Leading up to Sunday, both general manager Ben Cherington and amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz agreed that collegiate position players may be the deepest pool of players in this year¡¯s Draft.

But the Pirates chose not to wade into those waters Sunday. Instead, they emerged with three of the top high school players. After taking Konnor Griffin with the No. 9 overall pick, they selected prep right-hander Levi Sterling out of Notre Dame High School (California) with the No. 37 overall pick in Competitive Balance Round A, then drafted Independence High School (Texas) shortstop Wyatt Sanford at No. 47 overall in the second round.

¡°No emphasis, no,¡± Cherington answered when asked if the Pirates targeted prep players. ¡°Best players on the board when it came to our picks. In all three of those spots, felt very strongly that those were the best talents on the board. ¡­ We think we got three very different kinds of high school players tonight, all of whom have real upside and a chance to blossom in our system. Excited about all of them.¡±

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Sterling is ranked as MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 58 Draft prospect. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 202 pounds, he will not turn 18 until September, but already shows promising stuff, including a fastball that can touch 94 mph with run.

¡°[He] does things really easy,¡± Horowitz said. ¡°Very projectable in the sense physically but also with his stuff; he¡¯s got an effective fastball. He already has some present velocity that we think is going to get even better as he continues to add strength. He¡¯s got a nasty changeup. Gets a ton of whiffs with that pitch and a developing breaking ball, too.¡±

Sanford¡¯s defense and running ability are his two main selling points as a player. MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 35 prospect, Sanford has range to both sides and a strong arm. While his bat is not as advanced as his glove, he had a strong showing at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October and has put on weight, giving reason for optimism for his future development.

¡°He¡¯s still projectable,¡± Horowitz said. ¡°He added a lot of strength going into the winter and into the spring, starting to show a little bit more power. Defensively, he¡¯s really smooth on the dirt. Really believe he¡¯s going to handle shortstop at the next level, for sure. And he can run a little bit, too. Another kid we are super excited about.¡±

Sanford¡¯s father, Chance, played 14 games with the Pirates in 1998 and another five with the Dodgers in 1999.

Horowitz also raved about all three of the picks¡¯ makeup and leadership abilities. Being a Day 1 pick -- especially a first-round pick -- comes with extra attention, and the team wants to make sure those players know what comes with the prestige of being an early selection.

¡°The character piece is important both in terms of the grind of baseball and working through that and being resilient through the tougher days,¡± Cherington said. ¡°Also, there is a little more attention on a first-rounder, and that player is going to need to carry themselves and be a positive influence, etc. All of those guys are different in their own way. They are certainly all different personalities.¡±

The Pirates are confident all three are up for the challenges of pro ball, but they are all several years away. Given that this Draft class is more college hitter centric and the Major League club could use a boost offensively, some speculated that the Pirates would take a collegiate position player early to help supplement a Major League team that entered the All-Star break with a .500 record and a seemingly upward trajectory.

Whomever the Pirates took in the Draft wasn¡¯t going to help the 2024 team though, so they remain committed to taking the best player available rather than by need or proximity to the Majors.

¡°It¡¯s a really important event for us every year and it¡¯s a really hard thing to get right,¡± Cherington said. ¡°I would never want to make something that¡¯s already hard even harder by saying, ¡®We¡¯ve got to pick out of this demographic or that demographic.¡¯ We just want to get the best, most combined talent that we can out of every Draft. If the high school player is the first player on the board when it¡¯s our time to pick, that¡¯s where we¡¯re going to go. ¡­ The better we draft, the more we¡¯re going to be in a good spot in future years.¡±