The Pittsburgh Pirates are fortunate enough to roster Paul Skenes, arguably the best pitcher on the planet, but they've surrounded him with quite possibly the worst supporting cast in the Majors. This has led to the team holding a 39-58 record at the All-Star break and Skenes holding a 4-8 record despite leading the NL Cy Young race. The player the Pirates selected in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft, Seth Hernandez, is unlikely to enthuse their face of the franchise.
This is no knock on Hernandez, who could easily end up as the best pitcher taken in this year's class. This, instead, is a knock on the Pirates for selecting a high-school pitcher when their roster needs are immediate and obvious.
Skenes knows how talented Hernandez is, but this pick is still really hard to get behind.
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Paul Skenes won't be thrilled with Pirates' first-round pick in MLB Draft
Ultimately, this comes down to team needs. To put it simply, a starting pitcher coming out of high school who won't be MLB-ready for at least a couple of years won't do much to help Skenes out right now.
The Pirates, thanks in large part to Skenes, have a solid starting rotation. We saw how good Jared Jones was when healthy last season, Mitch Keller is a rock-solid mid-rotation arm, and from Bubba Chandler to Hunter Barco to Thomas Harrington, the Pirates have a slew of exciting pitching prospects even without Hernandez. A rotation consisting of Skenes, Hernandez, Jones, Keller, and Chandler is drool-worthy, but what's the goal here? Do the Pirates expect to win 1-0 games every day?
The Pirates are dead last in the majors in runs scored and second-to-last in OPS. Oneil Cruz is uber-talented, but still far from polished as a player. Bryan Reynolds was once an All-Star, but it's been four years since he was at his best. Their third-best hitter might be 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen - that's a problem.
I understand taking the best player available, and Hernandez certainly had an argument in that regard. I also understand taking your guy, as Anderson clearly was. Still, taking a player at a position of strength who won't even be ready for a while is a head-scratcher. I mean, if the Pirates wanted a pitcher, could they not have gone the college route to get a return sooner? At the end of the day, with a talent like Aiva Arquette on the board and the need for position player talent abundantly clear, the Pirates might've really dropped the ball here. Hernandez won't be MLB-ready until Skenes is in arbitration, making a whole lot more money than he is now. By then, who knows what this Pirates roster will look like?