Round #2 - Texas Prep Pitcher Braxton Ashcraft

With the 51st pick, the Pirates took righty Braxton Ashcraft from Robinson HS, Texas. An athletic 18-year-old, Ashcraft has the Bucco build at 6'5", 195 lbs and he's not scrawny; he was a record-setting All-State wide receiver in high school. His bread-and-butter is a sinking heater that sits at 90-95 and a slider; he also plays with a change. Brax finished his senior year with an 11-1 record and 103 strikeouts in 70-1/3 innings. He was expected to go tomorrow in the draft in the third or fourth round, so he is a bit of a stretch. There's a big drop in pool money from this round to the next, so it's likely the Pirates wanted to have a little more cash to wave at him.

Braxton Ashcraft (photo: Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune)

Concerns: He's a Baylor commit, and told the local TV station that it would cost to get him to give up being a Bear. The Bucs have an allotment of $1,382,400 for this round.

Perfect Game Scouting Report: "Braxton Ashcraft is a RHP/3B with a long and loose athletic body, outstanding physical projection. Long arm action in back, extended 3/4's arm slot creates angle. Fastball to 95 mph, gets heavy sinking action down in the zone. Very nice change up with feel and arm speed. Throws both a slider and a change up, slider better pitch at present with tight spin and sharp lane changing life, curveball a 10/4 sweeper with some depth. Has a feel for spinning the ball and changing speeds. Has a chance to be really, really good with normal physical projection. Good student, verbal commitment to Baylor."

Competitive Balance Round: Florida Prep Pitcher Gunnar Hoglund

With the 36th pick, the Bucs chose RHP Gunnar Hoglund from Florida's Fivay HS (actually, he attended Dayspring Academy, which didn't have a team). The Gunner went 7-0/0.27 with 105 K and just two walks, both in his last game, in 47-1/3 IP.  Hoglund has a fastball that's high eighties, low nineties (he's touched 96) that he spots well with a work-in-progress change and curve. His arm should be in good shape; his high school held their starters to an 80-pitch limit. And at 6'4", 210 lbs, he fits the Bucco pitcher mold.

Concerns: He's a two-way guy who also plays first base (he played the hot corner last year) and hit .385 w/four homers and 20 RBI, and we don't have to look further than Allie Stetson to know the pitfalls that may entail. Also, Ol' Miss got a commitment from him and is willing to let him play & pitch, so that may factor in the signing decision. The Florida product may have been a bit of a stretch at this spot; he was generally considered a back-end Top 100 prospect by scouting services, although several teams had him higher (like the Pirates) and he was expected to go sometime in the 2nd round.

Gunnar Hoglund (photo source Bandito Baseball Club)

Perfect Game Scouting Report: "He’s a big kid with physicality and projection, and his delivery/overall mechanical profile are clean and have obviously shown that he has elite strike-throwing ability. The fastball, which was more in the 87-92 mph range last summer, has taken a step forward in velocity this spring and now sits more 90-94 mph with obviously tremendous command, which is more a result of just how clean his mechanics are. He throws a curveball and changeup, both of which are in the average range right now, but are plenty good enough at this juncture. It’s within reason to project him to have a plus fastball in time given the mechanical profile, arm speed, and physical projection. He’s one of the more prominent draft stock risers this spring, but I cannot speak to his sign-ability..."

The Bucs got this pick by virtue of being one of the ten smallest/lowest revenue teams in MLB. The player's allotment for the 36th pick is $1,967,900.

Draft Day: South Alabama's Travis Swaggerty #1

The Pirates with the 10th pick select...Travis Swaggerty, a 20-year-old (he turns 21 in August) 5'11" 180 lb outfielder from South Alabama. He put up a .296 BA/.455 OBP with 13 HR/38 RBIs and is an athletic, toolsy guy with good wheels who projects as a MLB center fielder w/enough arm to play RF. He wasn't a reach nor steal; this is about where he was projected to go. One promising sign is that he's compared to Austin Meadows; could be the Pirates are planning on Swags and Austin to be the 1-2 hitters in 2021. The first round money allotted for this pick is $4,560,000; it's thought his deal may come in a bit under that figure. The Bucs left three pretty talented high school pitchers on the board, so they must be happy with the arms already in the pipeline.

Travis Swaggerty (MLB Network)

Concerns: He played in the Sun Belt, a good but not elite baseball conference. And his mechanics could still use some tweaking as he sometimes chases at the plate. Because of that, he's not considered a sure thing but as a player with a potentially high ceiling but also a potentially low floor, so improved discipline is his key. It also creates a bit of a logjam in organizational outfielders, but that's a good problem.

MLB Pipeline Scouting Report: “Swaggerty is an on-base machine thanks to his speed and patient approach. A left-handed hitter, he does swing and miss a bit much for a player with a leadoff profile because he can get overly aggressive at times, especially against breaking pitches. Though he didn’t go deep in 64 at-bats with wood bats on Team USA, he packs some sneaky power in his athletic frame and could produce 20 or more homers per season in the big leagues.”