Pirates Sign Six Draft Picks, Murf Gray Homers After Promotion
The Pirates signed six picks from the 2026 MLB Draft, and were busy shuffling minor league rosters on Friday.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were busy making transactions on Friday, getting prepared for the second half of the MLB and minor league seasons.
Those moves included the signing of six picks from the 2026 MLB Draft, two significant prospect promotions, and other roster shuffling that included a few key rehab assignments.
Check out all of the details below, and follow all of the daily moves on the Pirates Prospects Transaction tracker.
Pirates Sign Six Picks
The Pirates announced their first draft signings from the 2026 class, reaching deals with their 5th through 10th round picks.
Bonus information isn’t available as of this writing. However, the Pirates will have a good idea of where they stand with the day one picks in rounds 1-4.
Today’s signings are all pitchers, with the exception of ninth rounder Tre Phelps, who is a third baseman from Georgia. Links to the player pages of each signing can be found below.
All six players were assigned to the FCL Pirates.
The Draft Pick Signing Tracker is updated with the moves, and will be updated when the bonuses are available.
You can read about all of these players in my recap from rounds 5-10 from day two of the MLB draft.
Pirates Go Pitching Heavy to Start Day Two of the 2026 MLB Draft
The 2026 MLB Draft resumed on Sunday afternoon, with the Pittsburgh Pirates going pitching-heavy at the start of day two.
New Additions to the System
The Pirates made a few minor league additions this week, with two moves boosting their upper level outfield depth.
The first addition was Robert Hassell III, who had recently been outrighted off the 40-man roster by the Washington Nationals. The Pirates traded cash to the National to get Hassell, who doesn’t require a 40-man spot.
Drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft, one pick after Nick Gonzales, Hassell received 206 plate appearances in the big leagues last year. He hit .223/.257/.315 with three homers and four stolen bases. This year he was hitting .215/.304/.289 with two homers in Triple-A across 258 plate appearances.
I don’t view Hassell as depth for the Pirates this year. Instead, he looks like a 24-year-old reclamation project, who could possibly benefit from a change in scenery. It was only a year ago that he hit .310/.383/.456 with 10 homers and 16 steals in 330 plate appearances in Triple-A.
The Pirates also brought back right fielder Dominic Fletcher, who they had released earlier this month after he opted out of his original deal. Fletcher does look like a potential depth option, after being one of the better hitters for Indianapolis this season. He’s spent parts of the previous three seasons in the big leagues.
In 162 plate appearances, Fletcher has a .288/.379/.511 line with eight homers. He’s got some of the best plate patience on the team, with a 13.6% strikeout rate and an 11.1% walk rate. He also grades well from a fielding standpoint with seven outfield assists on the season.
The final addition was the signing of Braydon Risley, a left-handed pitcher taken in the 19th round by the Giants last season. Risley signed for $100,000 last year, and was pitching in Low-A this season as a starter. He had a 4.80 ERA in 60 innings, with a 24.8% strikeout rate and a 6.6% walk rate.
Risley was named the Cal League Pitcher of the Month in May, putting up a 1.48 ERA in 24.1 innings. He struggled in June, and last pitched on July 3rd. It doesn’t seem like he would have been released for performance reasons this early.
The Pirates assigned Risley to the FCL.
Moving On Up
There were two big promotions to kick off the post-break action.
Duce Gourson was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. The middle infielder was hitting .227/.375/.357 for Altoona, with seven home runs and 29 stolen bases. He’s one of the best in the system at getting on base and stealing bases. His career OBP is .371 and he has 64 steals in 196 games.
Murf Gray was promoted to Double-A Altoona, which was a highly anticipated move. Gray was hitting .328/.405/.608 between both levels of A-ball, with a system-leading 23 home runs in 363 plate appearances. He hit 15 home runs for Greensboro, showing power both in the hitter-friendly home park and on the road.
Gray made his debut for Altoona on Friday night, and hit his first homer at the new level, extending his season total to 24. You can watch the home run in the nightly Pirates Prospects Plays of the Day video below.
Prospects On the Move
Other prospects who were on the move on Friday…
The Pirates optioned Antwone Kelly to Triple-A. Kelly was called up to the big leagues to provide bullpen depth last weekend.
Landon Tomkins was sent from Indianapolis to Altoona, likely to make room for the new additions at the Triple-A level.
Carlos Caro was sent from Indianapolis to Greensboro. He previously moved up to Triple-A to provide some emergency position player depth.
Prospects On the Mend
Three prospects had their rehab work
Mitch Jebb had his rehab moved from the FCL to Bradenton. The 2023 second rounder was hitting .375/.423/.708 in 26 plate appearances across six games with Indianapolis before his injury on April 27th.
Tony Blanco Jr. was sent to rehab in the FCL. Blanco has a .237/.319/.500 line with 12 homers for Greensboro this season. He was placed on the injured list on June 21st.
Michael Walsh was sent to rehab in Bradenton. The right-handed pitcher made two appearances with Indianapolis, after ten appearances with Altoona, before going down on June 27th. This was his second trip to the IL this season.
Until the next time the Pirates make a ridiculous amount of moves in a single day…
-Tim Williams