The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a ton of success in the MLB Draft in recent years. Just look at how Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin (before the injury) are helping the MLB team, and Seth Hernandez banging on the door of his big-league debut.

With that in mind, there was a lot of hype around who Pittsburgh would select with the No. 5 overall pick. The Pirates took a surprising turn, drafting outfielder Derek Curiel out of LSU. 

There’s a lot to breakdown with this selection when giving it a grade. 

The Pirates drafted a college outfielder with the potential to quickly move through the farm system and could very well be helping the big-league team at some point in 2027, based on the organization’s recent history with its first-round picks. 

That mindset was the right one to have entering the draft, and Curiel fits the makeup of that exact type of player. The left-hander logged a .353/.431/.526 slash line with a walk-rate of 12.4 percent and a strikeout rate of 15.7 percent during his sophomore season. 

One of the most encouraging pieces of Curiel’s game, and perhaps the one that stood out to the Pirates the most, was how well he hit against velocity in college.

MLB's draft broadcast noted that Curiel had a .435 batting average and a .650 slugging percentage on pitches over 93 mph. 

However, this grade takes a hit when looking at some of Curiel’s drawbacks as a college hitter. He didn’t show much power at LSU.

In two collegiate seasons, Curiel only hit 13 home runs. Most of his slugging percentage came from doubles and a couple of triples. Curiel only has a barrel percentage of 5.4 percent, which ranked in the 37th percentile. 

When you look at other college outfield prospects still on the board at No. 5, such as Zion Rose, Drew Burress, or AJ Garcia, who were all drafted in the top 10, they possess the power Curiel is missing, at least for now.

The Pirates are taking a risk with this pick, and maybe it’ll pay off, especially looking at their recent player development.

Curiel has the potential to be a great contact hitter who gets on base at a high clip, and he showed that in college. However, the lack of power could limit the 21-year-old’s ceiling until he shows otherwise. 

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