Jake Agnos

A 5-foot-11, 207-pound lefthander, Agnos ranked as the No. 25 prospect on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer and seemed like a solid relief pitching prospect thanks to his size, two-pitch mix and history of struggling with strike-throwing. However, he’s impressed this spring and put together a career year with the Pirates, posting a 2.19 ERA over his first 13 starts of the season. He cut his walk rate in a big way, going from 5.37 walks per nine as a sophomore in 2018 (when he was used as both a reliever and starter) to 3.58 walks per nine through his first 78 innings of 2019. That strike-throwing improvement has increased Agnos’ draft stock and given him more of a chance to start at the next level, as has the continued progression of his changeup. Over the summer, Agnos mostly threw a 90-94 mph fastball and a 55-grade curveball in the upper 70s. He showed some feel for a slider that could also become a solid-average offering, but he mostly worked off his fastball and curveball. This spring, he’s used his changeup more frequently and has been able to draw swings and misses with each of his offerings, which has helped answer two of the biggest questions surrounding him entering the season. His size limits his upside and there’s not much left to project with Agnos, but he has at least three solid-average offerings, good athleticism and has performed well enough this spring to get drafted early on Day 2.