![\"2026](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MLB-Draft.png\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Pirates kicked off their 2026 draft by selecting LSU outfielder Derek Curiel<\/a> with the fifth overall pick.<\/p>\n Curiel was named the 2025 National Freshman of the Year and helped lead the Tigers to a College World Series championship. As a sophomore this past year, the 21-year-old slashed .353\/.431\/.526 with 18 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 46 RBIs and 13 steals in 58 games. The California-native was a Third-Team All-American, Second-Team All-SEC selection and won an ACBA\/Rawlings Gold Glove.<\/p>\n Following their first-round selection, the Pirates have four more picks to make on the first day of the draft. Follow along below for all their day one picks.<\/p>\n Round 2, Pick 44: Aiden Ruiz, SS, New York (High School)<\/p>\n The Pirates dipped into the prep ranks in the second round to take shortstop Aiden Ruiz out of the state of New York. The 19-year-old is considered MLB Pipeline\u2019s 32nd-best prospect.<\/p>\n In 24 games as a senior with The Stony Brook School, Ruiz slashed .403\/.547\/.625 with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 RBIs while going a perfect 23 for 23 on stolen base attempts. <\/p>\n Ruiz, who is committed to Vanderbilt, is a 5-10, 160-pound switch-hitter and is considered perhaps the best defensive shortstop in the 2026 class. Offensively, he has good contact skills but doesn\u2019t possess much power.<\/p>\n The slot value for the 44th pick is $2,278,700.<\/p>\n Round 2, Pick 51: Chris Rembert, 2B, Auburn<\/p>\n The Pirates were given the 51st pick in this year\u2019s draft after failing to sign high school right-hander Angel Cervantes after taking him with the 50th pick last year. They used the supplemental pick on second baseman Chris Rembert from Auburn University.<\/p>\n Rembert, 21, slashed .343\/.399\/.459 with 13 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 46 RBIs and 12 steals in 58 games as a sophomore in 2026. He was named a first-team All-SEC selection for his efforts after being named to the conference\u2019s second-team as a Freshman in 2025.<\/p>\n Rembert, who stands 5-10 and bats right-handed, lacks power but otherwise possesses average to plus tools across the board. His best attribute is his 60-grade hit tool. <\/p>\n The slot value for the 51st pick is $1,938,100<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: MLB Draft<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> <\/p>\n More about:MLB Draft<\/a> Pirates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pirates kicked off their 2026 draft by selecting LSU outfielder Derek Curiel with the fifth overall pick.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31271,73,75,74,10997],"class_list":["post-241217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-mlb-draft","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-pirates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}