2 MLB Draft Prospects Most Commonly Mocked to Pirates
The 2026 MLB Draft gets underway on Saturday and the Pirates will be on the clock with the fifth pick.
The consensus this year is that the top four prospects selected (in some order) will be UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey and prep shortstops Grady Emerson and Jacob Lombard.
But the draft is full of surprises. If any of those four players falls to the Pirates with the fifth pick, he would likely be the pick. If not, there are two players who have been most commonly mocked to the Pirates in the first round.
One is UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora, the top pitching prospect available in this year’s class. A first-team All-American, the 6-foot-5 Flora went a perfect 12-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 16 starts during his junior season. He logged 102 innings, allowed 55 hits, walked 32 and struck out 133.
Flora’s best pitch is a high-velocity fastball that touches triple digits. The 21-year-old also possesses an above-average slider and changeup to round out his arsenal.
The Pirates took a college pitcher with their top pick once under general manager Ben Cherington — right-hander Paul Skenes with the top pick in 2023. The only other time the Pirates took a pitcher with their top pick of the first round under Cherington was last year, when they took prep right-hander Seth Hernandez.
In addition to Flora, high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr. is another prospect who has been mocked to Pittsburgh. Booth, who is committed to Vanderbilt, slashed .481/.669/.922 with 11 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 31 RBIs and 23 steals in 29 games as a high school senior.
The just-turned 18-year-old has a 70-grade run tool and is considered an above-average hitter and defender with at least average power and arm strength.
If the Pirates selected Booth, it would be the second time in the last three years they took a prep player from the state of Mississippi, joining shortstop Konnor Griffin (ninth overall) in 2024. The other time the Pirates took a prep position player in round one was second baseman Termarr Johnson (fourth overall, 2022).