The Pittsburgh Pirates today signed the following players from the 2017 First-Year Player Draft. The announcement was made by Joe DelliCarri, Pirates Director of Amateur Scouting.
2nd Round - Steven Jennings, RHP, 6-2/180, DeKalb County (TN) High School, assigned to GCL Pirates: Went 5-2 with an 0.54 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 2017 as a senior at DeKalb County High School ... Was named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game honorable mention All-American and a Southeast All-Region First-Team selection ... Was rated 47th by MLBPipeline.com on the 2017 Prospect Watch List ... Also played football for DeKalb County, where he was the quarterback of the team and the 4-3A Offensive MVP in 2015 after throwing for 2,131 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 908 yards.
19th Round - Jake Webb, RHP, 6-4/200, Pittsburg (KS) High School, assigned to GCL Pirates: Finished the 2017 campaign with a 2.31 ERA (39.1ip/13er) and 41 strikeouts as a senior at Pittsburg High School ... Was the first Pittsburg player drafted out of high school in 20 years.
30th Round - Manny Bejerano, C, 6-3/185, Broward (FL) College, assigned to GCL Pirates: Hit .283 (28-for-99) with four doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI in 37 games in 2017 as a sophomore at Broward College ... Threw out 11 of the 35 runners attempting to steal against him this season.
32nd Round - Hector Quinones, RHP, 6-3/227, Midway (KY) University, assigned to GCL Pirates: Went 5-5 with a 3.34 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 14 appearances (12 starts) in 2017 with Midway University ... Was named a First-Team River States Conference selection in 2017 ... Was the first Midway player to be drafted in the program's first season of athletics.
33rd Round - Ryan Valdes, RHP, 5-11/185, University of South Florida, assigned to GCL Pirates: Went 9-1 with a 4.37 ERA (59.2ip/29er) and 56 strikeouts in 23 appearances (five starts) in 2017 with the University of South Florida ... Became the fourth Bulls player to be selected in the 2017 draft ... Went 15-5 with a 4.02 ERA and 132 strikeouts in his three-year career at the University of South Florida.
The Pirates have now signed each of their first four, six of their first seven, and a total of 25 players from the 2017 draft.