3. Pittsburgh Pirates
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Andrew McCutchen came as advertised out of Fort Meade High School in Florida. He was sandwiched in between Maybin and the Reds’ Jay Bruce as the 11th overall pick. It took him only four-and-a-half seasons in the minors to get acclimatized to the MLB level of play.
Rum Bunter
By 2009, he hit .286 as a 22-year old rookie, scoring 74 runs, swatted 12 home runs and drove in 54 in only 433 at-bats. At a macro level, Cutch has become one of the best all around outfielders the game has to offer and the cornerstone of the Pirates’s franchise in the last decade. He helped ignite a playoff appearance in 2013 and again in 2014 that had otherwise been absent in Pittsburgh’s history since the early 90’s. He’s made baseball a hot ticket once again in the Steel City.
An All-Star over the four last consecutive seasons, an MVP in 2013 and a three-time Silver Slugger, No. 22 led the NL with 194 hits in 2012 and has three 20-20 seasons to his credit. Only 28, by baseball standards, McCutchen has not even entered his prime and his best should be yet to come.
The Bucs also got 1B Steve Pearce out of that draft class, taken 241st overall. He spent four seasons in Pittsburgh mostly in a reserve role before blossoming somewhat last year with the Orioles, posting a 6.0 WAR with a .293-21-49 line in only 383 plate appearances.