If there is one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates have nearly perfected, it is finding and developing young pitching talent. Their entire rotation currently consists of pitchers they drafted in previous seasons. Their number one prospect, Seth Hernandez, was their first round pick last year. With all of that being said, targeting some college arms early in the draft should be a priority for the Bucs, and these names should be on their radar.

The Pirates should have these 3 college hurlers on their draft radar

Ruger Riojas

Ruger Riojas was a potential early-round pick in 2025. The University of Texas right-hander suffered a bout of the flu and bronchitis, leading him to lose a ton of weight. That also led to a bump down in prospect rankings. Baseball America only had him as the 324th best prospect in the draft. MLB Pipeline didn’t even include him in their top 200 draft prospects list. Riojas returned to Texas for his senior season, and his prospect stock has risen dramatically.

In 65 innings, Riojas has a 4.02 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He has a healthy 37.3% strikeout rate, while only handing out a walk 5.6% of the time. That comes out to an outstanding 31.7% K-BB%. Riojas has also allowed only five long balls. That is all a significant improvement from 2025, when he had just a 20.7% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate, and allowed a dozen home runs over 69 frames.

Ruger Riojas is just carving through a talented Coastal lineup. 11 K thru 5.

Older for the class, but could still hear his name on day one. pic.twitter.com/7GhEShQMxy

— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) February 28, 2026

Riojas has since regained some of the weight he lost after suffering two illnesses last year. He is once again sitting mid-to-upper-90s, and topping out around 98 MPH. Riojas’ best secondary offering is a low-80s splitter. MLB Pipeline sees both his four-seamer and splitter as offerings with plus potential. However, his cutter and curveball are both seen as potential average or better pitches. The worst pitch of his arsenal is a slider, though it’s still a usable breaking pitch. Riojas has also shown solid command of his arsenal.

Riojas is a projected top-three round pick. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 77th-best player in the draft, while Baseball America ranks him at 89th. Given that he is a senior, he’ll likely sign for underslot value. That could make him a valuable second-round pick for the Pirates. Not only do they get to save some money so they can sign an overslot pick, but they also get a talented right-handed pitcher who can speed run through the minor leagues, given his age (he will be 23 at the time of the draft).

Taylor Rabe

A young pitcher with one pitch that already projects as plus, with above-average control, is hard to find beyond the first few pitchers. However, Taylor Rabe pitches with two offerings that look like plus offerings, with plus control. Rabe is in his sophomore season at the University of Mississippi. The right-hander has had a huge breakout campaign this year and has a chance to go within the first two rounds.

Rabe has tallied 57.1 innings, working to the tune of a 4.08 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. He has had no problems striking batters out. His K% comes in at an impressive 34.9% mark. On top of that, he has only dished out a walk 3.4% of the time. That amounts to a K-BB% over 30%. Rabe has allowed more home runs than walks, with ten dingers compared to eight walks.

Taylor Rabe (Ole Miss) isn’t being talked about enough.

Started 2026 as a reliever before making the transition to starter. While the results haven’t been great the underlying traits are there. He has 5 pitches, a FB/SI/CT/CH/SL, has been up to 99 and has a BB% under 3.5 pic.twitter.com/PcNksXd81M

— Timothy Chen (@TimStats) May 24, 2026

Rabe throws with plenty of velocity. He sits around 96 MPH and tops out at the triple-digits. His fastball also plays up because of its carry through the strike zone. MLB Pipeline sees this as a potential 70-grade offering. Then there is his upper-80s cutter that they put a 60-grade on. Even his mid-80s slider projects as an above-average third pitch. The only pitch he hasn’t flashed above-average or better potential with is his change-up.

Rabe’s short arm motion in his wind-up and quick delivery adds plenty of deception to his already impressive stuff. He is ranked as MLB Pipeline’s 90th best draft prospect, and comes in at #37 on Baseball America’s list.

Carson Wiggins

If the Pirates want to go with a high-ceiling pitcher without worrying about the risk, Carson Wiggins would be the way to go. Wiggins’ stuff is some of the best of any pitcher in this year’s draft. However, his injury history and his risk of becoming a reliever bump his draft stock down. That could give the Pirates an opportunity to take a talented right-hander past the first two or three rounds.

Wiggins has missed all of 2026 and won’t return until 2027 because of internal brace surgery (the same procedure Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones underwent). However, he was dominant in a small sample size in last year. He threw 14 innings out of the University of Arkansas’ bullpen in 2025, allowing just five earned runs, with a 33.9% strikeout rate. He also allowed just seven hits, none of which were home runs. However, Wiggins allowed nine free passes.

Carson Wiggins slams the door and Arkansas takes the series

Hogs finally showed some offensive life 👀 pic.twitter.com/1nE2alpZBU

— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) March 16, 2025

Wiggins has two truly elite offerings. His fastball sits 98-99 MPH, and tops out at 102. On top of having utter heat, his four-seamer also has solid movement. Wiggins’ upper-80s slider was an unhittable pitch last year. MLB Pipeline is very bullish on his two pitches, as they grade his fastball at an 80 and his slider at a 70 on the 20-80 scale. For reference, they also gave Paul Skenes an 80 grade for his fastball and a 70 grade for his slider in 2023 when he was a draft prospect.

Unfortunately, he has two major flaws. Wiggins has inconsistent location, and does not have a third, off-speed offering. However, two elite pitches and fringe control are good enough to give him the floor of a shutdown reliever. The Pirates and their pitching development are good enough to sharpen up his command and help him work on a third pitch. Pipeline ranks Wiggins as their 84th best draft prospect, while Baseball America ranks him #123.

Main Image Credit: Sarah Warnock/Special to Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images