Leading up to the draft, the Pirates sent Dewey Robinson down to Louisiana State University so he could meet with Paul Skenes. Robinson has four decades of pro baseball experience to fall back on, and after a long run as the Rays' pitching guru, he joined the Pirates ahead of the 2022 season for meetings like this. He's here to help oversee the team's pitching.
And if the Pirates took this fireballer who had become a social media sensation, well, the most eyes are going to be on him.
The general rule of thumb is if you have a choice between a pitcher and a hitter with a top pick, you tend to go with the hitter because there's generally less injury risk.