Throughout the leadup to the Draft, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz insisted they were going to select the best players available. In the first two rounds, their draft board led them to three of the top high school talents: Shortstops Konnor Griffin and Wyatt Sanford, and right-handed pitcher Levi Sterling.

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Day 2 of the Draft was much more college player-heavy, with the Pirates selecting seven collegiate players out of their eight picks. Their version of taking the best player on the board also seemed to mean assuming more risk for potential upside, as evidenced by these three selections:

Third round: LHP Josh Hartle, Wake Forest

Coming into the year, Hartle looked like he could be a first-round pick and one of the top collegiate pitchers in this draft class. In fact, if you just look at his 2023 r¨¦sum¨¦, this looks like a steal. He was first-team All-ACC in 2023 after going 11-2 with a 2.81 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings. He was a Golden Spikes semifinalist that year. Coming out of high school in 2021, he was the Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year and the No. 2 prospect in North Carolina, according to Perfect Game.

Then things went sideways in 2024 and his ERA ballooned to 5.79. He still averaged over a strikeout an inning, but his Draft buzz quieted significantly.

Despite that disappointing junior year, MLB Pipeline still ranked him as the No. 70 prospect in this class and gave favorable grades to all of his breaking and offspeed offerings. The livestream on MLB.com alluded to a sub-optimal pitch mix as part of the reason for his struggles this past season.

The Pirates don¡¯t just scout college statlines, and if he could resemble his 2023 self or be tweaked, this could work out well.

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Fifth round: OF Will Taylor, Clemson

Three years ago, Taylor could have been a first-round pick, ranking as the 20th-ranked Draft prospect on MLB Pipeline¡¯s 2021 list. But he wanted to go to Clemson to play baseball and football, and ended up suffering an ACL injury playing the latter. That caused him to miss the rest of the 2021 football season and most of his freshman baseball season.

That injury took him from being a plus-plus runner to just average speed, but there are still some tools there, even if he hasn¡¯t fully developed as scouts had originally hoped. He ranked 203rd on this year¡¯s Draft prospects list, so this isn¡¯t the same player that teams tried to convince to forego college in 2021, but he still slashed an impressive .362/.489/.523 as a sophomore. He saw his average dip to .230 this year (his OPS did not drop nearly as far, still finishing at .945), but a fractured left wrist ended his season early.

Still, he has some raw pop, is a good fielder and was once one of the top young players in the country. Can he recapture that old form?

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Eighth round: RHP Gavin Adams, Florida State

A year ago, Adams cracked the end of MLB Pipeline¡¯s top Draft prospects list and was selected in the 11th round by the Nationals. He declined the offer to start his pro career and transferred to Florida State, where he was projected to be one of their premier relievers, but he ended up undergoing Tommy John surgery in early March and never pitched for them.

A typical Tommy John recovery timetable takes about 14-16 months, so doing some back of the envelope math, he should be able to do some throwing and build up when Spring Training rolls around next year and potentially get into games midseason 2025, assuming all goes well. But that¡¯s still a considerable amount of risk.

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There is definite upside, though. Adams can throw in the triple digits while mixing in a slider and a changeup, which led him to strike out 44 batters in 26 1/3 innings for Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla. as a sophomore.

The Pirates didn¡¯t shy away from Hunter Barco in 2022 after the left-hander had Tommy John surgery, and they were rewarded with an intriguing prospect (No. 15 in the system) who is posting solid results in very hitter-friendly High-A Greensboro. It¡¯s an apples and oranges situation between a lefty starter like Barco and a hard-throwing righty like Adams, but the Pirates have shown they can do rehab right and get pitchers ready for pro ball.