His finishing pitch, though, is his slider, a nasty upper-80s sweeper that generated a 50% whiff rate and 38% chase rate in 2022. Webb dealt with a forearm strain that delayed the start of his 2022 season. His fastball velo is up a tick since 2021, now comfortably sitting in the 95-96 mph range and routinely touching 98. Solometo was a very high-profile amateur pitcher, drafted in the second round but given a bonus commensurate with the 24th overall pick ($2.8 million) as one of several exciting high schoolers who Pittsburgh landed with the pool space freed up by Henry Davis under slot agreement. Roelmy Garcia, RHP Their top ten, in. The top of this draft class right now is LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, who had a big weekend. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports. Oliver Mateo, RHP From a heuristics standpoint, you cant do much better than Rodriguezs profile. His curveball was his only secondary to induce an above-average chase rate. Neither his slider nor changeup is fully baked quite yet, but if either (or both) become viable, they would bring with them a higher probability that Priester slots in as a mid-rotation starter. Hes naturally adept at framing low strikes because hes already so low to the ground, but its also fair to wonder if such a small athlete can withstand the grind of catching 80-100 games every summer. Aside from the persistent Bryan Reynolds trade rumors, the general industry sentiment is that the team is shifting from prospect collection mode and into a phase where those players start to arrive. Here are the Pirates' 2023 Top 30 prospects March 1, 2023 Pirates' Chandler going all in on pitching February 28, 2023 Pirates return No. Climbing the minor league ladder often comes with offensive slumps, many of which are cured as hitters accrue at-bats at the more advanced level. If he moves to first base, this will become especially scary. However, Priester makes up for it with his preferred secondaries a huge, arcing curveball that Priester has had forever, and a more recently developed mid-80s slider both of which have garnered swing-and-miss rates well above the big league average. Mechanically, Burrows adds additional length to his 6-foot-2 stature with an over-the-top delivery. Flowers velocity has never really popped in a big way despite some of the late projection because of his conversion. While he has a low three-quarters slot that creates natural tail on his heater, Kennedy can still create riding life at the letters. Baseball America Releases Their List of the Top 30 Pirates Prospects Looking forward to fangraphs being wrong Campman92 5 min. He has the strength to do damage the other way, but save for the occasional pitch on the outer edge, hes geared to pull. As FanGraphs sourced TrackMan/Hawkeye data from team personnel after the season, De Los Santos hard hit rate and peak exit velocities stood apart from most of his peers, especially when limiting the sample to the DSLs age-appropriate players. Samaniego looks like a typical second lefty out of a bullpen, sitting 92-94 mph with a deceptive, whippy arm action, and locating his fastball with precision on the arm-side part of the plate. 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. Fourth-round high school pitcher Owen Kellington was a participant in the 2021 Draft League and Combine, and looked like an interesting, slow-burning developmental prospect prior to a hamstring injury than ended his 2022 season. As for the top three prospects on all six lists, their average rankings: Termarr Johnson - 28.2 Endy Rodriguez - 38.5 Henry Davis - 52 John Dreker + posts John started working at Pirates. That puts pressure on his plate discipline to improve, since right now Lopez is a little too proactive at the plate and might be exposed at the upper levels. When Smith-Njigba takes a comfortable, max-effort hack, its obvious that he has big power, and his exit velo data reinforces the visual evaluation. While it may seem like a lot of time has passed since he put his name on the prospect map with his otherworldly 2018 DSL performance, Nunez is still very young; hell turn 22 during spring training, where hes a non-roster invitee. 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. Nick Gonzales - Stats - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball So the question is, was there actual improvement in his ability or is this just noise in the signal? Hes a good enough defender that hed probably being playing shortstop had he ended up at Arizona State, but in pro ball the keystone is Johnsons likeliest defensive home given his maxed-out, stocky build and what projects to be somewhat limited range. That fact isn't apparent on his Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs pages, but for about 48 hours, Maggi, who homered to break up the Yankees' shutout bid in the ninth inning of the Pirates' 9-1 split-squad loss on Thursday, enjoyed life in the Majors. He has an interesting long-term body projection and breaking ball combination. 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. He absolutely towers over his father, who was twice a Baseball America Top 100 prospect but spent most of his pro career in Japan. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021, the 25-year-old right-hander has a degree in microbiology and premedical studies from Oxford, Ohio's Miami University, and he has worked as a . Even though he was sitting 96-98 in Arizona, Webbs fastball doesnt play like an upper-90s pitch right now, and his mid-80s breaking ball quality is highly variable (lots of 30s, some 50s). Silvera, 18, is a physically mature righty who missed a ton of DSL bats even though he only sits 88-90. When an opposing pitcher releases the ball, the scoop in Johnsons bat head is pointing at the mound with his back elbow hiked way up above his shoulder in a position that seems to defy the rules of normal human physiology. He commands it consistently enough to his glove side to project as a starter. Youll occasionally see a low-90s changeup from Hernandez as well, but hes a relief prospect all the way and likely to stick in Pittsburghs bullpen despite below-average command. He stayed healthy throughout 2022, throwing 70.1 innings, and was more effective out of the bullpen than in his late-season starts. Drew Maggi looks to make Majors with Pirates - mlb.com Triolo earned industry praise for his defensive aptitude and high marks for his baseball IQ and instincts. Out over the plate, he has a tendency to stay inside fastballs and lift them toward the opposite field gap. Fangraphs Reveals Their Updated Top Pirates Prospects List 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. Cristofer Melendez, RHP Axiel Plaz, C Here hes projected as a no. He throws precise, high-quality strikes with the heater, and the pitch has enough tailing action to have stayed off of A-ball barrels. Across his 94.1 innings, he racked up 111 strikeouts against just 31 walks, with a 1.21 WHIP. 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. Nicolas has consistent glove-side command of his entire repertoire, and he tends to live on that half of the plate exclusively. The recent track record of hitters this size isnt favorable, with only Franmil Reyes really panning out, but its exciting to watch Blanco take BP and see how loose and athletic he is for his size. Poised to compete for a rotation spot when 2023 camp breaks, Ortiz is one of a few high-upside Pirates youngsters who look like theyd fit in a contenders rotation. While his walk and strikeout rates were both descent through the first half of 2022, only nine of his 57 hits through mid-June went for extra bases (eight doubles and a home run). Mason Martin, 1B Pittsburgh Pirates Top 10 Prospects Updated - FanGraphs Baseball Pathways toward a more impactful role are most likely to be carved by Harringtons command outperforming this projection. Its a shorter, less natural looking delivery than what Flowers had as an amateur, but hes been able to throw strikes with it. Ideally, Nicolas can develop an offering that has some arm-side movement, one better than his current changeup that can prevent hitters from sitting on those glove-side locations. Don't Count Quinn Priester Out Due to Low Strikeouts His low-80s slider, which has late, two-plane bite, has improved considerably and is now an above-average big league pitch. Still, his strikeouts come primarily on in-zone swing-and-miss, so its important for the strike-throwing to improve for him to capitalize on his ability to overpower hitters as he continues to advance. Besides Johnson and Harrington, two other 2022 draft picks made the top 30. Jones spent 2022, his second full pro season, at High-A Greensboro, where he sat 94-98 mph across 122.2 innings and posted a 26.7% K% and 9.6% BB%. Be warned that he may hit for huge power at Greensboro in 2023, but the key thing to watch is his strikeout rate. Jesus Castillo, SS Hes an arm strength reclamation project with a shot to pitch in Pittsburghs bullpen. But theres big arm speed here and big riding life to Shims fastball. Ortiz rocketed through the system in 2022, skipping High-A and spending most of the season with Double-A Altoona before making his big league debut across four starts in September and October. Its now fair to expect that the current version of Nicolas will be capable of holding down a spot toward the back of Pittsburghs rotation by the middle of 2024. In April and May, he posted a strikeout rate of 15.9% and a walk rate of 14.5%; from June to September, he improved those marks to 28.5% and 6.9%, respectively. He and Solometo have the same flavor of stuff wrapped in different packages. Selbys fastball sits 96-98 mph and he looks to blow it past hitters up in the zone. Readers should note that taking an aggressive line with players like this has yielded predictably mixed results in the past (so far, so good: Kevin Alcantara, Marco Luciano, Alexander Canario, Jordy Vargas, etc. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors He might end up becoming the player the industry hoped Francisco Meja would become. A fresh start with a new org (he was a waiver claim this offseason) might help him find a swing that produces more power. His breaking ball has inconsistent length and he has a relief-only mechanical look, but hes throwing quite hard. . Nolasco had two years of surface-level statistical success in rookie ball and the huge exit velos to match, but now after three pro seasons, his strikeout rates show a troubling upward trend. The effects of a pro strength and conditioning program might kick-start him down the path toward finding a more consistent release and sustaining the big velocity as a pro starter. 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. Counter to our past reports, his swing is rather stiff and some of Lopezs length makes him vulnerable to pitches in on his hands. 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. The older brother of Ohio State wide receiver phenom Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Canaan is another of the many prospects acquired from the Yankees for Jameson Taillon. Once-Loved Outfielders He barely played in 2022 due to hamstring, elbow, and hip flexor injuries that cost him all but a couple of games. Pittsburgh graduated two top-50 prospects in 2022 (Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras) and still has a top-five system, or close to it, because of the three potential stars atop the group and the many upper-level, core role-playing hitters who should arrive in the big leagues soon. Jackson Glenn, 2B. The depth charts found on the Team Pages are based on projected playing time, NOT the current status of a team's roster. He has a pronounced bat wrap. Ryan Vilade, LF The Pirates claimed him off waivers and quickly lost him to the Diamondbacks in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. 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. Vilade spent some time near the top of the Rockies list due to his feel for contact. Given their respective shapes, its easy to see how those pitches play off of one another, and they were the reason Burrows presented a traditional relief look prior to his changeups development. Jimenez has a very good sweeping, upper-70s curveball and creates plus action on a changeup that he sells with fantastic arm speed. 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. Alessandro Ercolani, RHP Hes been able to maintain nearly average contact rates despite a pull-heavy approach to contact. Pre-draft rumors pegged Kennedy as a tough sign given a strong commitment to LSU. A second base-only defensive fit puts the onus on Pegueros bat to perform at an everyday level. That makes it seem all but inevitable that Chandler will eventually ditch the bat to optimize his development on the mound. Fangraphs' Top 42 Pirates Prospects If you want to read me wax poetic about that you can check out my end of year review. Pirates Draft Prospect Watch: Big Weekend for LSU's Dylan Crews He was passed over in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft despite his stuff quality because hes so raw as a strike-thrower. Cheng entered 2022 coming off an incredible season in which he slashed .311/.449/.492 with twice as many walks as he had strikeouts. Matt Gorski, OF Solometo certainly has superficial frame-based projection, but his athleticism and explosiveness are comfortably below whats typical of someone who finds more and more velocity deep into their 20s. 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. His 2022 was not as remarkable from a walk and strikeout standpoint but it was still good, as he hit .270/.376/.418 with 38 extra-base hits (pretty good for the Florida State League) and 33 steals at Low-A Bradenton. Hes going to be a star if he ends up with even average raw power, and even if he doesnt, were talking about a switch-hitting catcher who can make an impact on both offense and defense. For instance, hes struggled badly on defense, wracking up 46 errors combined the last two seasons. Hes poised for a big league bullpen role this season and has a repertoire thats deep and nasty enough that he should be considered a late-inning option. Top 35 Prospects: Pittsburgh Pirates | FanGraphs Baseball Hayden Wesneski is a 25-year-old starting pitcher in the Chicago Cubs system. He practically straddles the plate and was hit by 20 pitches during an injury-shortened regular season, then was somehow beaned seven more times in just 17 Arizona Fall League games. Endy had an incredible 2022 statline .323/.407/.590 most of which was generated at hitter-friendly Greensboro. Could Solometo eventually throw harder? Mets Prospect Grant Hartwig Has an Unusual Background and an East-West His feel for throwing strikes would come and go, and hes only 6-feet-1, a little smaller than the prep pitching prototypes who you often see getting $2 million or more in the draft. Finding a great changeup (or maybe a split?) Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. He fills out the bottom half of the zone with his slider, itself an impressive bat-misser, thanks again to Dombkowskis command. His size creates some stiffness and imbalance during his swing, which can lead to him putting suboptimal contact in play. RotoGraphs. JP Massey, RHP

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