Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Draft Goes On...Did We Miss Any RHPs?

RHP Stetson Allie of St. Edward HS in Ohio was the Pirates second selection. Allie throws in the upper nineties and is projected to be a reliever by many scouts. He's also a good hitter and plays corner infield, kinda like JVB.

The Pirates list him as a pitcher, and we think they'll work on keeping him as a starter.

Anyway, he's another power arm to add to the arsenal; where he'll fit will be seen. Allie does have a rocket; he threw six pitches at 100 MPH or more in his final game. The 19-year-old Allie went 9-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 60 innings for St. Edward his senior season.

He was expected to go in the first round, ans was ranked as the eighth guy on the board by Baseball America, so he fell into the Pirates lap.

Allie has committed to North Carolina, and he's represented by the Hendrick brothers, just like #1 pick Jameson Taillon. Allie and Taillon are supposed to have the best two heaters available in this years draft.

The Pirates will have to ante up to sign him, too. One reason he fell was because of the uncertainty of whether he's better suited for the mound or as a power-hitting position player. College could sort that out, and the scholarship to UNC gives him leverage with the wheeler-dealers.

Don't expect any talks to start soon; neither Allie's dad nor the Bucs seem to think a contract discussion is around the corner.

We'll get some stuff together on the other picks later (visit Bucco Fans and click on the names under 2010 draft for the bios) - but suffice to say the Pirates took 15 RHP, 2 LHP, and 12 position players today.

Neal Huntington, talking to FSN, said that the run on pitchers was just they way the board fell. He added that you never have enough arms in the system due to attrition, injury, and plain performance issues. And, of course, it's always a crap shoot to determine how many will sign on the dotted line.

That's all cool, but it might help to find a couple of guys that can provide some run support for all the arms the Bucs are amassing. So we'll withhold judgment until we see who signs. You never have too many pitchers, it's true, but the Pirates need some difference makers at the plate, too.

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