Pirates Land Sweet-Swinging Shortstop In Early 2025 MLB Mock Draft

The Major League Baseball draft order has been officially set, with the Pittsburgh Pirates landing the sixth overall pick.

After the Pirates ended the regular season with a 76-86 record for the second straight season, they landed the sixth pick in the draft lottery. Pittsburgh has a great rotation and a plethora of solid pitching prospects. The lineup has bright spots, including talented players like Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds, but this is likely where the Pirates will look to add in the draft.

In a very early 2025 MLB mock draft, the Pirates are projected to take shortstop and University of Texas commit Kayson Cunningham, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

“The 2025 Draft may still be seven months away but it’s also in the news,” Callis said. “MLB Pipeline released its initial Draft Top 100 late last week and MLB staged the Draft Lottery on Tuesday evening at the Winter Meetings. The strength of the 2025 Draft class is clearly high school infielders. Bats dominate our forecast with 11 from the college ranks and 10 from the high schools, along with three college arms and three prep pitchers.”

“A slightly bigger and lefty-swinging version of Jett Williams, a Texas prep shortstop who went 14th overall in 2022, Cunningham is a better pure hitter at the same stage and perhaps the best in this prep class.”

Cunningham, 18, was a 2024 All-American Classic Player. The lefty-swinging shortstop is currently ranked the sixth top prospect in the 2025 draft class. Pittsburgh has Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop currently after moving Cruz to the outfield, but Cunningham could be a great long-term option for the position in the future.

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