PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The MLB Draft is something relatively new to the sport, at least when compared to the NFL. Outfielder Doug Dickerson was the Pirates first ever, first-round draft pick in 1965.
Here is a look at some of the Pirates first round hits and misses.
Hits
Richie Hebner (1966)-The shortstop would make his debut at 20 and play 18 years in MLB, 11 of those with the Bucs. Hebner had 1,694 hits (273 doubles, 203 HR) in 1,908 career games. He hit a pair of home runs with five RBI in the Pirates NLCS victory over the Giants in 1971.
Barry Bonds (1985)-the MLB home run king from Arizona State would hit most of his homers with the Giants, but won a pair of MVPs with the Pirates before leaving in free agency.
Jason Kendall (1992)-for a long time held the record for the richest contract in Pirates history. The catcher played nine of his 15 seasons with the Pirates, a career .306 hitter with the Bucs and finished with 2,195 hits over 15 seasons in the majors.
Neil Walker (2004)-the Pine-Richland HS grad had opportunities to play football or baseball in college, but instead helped lead the Pirates back to the playoffs hitting .272 in his career with 284 extra base hits with the Bucs.
Andrew McCutchen (2005)-one of the most influential Pirates in history, the outfielder eclipsed 2,000 hits in his return to the organization after winning an NL MVP and three playoff appearances between 2013-15 with the Bucs.
Pedro Alvarez (2008)-over a stretch of four seasons (2012-15), Alvarez hit 111 home runs with 318 RBI, leading the majors in home runs with 36 in 2013.
Gerrit Cole (2011)-before leaving in a trade with Houston, Cole won 59 games with the Pirates including 19 with a 2.60 ERA during their final playoff season in 2015. In his 11 MLB seasons, 2,048 strikeouts and 138 wins.
Misses
Joe Grigas (1967)-the outfielder didn’t make it out of A ball.
· Who the team passed on-Bobby Grich, Vida Blue, Dave Kingman, Jerry Reuss and Don Baylor.
Jim Parke (1976)-right-handed pitcher didn’t advance beyond A ball.
· The next pick was LHP Bruce Hurst.
Anthony Nicely (1977)-played only in A ball.
· Passed on Bob Welch, Dave Henderson and New Brighton’s Terry Francona.
Brad Garnett (1978)-didn’t advance beyond A ball
· Passed on Cal Ripken
Ron DeLucchi (1983)-didn’t advance beyond A ball
· Passed on Roger Clemens.
Mark Merchant (1987)-never made it out of minors
· Passed on Jack McDowell, Derek Lilliquist, Kevin Appier, Craig Biggio, Albert Belle
Bobby Bradley (1999)-never made it out of minors
· Passed on Barry Zito, Ben Sheets
John Van Benschoten (2001)-went 2-13 with a 9.20 ERA with the Pirates after they decided to make him a pitcher rather than power-hitter
Bryan Bullington (2002)-1st overall pick went 1-9 with a 5.62 ERA in his MLB career.
· Passed on BJ Upton, Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher, Cole Hamels
Daniel Moskos (2007)-left-handed pitcher ended up a reliever pitching 24.1 innings in the majors and famously passed on catcher Matt Wieters, Jason Heyward, Devon Mesoraco, Todd Frazier, Josh Donaldson.
Mark Appel (2012)-refused to sign with the Pirates and went back in next year’s draft
· Passed on Lucas Giolito, Corey Seager, Marcus Stroman, Jose Berrios, Joey Gallo, Jesse Winker
Will Craig (2016)-an amazing college player, he would play 69 MLB games and his career marked by a huge fielding blunder.
· Passed on Dane Dunning, Will Smith, Bryan Reynolds, Pete Alonso, Bo Bichette
Every team in nearly in every draft can think about what might have been. When you have the first overall selection, the pressure increases. What will the Pirates do Sunday night?