Breaking down the Pirates' Day 2 Draft picks

July 12th, 2021

Day 2 of the MLB Draft has wrapped up in Denver, and the Pirates were able to net some high-end talent in Rounds 2-10, including three players within the top 75 of MLB Pipeline’s list of best Draft prospects.

After they selected Henry Davis with the No. 1 overall pick on Day 1, here’s how Day 2 unfolded for the Pirates.

Round 2, No. 37 overall: Anthony Solometo, LHP, Bishop Eustace Prep School (Pennsauken Township, N.J.)

Notable skill: Solometo has one of the most unique and deceptive pitching motions in the Draft, with a pronounced leg kick and lean that drive into a Madison Bumgarner-like three-quarters arm angle delivery. Thanks to that, he has great movement on his fastball, which sits in the 90-94 mph range, that plays well with his slider -- especially when it has a tighter action vs. a slurvy motion.

Fun fact: The day after No. 26 overall Draft selection Chase Petty -- Solometo’s friend through the N.J. baseball ranks -- threw a no-hitter on April 28, the left-hander followed it up with one of his own, and he predicted it. What Solometo didn’t predict: He threw a second consecutive no-hitter a few days after that.

Quotable: "[My plan] was never to max-effort pitch," Solometo said. "It was never pump 100, 105 [mph] right now, because the goal was never to be the best high school pitcher of all time. The goal is to be the best pitcher of all time in the Major Leagues."

Competitive Balance Round B, No. 64 overall: Lonnie White Jr., OF, Malvern Preparatory School (Pa.)

Notable skill: Speed, speed, speed. White has a 70-grade run tool, which allows him to stretch singles into extra-base hits. It also gives him the ability to be an explosive playmaker in the outfield and a potential big league center fielder in the future. But unlike with some other speed-first prospects, scouts see leverage in his swing that points to power.

Fun fact: What else does that speed produce? In White’s case, a Division I scholarship to play football at Penn State. White was a standout wide receiver at Malvern Prep, and he’s committed to play for a perennial contender in the Nittany Lions. He also was a great high school basketball player, with the ability to throw down highlight-reel dunks.

Quotable: “Whatever he’s playing, he is enjoying,” Malvern Prep baseball coach Freddy Hilliard told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He just loves to play, and that’s how he has been his whole life. If you ask him what his favorite sport was, if it was the fall he’d say football. If it was the winter he’d say basketball. And if it was the spring he’d say baseball.”

Round 3, No. 72 overall: Bubba Chandler, RHP, North Oconee HS (Bogart, Ga.)

Notable skill: Chandler, a two-way player in high school, was taken as a pitcher by the Pirates. In that capacity, he stands out with a fastball that sits at 92-95 mph and touches 97 mph. It pairs with a hammer of a curveball that lives in the upper 70s on the radar gun.

Fun fact: Like White, Chandler was committed to play football in college. In his case, he was a three-star quarterback in high school who signed with the powerhouse Clemson Tigers, who have won two national titles in the past six seasons. So it makes sense that he can throw the baseball well and with velocity.

Quotable: “I just like playing baseball. We’ll see what happens with everything, but I just enjoy playing, whether it’s every day, pitching or hitting -- whatever it is. Baseball’s just a great game, and being on the field is amazing,” Chandler told MLB.com, on if he’d rather be a pitcher or shortstop.

Round 4, No. 102 overall: Owen Kellington, RHP, U-32 HS (Montpelier, Vt.)

Notable skill: Kellington -- who was not ranked among MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft prospects -- is seen as having above average potential with his curveball, which he pairs with a 93 mph fastball, and he throws both pitches well for strikes.

Fun fact: Kellington was named the Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year, and judging by his stats, it appears that he wouldn’t have much competition for that honor. He had an 0.22 ERA, but the most incredible number is his 133 strikeouts in 49 innings. That equates to 91 percent of his outs coming by way of the punchout.

Quotable: “I think the first person who scouted me was a Mets scout,” Kellington told the Boston Globe. “He said I’m forever going to be known as ‘The Vermont Kid’ because not many kids come out of Vermont at all. That’s a big part of what I’m trying to do.”

Round 5, No. 133 overall: Jackson Glenn, 3B, Dallas Baptist University

Notable skill: Glenn can rake, and he broke out in 2021, slugging 21 home runs -- the fourth most in college baseball -- in 59 games to power a .366/.438/.732 slash line. At 205 pounds, Glenn was also able to pick spots to steal 13 bases.

Fun fact: Glenn was a junior with much lighter Draft stock when college baseball was shut down due to the pandemic. When he wasn’t selected in the five-round 2020 Draft, he said he worked harder than ever before to make his senior year count. Glenn was a big reason Dallas Baptist had a strong postseason, though the team came up one game shy of Omaha in the Columbia Super Regional.

Quotable: “Every single game, every single practice, everything we do around here that involves baseball, it gives me a new appreciation for the game,” Glenn told NBC 5 in Dallas about the shutdown. “You hear the saying, 'You don’t really know what you have until you lose it.' That’s the way I was. When I lost it, I didn’t know what I had.”

Round 6, No. 163 overall: Mike Jarvis, SS, San Diego State

Notable skill: Contact, contact, contact. Like the Pirates’ 2013 sixth-round Draft pick Adam Frazier, Jarvis has strong bat-to-ball skills, hitting .367 while striking out only 20 times in 46 games last season with the Aztecs. He also stole 16 bases.

Fun fact: Jarvis spent last summer playing in the San Diego League, an “analytics-based college baseball summer league,” per the organization’s Twitter bio. Jarvis hit 4-for-5 with a double for the Hooks to power a 10-6 win and claim the league’s 2020 championship, and he also led the league with 19 stolen bases.

Quotable: “He’s just got a very good, simple swing, doesn’t stride much, and he’s a very good two-strike hitter,” Kenosha Kingfish manager Duffy Dyer told the Kenosha News in 2019. “He gives in a little bit with two strikes. He hits a lot of line drives.”

Round 7, No. 193 overall: Wyatt Hendrie, C, San Diego State

Notable skill: Hendrie spent a lot of time growing into the catching position, but his bat has been solid for years. In the 2018-19 season with Antelope Valley College, Hendrie hit .410. His batting average sat at .286 in his first year at SDSU, but once he adjusted to the better pitching in the Pac-12, he posted a .379 average in 45 games with 12 doubles, two triples and nine homers.

Fun fact: Hendrie was selected by the Cubs in the 10th round of the 2019 Draft out of Antelope Valley, before he decided to transfer to San Diego State.

Quotable: “I sat down and thought, ‘I’m really new to catching. I have a lot to learn,’” Hendrie told PD23 Sports about his decision not to sign with Chicago. “I thought, ‘If I’m going to put myself in a position to succeed when I get into the Minor Leagues, [I need to keep going]. I felt like I had so much left to learn, and I felt like the guys at SDSU could help me gain more experience.”

Round 8, No. 223 overall: Sean Sullivan, RHP, University of California

Notable skill: None of Sullivan’s pitches are seen as lights-out, but his mix is deep and effective. The right-hander has a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup, and with average control, he’s able to locate and confuse batters with those varying looks.

Fun fact: Sullivan took only one plate appearance in his college career. In 2019, he had to hit for himself when the designated hitter filled in at catcher after Cal’s starter was ejected. He worked a 2-2 count and hit a home run.

Quotable: “I think I am pretty athletic,” Sullivan told the Baseball Prospect Journal. “That is where I get most of my velocity, by being athletic. It’s just huge for me.”

Round 9, No. 253 overall: Luke Brown, OF, University of Louisville

Notable skill: Speed and consistency. Brown’s 17 stolen bases in 22 attempts were the third most for the Cardinals last season, and he stole 28 in 67 games over two years with Louisville. He also batted .320 or better in both 2020 and ‘21, but he upped his slugging last season -- despite hitting no homers -- with his speed helping him collect 13 doubles and four triples.

Fun fact: As a receiver at Bowling Green High School (Ky.), Brown won three state championships. He had 39 receptions for 795 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016, his senior year, helping power a team that scored 40 or more points in 13 of its 15 games that season.

Quotable: "A lot of guys don't know how hard the kid works," Louisville teammate Cooper Bowman told the Courier Journal during the college season. "He deserves everything he's getting right now. He went through his struggles and worked out of it, and there's no one I like to see succeed more than him right now."

Round 10, No. 283 overall: Justin Meis, RHP, Eastern Michigan University

Notable skill: The projections on Meis’ slider are solid, though it’s still a little slurvy and deep. But it sits in the low 80s and has two-plane movement, and with some tightening up, it could be an effective putaway pitch. Meis can also sit at 91-93 mph with his fastball.

Fun fact: Meis is a Pittsburgh native. He attended Bethel Park High School, which lies a few miles south of the city, and he set a school record by striking out 16 batters in one game.

Quotable: After putting eventual College World Series champion Mississippi State on no-hitter watch and going eight-plus innings in Starkville on March 13, Meis told the Bethel Park Hawk Eye, “I was trying to just focus on one hitter at a time. The crowd was unbelievable. I was able to feed off their energy towards the end of the game.”