For years, the Pirates' draft strategy was defined by their unwillingness to select college pitchers in the early rounds.
That strategy was abandoned -- and probably put out to pasture -- Wednesday and Thursday, the first with new general manager Ben Cherington and assistant GM Steve Sanders. The Pirates had just six picks, and five were spent on right-handed pitchers. Of those five, four came from the collegiate ranks.
The Pirates had not taken a college pitcher in the first three rounds in any of the past seven drafts. This year, they took two: Carmen Mlodzinksi as their second first-round pick, and Nick Garcia in the third.
"It’s just the way it worked — best available [player],” Pirates director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri said in a Zoom call after the Pirates were done drafting. “When our selection came up, we had the arms there to select from.”
There was also an interesting coincidence among those best available pitchers: Half of them haven't been pitchers for very long.
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