PITTSBURGH -- With injuries plaguing just about every part of the roster throughout the first third of the season, the Pirates had to turn to their organizational depth more often than expected. Their callups have ranged from former first-round Draft pick Cole Tucker and second-rounder Mitch Keller, to 29th-round reliever Geoff Hartlieb and 32nd-rounder Montana DuRapau.

Teams like the Pirates rely more than most on their internal options -- the players they draft and develop -- so there are few events on their calendar more important than the MLB Draft. Homegrown depth is necessary, but every general manager and scouting director dreams of finding the next Josh Bell, a 2011 second-round pick who seems to be making a star turn in Pittsburgh this season.

The 2019 Draft will take place tonight through Wednesday beginning with tonight's Draft preview show on MLB Network and MLB.com at 6 ET. MLB Network will broadcast the first 41 picks (Round 1 and Competitive Balance Round A), while MLB.com will stream all 78 picks on Day 1. MLB.com will also provide live pick-by-pick coverage of Rounds 3-10 on Day 2, beginning with a preview show at 12:30 p.m. ET. Then, Rounds 11-40 can be heard live on MLB.com on Day 3, beginning at noon ET.

Go to MLB.com/Draft to see the Top 200 Prospects list, mock Drafts from MLB Pipeline analysts Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, the complete order of selection and more. And follow @MLBDraft on Twitter to see what Draft hopefuls, clubs and experts are saying.

Here’s how the Draft is shaping up for the Pirates, whose first selection is the No. 18 overall pick.

In about 50 words
General manager Neal Huntington and scouting director Joe DelliCarri are on the lookout for high-end talent to bolster a farm system that has pushed a number of players to the Majors over the last year, while sending out a handful of big names (like Austin Meadows, Shane Baz and Taylor Hearn) in Trade Deadline deals designed to reinforce the big league roster.

What they’re saying
“Joe DelliCarri and our scouting staff have done another terrific job of positioning us to add another quality group of players this year. We work to learn lessons from each Draft, and we continue to evolve our process because we recognize the importance amateur player acquisition has for all Major League organizations, but especially those in small/mid[-sized] markets. The Draft appears to be hitter-heavy in the early rounds again this year, but there are typically hitters and pitchers of interest from the college, junior college and high school levels available throughout the Draft. Given that the large majority of players selected this year will not be factors at the Major League level for three to five-plus years, we will again look to select the player that we feel is the best available player at each selection. While every pick is important, we look forward to capitalizing on having five of the first 95 picks this year as we look to effectively invest our entire available pool.” -- Huntington

Who might they take?
The Pirates can’t control who will be available when it’s their turn to pick, so it will be difficult to predict their selection until they’re on the clock at No. 18. But MLB Pipeline experts Mayo and Callis have connected Pittsburgh to one prep pitcher, right-hander Quinn Priester from Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School, and a pair of high school infielders: shortstop Gunnar Henderson and third baseman Brett Baty.

Priester, 18, is MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 Draft prospect. The right-hander, who is committed to Texas Christian University, fits the Pirates’ profile as an athletic, projectable starting pitcher with a big fastball. He is also a multisport athlete, having played wide receiver and defensive back for his high school’s football team.

The 17-year-old Henderson, MLB Pipeline’s No. 27 Draft prospect, is one of the best high school hitters in this class. The lefty-hitting senior from Morgan Academy in Selma, Ala., is listed at 6-foot-3 and could move away from shortstop as he fills out his frame.

Baty is old for a high school hitter at 19 1/2, but he is an advanced hitter with impressive power. He is MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 Draft prospect, and is a Texas commit out of Lake Travis (Texas) High School.

Money matters
Each team has an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values assigned to its selections in the first 10 rounds of the Draft. Any bonus money above $125,000 given to a player picked in rounds 11-40 also counts against a team's allotment. If a player selected in the first 10 rounds doesn't sign, his pick's value is subtracted from the team's pool. If the club exceeds its allotment, it will face a penalty.

A team that outspends its pool by 0-5 percent will pay a 75 percent tax on the overage. Beyond that, clubs can lose future picks and pay additional taxes. In six years under these rules, teams have outspent their allotments 95 times but never by more than 5 percent.

The Pirates have a bonus pool of $9,944,000, the 11th-highest total in this year’s Draft. Their first-round pick comes with an assigned slot value of $3,481,300. Their Competitive Balance Round A selection (37th overall), which is compensation for not signing 2018 Draft pick Gunnar Hoglund, is valued at $1,999,300. Their second-round pick (57th) is slotted at $1,243,600, and their Competitive Balance Round B selection (72nd) is valued at $870,700.

Shopping list
The Pirates don’t draft for “need” because their picks begin their professional careers in the low Minors, years away from playing at PNC Park. They could always use pitching to restock the farm system, which will soon graduate high-level arms like Keller and JT Brubaker to the big league staff. There is another crop of pitchers on the rise, however, led by 20-year-old right-hander Cody Bolton in Class A Advanced Bradenton.

Pittsburgh has plenty of young or near-ready infielders, and it's deep in outfielders from the Majors (Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Corey Dickerson, Melky Cabrera and Bryan Reynolds) and Triple-A Indianapolis (Jason Martin), to Bradenton (Travis Swaggerty and Cal Mitchell) and Class A Greensboro (Lolo Sanchez). There are no catchers among the Pirates’ top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.

Trend watch
The Pirates have leaned toward position players with their first pick in recent years. Dating back to 2013, when they selected Meadows ninth overall, high school right-hander Baz (12th overall in 2017) is the only pitcher they’ve taken with their first pick since their 2010-12 run on pitchers (Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole and the unsigned Mark Appel). Their other top picks dating back to ’13 were Meadows, Tucker, Kevin Newman, Will Craig and Swaggerty -- two high school hitters and three college bats.

Nine of the Bucs’ first 11 picks last year came from the college ranks, but there were eight high school players selected among their final 30 picks.

Recent top picks
2018: Travis Swaggerty, OF (Bradenton)
2017: Shane Baz, RHP (Class A Bowling Green, traded to Rays organization in August 2018)
2016: Will Craig, 1B (Indianapolis)
2015: Kevin Newman, 2B (Pirates)
2014: Cole Tucker, SS (Pirates)