CINCINNATI -- One of the main storylines of the 2021 Pirates is going to be who they take in the amateur draft in July.
There are still a couple months to go until then, but right now, it really looks like the Pirates are going to choose between one of two Vanderbilt pitchers.
Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker are two legitimate front-of-the-rotation potential pitchers who are dominating this season. Leiter is leading the NCAA in strikeouts (71) and is second in ERA (0.43). Rocker isn’t far behind in either category (61 strikeouts, 0.84 ERA) and has a longer track record in his favor. A strong case can be made for either pitcher to be the first overall pick.
Pirates scouts have been tracking them this year. So has Bryan Reynolds, a Vanderbilt alumnus.
“They’ve got some good players over there,” Reynolds said. “I watch them when I can. Leiter and Kumar, really special. They're gonna have really nice careers.”
Reynolds played three years at Vanderbilt before being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was just one of a handful of future major leaguers who were selected out of the program in the early rounds, including Walker Buehler, Dansby Swanson, Jordan Sheffield and Carson Fulmer.
Credit that impressive alumni list to the culture manager Tim Corbin has created.
“There's not one bad thing you could say about it,” Reynolds said. “They attract good players, and they attract players that have great potential, and they extract everything they can out of them. It's special.”
Whether the Pirates select Leiter or Rocker, the expectation is that they will be major-league-ready around 2023, meaning that it’s reasonable to believe the same school might produce one of the Pirates’ most valuable pitchers and hitters.
MORE PREGAME NOTES
• Reynolds has gotten off to a good start, trying to put that 2020 season behind him. So far he’s 5-for-15 with a home run and a pair of walks.
“I've hit a few balls hard this year, so I'm happy with that,” Reynolds said. “I’m just going to keep trying to get on time, put myself in a good position that hit it harder, more often.”
Reynolds is going to bat third once again Tuesday against the Reds.
• Tuesday is a scheduled off-day for Gregory Polanco, who will be sitting against the Reds’ lefty Wade Miley.
It’s been a rough start for him this year, producing just one hit in his 14 at-bats with six strikeouts.
“I think he’ll have a good work day,” Derek Shelton said. “I spent some time talking to him today. I know [hitting coaches] Rick [Eckstein] and Christian [Marrero] are going to talk to him. Obviously want more consistent at-bats out of him.”
Polanco has had timing problems at the plate dating back to the second half of spring training. Shelton described timing issues as the “nemesis for hitting coaches and for hitters,” and it certainly got the better of Polanco and several other Pirates last year.
There are some things that can be done to help, including working with the velocity machine or moving the batter up in batting practice to limit their reaction time or the time between release and contact. But it’s an issue that’s difficult to fix outside of game situations.
“It’s not a sport that you can ever practice at full speed because we play games every day,” Shelton said. “It’s one of the challenges for hitters for timing.”
• Phillip Evans will get the start in right instead. With Ke’Bryan Hayes on the injured list and Shelton wanting to get his starters a day off, expect to see him bounce around the diamond for a while.
“I think the versatility is huge for us,” Shelton said. “We talked about that at the end of camp when Phil was on the club, the ability to bounce into multiple outfield positions, ability to play third, first, can play second. I think we’ll see him at multiple positions.”
Evans will bat fifth. Erik Gonzalez will get the start at third, batting seventh.
• The Reds have been drawing some attention from across the league for their celebrations, sparking a benches clearing incident against the Cardinals. On Monday, Nick Castellanos’ celebration for his seventh-inning go-ahead homer got almost as much airtime as the hit itself.
Reds closer Amir Garrett doubled down on that Tuesday, saying he wants the league to think the Reds are “the cockiest team ever.”
"We're some bat flippin', show boatin', son of guns, and I want everybody to know that,” Garrett told Reds media.
In case you need a quick refresher, the Pirates and Reds don’t exactly have good history when it comes to showboating. But that was Clint Hurdle’s Pirates, and Shelton didn’t take issue with what Garrett said.
“He’s a talented guy that’s confident,” Shelton said. “I have no problem with confidence. I think the way our game is played now is, it’s played with swagger. I don’t think there’s a bad thing. You can’t take offense to swagger on either side, if you’re a pitcher or hitter because it goes both ways. The fact that’s he’s talented and he’s confident, that’s fine.”
