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Pirates leaning towards HS pitchers in draft

By John Perrotto for The 2 min read

The torn elbow ligaments suffered by top prospects Jameson Taillon and Nick Kingham over the last two years have only served to remind the Pirates about one of baseball’s basic truths.

You can never have enough pitching.

With that in mind, the Pirates are leaning toward taking a high school pitcher in the first round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft, which begins Monday night and runs through the 50th round on Wednesday.

The Pirates, according to sources with knowledge of their thinking, have zeroed in on left-hander Kolby Allard of San Clemente (Calif.) High School and right-handers Mike Nikorik of Stroudsburg (Pa.) High School and Ashe Russell of Indianapolis Central Cathedral High School.

Allard was considered a likely top 10 pick at the start of the spring before sustaining a stress reaction in his back. The injury has caused the 6-foot-2, 175-pounder to slide on some team’s draft boards and the Pirates feel he could be a great value pick if still available when they select at No. 19.

Allard’s fastball tops out at 96 mph and he has good command of that pitch along with a tight curveball.

Nikorik has a projectable body at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds and his fastball has been clocked as high as 97 mph. He is not as polished as Allard but improved his control this spring and is said to be very coachable.

Russell is the type of pitcher the Pirates love as he is able to induce ground balls with a fastball that reaches 97 mph and has boring action. Like Nikorik, Russell is an imposing figure at 6-5.

A wild card for the Pirates could be left-hander Brady Aiken, who was selected first overall by Houston last year following his senior season of high school in San Diego but did not sign after the Astros lowered their bonus offer because of concerns about his arm.

Aiken tore an elbow ligament in his first game in March for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and had Tommy John reconstructive surgery.

However, it is believed the Pirates might gamble on Aiken if the other three pitchers have already been selected, knowing they would receive the No. 20 pick in next year’s draft as compensation if they are unable to sign him.

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