Pirates to take a chance on me, it just showed you they were a great organization,” Griffin said. “They trust their guys. They trust their process. They could have very easily taken a college guy and had them there in a year or two. It may take two years, three years for me to get through the program, but that’s what they’re about. They’re about having a farm system and watching players grow over the years. It’s going to be fun to see what happens. I’m ready to take on the journey and compete and work super hard to get to the big leagues as fast as I can.”

As much as the arrivals and instant success of Skenes and Jones put pressure on the Pirates to draft a college prospect, Cherington and his baseball operations and scouting departments stuck to their plan by selecting who they had atop their draft board as the best available talent in Griffin and fellow top-100 prospects in Sanford (No. 35) and Sterling (No. 58), as well as Wake Forest lefty Josh Hartle (No. 70). They also added players ranked higher than their draft slot in UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Matt Ager – whose father, Jeff, is a Penn-Trafford graduate – and UCLA middle infielder Duce Gourson.

“We really try to stay away from the word ‘window.’ We want to keep getting better, get better and win and do everything we need to do to sustain that,” Cherington said. “The most critical piece of that is talent, is consistent flow just really good players that are coming into the system, developing in the system, contributing to our major league team in various ways. Over time, the more talent you have in the system, the better job we do at development, the more likely that is to happen.

“Really excited about this draft class and the opportunity this group of players will have to continue to get better in our system. You can’t predict timelines with any player, whether they’re a college player or high school player. We’re excited to bring this class in and start to work with them. Let them join a bunch of other guys that are going to have a chance to help us win games in Pittsburgh one day.”