The husky Nunez swings really hard and generates big peak exit velocities. The top 38 spots on the list are all 55 FV or higher. Yean, 21, was once a 40+ FV prospect in Washingtons system. He fills out the bottom half of the zone with his slider, itself an impressive bat-misser, thanks again to Dombkowskis command. All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. Instead, Lopez picked up some reps in the Dominican Winter League, just a few games against the most advanced competition he has yet seen, and is poised to spend 2023 as a 21-year-old at Altoona. His defensive versatility will allow the Pirates to play in-game matchups that take advantage of Baes speed and ability to put balls in play. Flowers velocity has never really popped in a big way despite some of the late projection because of his conversion. A much deeper overview can be found here. Cederlind, 27, spent 2022 recovering from Tommy John, and he had renewed soreness during his rehab, which is part of why he missed the whole year. He hit his stride in mid-August with back-to-back scoreless starts in which his four-seamer averaged over 96 across a combined nine innings a high water mark for the season and a true glimpse of his upside. The depth-focused style of their rebuild in which the Pirates often got many mid-tier prospects back in trade rather than just one key piece has had some profound positive impacts on this system (its arguably why they have Cruz, Endy Rodriguez, Contreras, and four of their 40+ FV prospects or better on this years list) even as many of the pro departments targets have started to fizzle out at the upper levels. He clearly wasnt comfortable in center field during his brief time there last season, but he only played there once every couple of weeks and he isnt a firm no at the position, even if he is bad there right now. His player page shows him above average in UZR/150, OAA and RAA (although only 1 in each of the latter two). ago They do not like solemeto or Gonzalez. Back with former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom in Arizona . He re-emerged in 2022 as a 24-year-old at Triple-A, and had an offensive season commensurate with that of an extra outfield prospect, a lefty stick with more raw power than hed hit for in games, but enough bat to play a bench role provided hes capable of playing center field. Its a pretty big lost year of reps for a multi-sport player looking to get traction with the bat in pro ball. Updated Top 30 Pirates Prospects List from MLB Pipeline Drafted as a shortstop, he fell down the defensive spectrum pretty quickly but without finding a way to lift the ball and hit for power in games. His quality of contact is very good when he does make it, and is already on par with the typical starting major league second baseman even though hes barely 22. Acquired in a. The barrel-chested Smith-Njigba has huge strength-driven power and a patient approach that borders on passive. The Pirates are going to develop him at many different positions with the hope that he can provide a late-game upgrade at a couple different spots (hes already very good at third base), serve as righty power off the bench, and work in middle relief. Cy Nielson, LHP Top 35 Prospects: Pittsburgh Pirates by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel November 26, 2018 Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnson was a well-regarded prospect basically as soon as he reached high school, and there were scouts who were so excited when they first watched him hit that they considered him a future top 5-10 pick when he was only a freshman. As you can probably imagine of a Division-I football commit, White is already very physical, buff to the point where he looked a little bit stiff during his pre-draft summer. Could Solometo eventually throw harder? On defense, Rodriguezs size is both a feature and a bug. Podcasts: . Injured Arms Be warned that he may hit for huge power at Greensboro in 2023, but the key thing to watch is his strikeout rate. Its going to be fascinating to watch him develop, and if it doesnt work, hell probably still be a viable reliever. Tony Sanchez / C 6. His 2022 performance deserves some age-related adjustment, but its possible we saw flaws in Pegueros game exposed by upper-level pitching. A fresh start with a new org (he was a waiver claim this offseason) might help him find a swing that produces more power. Chen is a very advanced righty with a deep repertoire led by his plus changeup. In most cases, corner-only outfielders who play consistent big league roles have better actualized their raw power in games. Andrew McCutchen / OF 3. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as our own observations. Drew Maggi looks to make Majors with Pirates - mlb.com His finishing pitch, though, is his slider, a nasty upper-80s sweeper that generated a 50% whiff rate and 38% chase rate in 2022. His breaking ball has inconsistent length and he has a relief-only mechanical look, but hes throwing quite hard. Hunter Stratton, RHP Hes still the contact-first, chop-and-spray hitter hes always been, an approach to hitting enabled and bolstered by his speed, which allows him to beat out infield singles. He has a career .387 OBP but hasnt been able to actualize his plus raw power in games, driving the ball into the ground at a whopping 66% clip in 2021 and a 54% rate in 2022. If this were a high school draft prospect, you would already know his name based purely on how explosive De Los Santos is in the batters box. 4/5 starter. March 3, 2023. Burrows had success as a starter throughout a 2022 season split between Double- and Triple-A before shoulder inflammation effectively ended his season. Every once in a while he will show you the power, and hes very good at hitting pitches out away from him to the opposite field with authority, but you can get him out if you can execute location against Gonzales, and big league pitchers often do. In 2022, it garnered just 8% whiffs and 13% chase during his time at Double-A, where he spent most of the season. Here's a link to the Top 25.. Link to the Top 50.. Link to the Top 75.. Even if sliders are a chronic issue for Davis, hell likely still get to enough power to produce better than the average everyday catcher. He has a wide arsenal, including a changeup and a two-seamer, but tends to rely more heavily on pairing his riding fastball and curveball to keep hitters off balance. The clubs hit rate on these trades per prospect isnt great, but the hit rate per trade has been better than that because of their risk-mitigating approach. Anthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. window.FGWebsite_head_section.buildProspectsListControls(); In cases like these, sometimes the things that initially pique your interest, like data and/or available video, are enough to excite on their own even as you acknowledge that the error bars are as wide as can be because of the relative dearth of reinforcing club opinions. Still right on the cusp of graduating from prospect eligibility, Kranick made four appearances in the minors to start the 2022 season before being called up to the major league bullpen. It had exploded even further when he was seen following the pandemic shutdown, as he sat 95-97 mph and was touching 101 during the 2021 regular season. He spent more of his big league time in the outfield than at his native second base. His delivery evokes Madison Bumgarners long, slingin lefty arm stroke, and Solometos east/west feel for location is Bum-ish, but dont mistake this for a true comp, as Bumgarner had already made 24 big league starts at Solometos age. Hes been able to maintain nearly average contact rates despite a pull-heavy approach to contact. He had all the markers of a major league-ready Top 100 prospect prior to the injury, largely due to the progression of his changeup and its usage. Uribe, 20, is a projectable lefty with a 92-93 mph fastball and high-spin breaking ball. Chandlers pitching performance wasnt as lights-out as it had been pre-promotion, but it was still a display of the rightys potential. Unlike the other lists released yesterday, Fangraphs has not posted their top 100 prospects list yet, so we didn't already have some idea of the top of their list. He walked more than a batter per inning in 2022. Chen was the 22nd-ranked player on the 2019 International Player section of The Board and was generally seen as the best signable high school prospect in Taiwan. Thats the situation were projecting here. But when a potentially significant DSL prospect plays for a rebuilding team, it can be difficult to find other clubs that have pro scouting reports on them. From a heuristics standpoint, you cant do much better than Rodriguezs profile. Their top ten, in. Hes on the 40-man roster and will likely get a chance to sink or swim on the big league roster in 2023. White was seen early and often as an underclassman since he went to a Philadelphia high school with University of Virginia outfielder Chris Newell, and would frequently match up against the Siani brothers during varsity play. That creates backspin and carry on his fastball and big depth on his curve. FanGraphs released their top 100 prospect rankings on Wednesday. But Jones athleticism and physical strength drove confidence that he could maintain plus fastball velocity across a starters workload in pro ball (which so far has been true), and his natural breaking ball bite gave him at least one likely plus pitch to go with it. The powerfully built Kelly, 19, is a squat but loose righty who sits 93-95 mph and throws quality strikes with his fastball. Scott, Siani, and Campana all have big physical tools and have all struggled badly from a bat-to-ball standpoint. Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports. Drafted 91st overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 out of a Huntington Beach junior college, the 20-year-old southpaw not only finished last season in Double-A, he dominated at all three levels where he saw action. Priesters four-seamer is divisive. Its bat-missing capabilities are limited to the bottom arm-side portion of the zone, where this two-seam-ish fastball tends to finish. Endy had an incredible 2022 statline .323/.407/.590 most of which was generated at hitter-friendly Greensboro. Hes been up to 100 mph, sits 96, and has solid glove-side command of a mid-80s slider. Fangraphs Reveals Their Updated Top Pirates Prospects List His low, short-armed slot is like a righty version of Reiver Sanmartins delivery. A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. Despite all of that, Priester took a hit in a lot of the national prospect outlets, dropping off quite a few Top 100 lists. Kennedys delivery is simple, compact, repeatable, and easy-looking, and you can project heavily on his changeup because of this, though right now he often gets underneath it and it tends to cut on him. The power might be enough to make him a 1-WAR player if given regular at-bats in the big leagues, but as a second base-only defender, its hard to find an on-roster role for a player like this if they arent hitting enough to play there all the time. Triolos swing and footwork in the box make him vulnerable in a couple of obvious ways (high heat, sliders away), and we dont think the 60-grade hit, 45-grade power profile that he has put on paper so far will hold quite that much water against big league arms. Davis skills and offensive style are tailored like those of Evan Gattis. Head, who was part of the Joe Musgrove trade, has Kd at a 33% clip in A-ball and might also be in the midst of a swing change that gets rid of his arm bar. RotoGraphs. His overall pitch recognition, especially against breaking balls, has become a more noticeable issue. by Handedness, 25th on the Pirates list at the end of 2022, Effectively Wild Episode 1966: Joe West, Young Man, Ben Cherington on Pittsburghs Two Top Prospects. Even though both Davis and Rodriguez are near-ready catching prospects, they arent redundant, and in fact they complement each other well. He showed a tendency to expand the zone and make some sub-optimal contact as an amateur and in his 2022 pro sample, but there are times when Johnson does this and rather than frustrate scouts and analysts, he impresses them with his ability to identify and adjust to breaking balls, his barrel feel, and his hand-eye coordination. That makes changeup development, or anything that might help him deal with righties, important, and indeed thats already underway Solometo has begun to more heavily incorporate a mid-80s changeup into his pitch mix. For now, hes lithe enough for third, where he has a shot to be an everyday player based largely on his power projection. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every teams list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. Spending all season at Triple-A, he put up decent numbers, striking out roughly a quarter of opposing batters and allowing just four homers all season. Traded from Miami during the 2021-22 offseason as part of the three-player package for Jacob Stallings, Nicolas spent 2022 with Altoona, where he worked 90 innings with a FIP and ERA close to 4.00. The reason why he graded out so positively was due to his arm, gunning down runners like crazy, which was fantastic, and his tool grade for his armwas a 40. We. Aspects of the offensive profile that made him exciting in the first place are still here, led by Pegueros compact but authoritative swing, which is especially good at punishing pitches at the very top of the strike zone. Sunday Notes: Born To Brits, Harry Ford Could Be - blogs.fangraphs.com . Averaging Out the Top Prospect Rankings - Pirates Prospects Unfortunately, he then lost the 2020 season to the pandemic and most of 2021 to a shoulder injury he sustained just 12 games into the season. His letter-high, heater-heavy style of pitching, like Gerrit Coles, results in lots of fly balls and he may have long-term vulnerability to the home run. His changeup is deceptive against batters in both boxes, but in particular against righties, who have a 40% chase rate on the offering. Pittsburgh Pirates: FanGraphs Add 2021 Draft Picks to Prospect Board Thomas 2022 was a tale of two seasons. Pittsburgh Pirates Stats | FanGraphs Baseball This was a four-year rookie-level player who had suddenly been added to the Royals 40-man roster after the 2021 season even though he had all of 32 innings above Low-A. They all received. Because theyre about the same age as high school draft prospects, apples-to-apples projection and tools comparisons are feasible, which then allows you to triangulate where theyd be selected in a draft based on those comparisons and get a sense of how to FV them. D-backs Dodgers Giants Padres Rockies: Offseason Tools. Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates. feels like the more realistic path to an eventual 45-grade role, or above. His fastball velo is up a tick since 2021, now comfortably sitting in the 95-96 mph range and routinely touching 98. Sammy Siani, LF. Instead, Triolo looks like hell be a superutility guy. Juan Jerez, 3B Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb. From that point on, however, Triolo walked more and struck out less, such that both rates sat in the mid-teens, while flipping the slugging switch on to the tune of 13 doubles, five triples, and eight home runs over the course of the same number of games. Spotty command and limited fastball utility push Mlodzinski into a multi-inning relief role. His arm action is very long, and he bends at his torso as he lunges toward the plate, allowing for more extension during his release, but also creating an uncomfy angle that adds stress to his shoulder. He spent two years at a JUCO before heading to South Alabama in 2020, and he only pitched 21 total innings for the Jaguars due to the timing of his transfer. A proactive bullpen move could put him in position to debut in 2024. Pegueros pull-heavy style of contact leaves him vulnerable to breaking balls on the outer half, even ones that catch a lot of the plate. Even with that in mind, any team would be happy to sign a teenager with this kind of stuff for just $750,000 of their bonus pool. Hes still on a path toward a glove-reliant bench role but is closer to having meaningful pop than he was last year. Top 42 Prospects: Pittsburgh Pirates | FanGraphs Baseball The FanGraphs prospect team presents their 2022 top 100 list . Pittsburgh to add him to their 40-man roster after the season, indicating that hell be a big league relief option in 2023. He would slot among Priester and Ortiz on this list had he completed a totally healthy 2022.