The cliché about a team never having enough pitching certainly applies to the Pirates this season.
Thanks to injuries and inconsistency, they have already used 23 pitchers through 58 games.
That number rises to 24 if you count reserve outfielder JB Shuck, who pitched a mop-up inning of scoreless relief against the Diamondbacks on April 22 at PNC Park. He is now attempting to make the transition to two-way player at Class AAA Indianapolis. The Pirates also plan to use a second position player, utility man Alfredo Reyes, as an occasional reliever at Class AA Altoona. Shuck and Reyes show the scarcity of pitching in professional baseball.
The Major League Baseball Draft almost never yields immediate help for major-league teams. However, it appears the pitching talent pool is thin in this year’s draft, which begins Monday night and runs through Wednesday, and that could impact the big leagues down the road.
The Pirates have five of the first 95 picks in the draft, including Nos. 18, 37, 52 and 75. Neal Huntington makes it sound like most of those selections will be used on hitters.
“It’s the second consecutive year we’ve had concerns about pitching,” Huntington said Sunday during his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan. “There’s not a ton of guys at the top of the draft. We’re going to work hard to find some pitchers later in the draft.”
The Pirates did take pitchers with two of their first three picks last year, as well as three of their first five. However, they chose University of South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty in the first round with the 10th overall selection.
Since Huntington’s first draft in 2008, the Pirates have used their first pick on a pitcher four of 11 times, taking Jameson Taillon (2010), Gerrit Cole (2011), Mark Appel (2012) and Shane Baz (2017).
Taillon was the Pirates’ opening-day starter this season but is currently on the injured list with a strained right elbow flexor tendon. Cole won 19 games for the Pirates in 2015, but he was traded to the Astros before last season.
Appel did not sign with the Pirates and never reached the major leagues before retiring last year. Baz was part of the trade with the Rays for Chris Archer last July 31 and is currently pitching in Class A.
With Taillon on the IL, the Pirates have just two of Huntington's first-round picks on the active roster – Cole Tucker (2014) and Kevin Newman (2015).
This year marks the third time the Pirates have had the 18th pick since the draft was instituted in 1965. They chose Anthony Nicely in 1977 from Meadowlands High School in Dayton, Ohio, and infielder Willie Greene in 1989 from Jones County High School in Gray, Ga.
Nicely never got past Class A during his four-year career. Meanwhile, Greene played in the major leagues, but not with the Pirates.
The Pirates packaged Greene with outfielder Moises Alou and left-hander Scott Ruskin in a trade during the 1990 season that netted Zane Smith. The lefty helped the Pirates win three consecutive National League East titles from 1990-92.
Greene had a nine-year career from 1992-2000, playing for the Reds, Orioles, Blue Jays and Cubs. He batted .234/.326/.423 with 86 home runs in 655 games.
