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. Meanwhile, Chandlers post-promotion production at the plate plummeted to a sub-.200 batting average and an OPS of just .574, thanks largely to a strikeout rate just barely south of 40%; he launched just a single dinger in his 32 Low-A games compared to three in his 14 games on the complex. 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. Webb dealt with a forearm strain that delayed the start of his 2022 season. He then played for Taiwans National Team at the WBSC U23 World Cup and helped los Caimanes de Barranquilla win the Colombian Winter League and later the Caribbean Series. Top 51 Prospects: Pittsburgh Pirates by Eric Longenhagen February 24, 2021 Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 2023 Updated In-Season Projections 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. He spent much of the season leading off for Altoona, where he slashed .282/.376/.419 and stole 24 stolen bases. Counter to our past reports, his swing is rather stiff and some of Lopezs length makes him vulnerable to pitches in on his hands. Carter Bins, C Hes been able to maintain nearly average contact rates despite a pull-heavy approach to contact. But the improvement on his slider means he could solidify a role as a middle reliever, especially if the converted infielder is able to re-establish the fastball velos he flirted with a few years ago. Theyve tripled since his claim-staking 2019 DSL season and Nolsaco Kd at a whopping 34% rate in the 2022 Florida State League. 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. His chase rates were at or below league average across the board, further emphasizing the troubling command. 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. He has the talent to be an everyday player, but has to improve in one or two key areas (throwing accuracy, slider recognition) for that to be his outcome. DSL data is noisy, in part because pitchers there dont yet throw enough strikes or with much velocity compared to more advanced levels of the minors. His finishing pitch, though, is his slider, a nasty upper-80s sweeper that generated a 50% whiff rate and 38% chase rate in 2022. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he . FanGraphs released their top 100 prospect rankings on Wednesday. For instance, hes struggled badly on defense, wracking up 46 errors combined the last two seasons. He has become meaningfully stronger over the last year and has more of a balanced, low-ball swing now, as opposed to the slash-and-dash style of contact in his pro debut. Injured Arms Its not a great look to lose half a minor league rosters worth of players in the Rule 5, but that whole group might produce one or two big league role players, which is a small price to pay if theyre byprospects of a bigger group from which the Pirates can pick and choose before exposing the rest to that arcane process. Endy had an incredible 2022 statline .323/.407/.590 most of which was generated at hitter-friendly Greensboro. 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. That makes it seem all but inevitable that Chandler will eventually ditch the bat to optimize his development on the mound. Its bat-missing capabilities are limited to the bottom arm-side portion of the zone, where this two-seam-ish fastball tends to finish. as compiled by Ben Clemens and the FanGraphs staff. Thats the situation were projecting here. M.J. Melendezs 2019 and Bo Naylors 2020 are recent examples of otherwise good-hitting catchers who had a terrible offensive season in the mid-minors that was followed by an immediate and significant rebound the following year. Pittsburgh Pirates Top 43 Prospects by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin February 9, 2023 Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports Top Prospects Team Lists 2023 2022 AL NL Below is an analysis. These rankings are now available on The Board on the 2023 Fantasy Rankings tab, where you can also see the Top 120 Dynasty Rankings!. Format = Team Position Player | Age on 4/1/23 | Highest level played | ETA. Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Top 50 Prospects January 1, 2021 Kyle Brown General, MiLB, NL Central, Pirates, Top 50 Lists 2 Graphic design by John Stewart, @jonance on Twitter The Pirates had a woeful time in 2020 once the season got going. There were some signs of offensive progress in 2022. Top 42 Prospects: Pittsburgh Pirates by Eric Longenhagen February 28, 2020 Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not Quite Enough Hit Tool Theres still some prospect clout here because of Nolascos power and long-haul physicality, but at this stage, he should be considered more of power-driven flier than a likely big leaguer. Scouting reports were. He did not hit well after the injury, but thats typical of hitters coming off a wrist fracture, and a second IL stint due to the wrist was an indication that it was bothering Davis throughout the year. His slider lacks nasty, biting movement, but his arm slot makes it tough on lefty hitters, and his command of it gives it back-foot utility against righties. Jerez has above-average power and a 70 arm. The Royals designated Webb for assignment in mid-November and he elected free agency before signing with the Pirates. His fastball velo is up a tick since 2021, now comfortably sitting in the 95-96 mph range and routinely touching 98. RotoGraphs. How impactful a starter may depend on how his changeup, currently a tertiary offering, develops at the big league level. It could stand to have more consistent depth, but the flashes are there, and remember that Kennedy is barely 18. This level of athleticism might be an indication that Rodriguez will find a way to mature into more raw power despite not having a traditionally projectable frame. Any Top 100 prospects, regardless of their ETA, are also included on this list. His mother spent her childhood in London, while his father "a real Brit; he still has an . Burrows had success as a starter throughout a 2022 season split between Double- and Triple-A before shoulder inflammation effectively ended his season. A proactive bullpen move could put him in position to debut in 2024. Scouting. Even though hes so young, youre not really projecting on his frame in a positive way so much as it feels possible Kennedy could have impact command at maturity, because his delivery is so effortless and the quality of his fastball strikes so advanced. Even if sliders are a chronic issue for Davis, hell likely still get to enough power to produce better than the average everyday catcher. Top Prospects. 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. The high-waisted Lopez has a wide range of athletic/mobility outcomes that will impact where he ultimately ends up on defense. Flowers velocity has never really popped in a big way despite some of the late projection because of his conversion. The 11-15 group consists of Jared Jones, Ji-hwan Bae, Anthony Solometo, Kyle Nicolas and Jared Triolo. 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. Robert_roberts82 1 min. None of his other pitches are above average in fact most of them are currently below average but Chen has plus command projection and a plus changeup, so hes pretty likely to pitch at the back of a big league rotation or as an innings-eating spot starter. He can play a fine shortstop. 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. 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. LSU played . 2 prospect to Minors camp after injury February 24, 2023 Bucs invite top prospects Davis, Johnson, Priester to camp February 2, 2023 Shim realizes first part of dream as prospect signs with Bucs January 26, 2023 His breaking ball is his best pitch and he could be a lefty relief piece. Priesters four-seamer is divisive. 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). 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. He spent more of his big league time in the outfield than at his native second base. Theres an All-Star-caliber hit and power combination here, and while a bigger pro data sample might reveal some approach-related issues, Johnson has been one of the best hitters his age for going on a half decade and feels like a relatively high-probability high school hitting prospect. 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. He projects as a quick-moving no. Hudson Head, CF 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. Jimenez has a very good sweeping, upper-70s curveball and creates plus action on a changeup that he sells with fantastic arm speed. Massey, going on 23, is a very loose, projectable college prospect from Minnesota. He can already land his breaker in the zone and its angle should help it become a viable back-foot offering to righties. He stayed healthy throughout 2022, throwing 70.1 innings, and was more effective out of the bullpen than in his late-season starts. In some ways, this makes aspects of De Los Santos data even more impressive, because hes turning around soft DSL pitching with ridiculous pace. He finished 2022 at Altoona and has a chance to be in the big leagues at some point this season. Bins is athletic for a catcher and has a good arm, but his receiving and contact skills are both 30s. His command and changeup are both still works in progress, but his 2022 fastball strike% (68%) is an encouraging sign, and again, Jones has a special level of athleticism that should enable him to hone both over time. Before he was drafted he was considered, at least at FanGraphs, a more likely reliever due to the quality of his stuff. His fastball remains in the mid-90s but continues to underperform in terms of its bat-missing ability due to its hittable line. 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. Vilade spent some time near the top of the Rockies list due to his feel for contact. (One weird scouting note: Peguero chokes up with two strikes, but only with his top hand, creating separation between his two hands la Kevin Youkilis.) Barring a velo bump or another significant alteration to some of the more concerning elements of his profile, he looks like a single-inning up/down reliever. in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. Nicolas has consistent glove-side command of his entire repertoire, and he tends to live on that half of the plate exclusively. FanGraphs Prospects. Sammy Siani, LF. 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. An extreme groundball pitcher in a small sample, he allowed just two home runs in 35.2 innings of work in 2022. After the season, he again played winter ball, this time in Puerto Rico with Carolina, where Cheng struggled. Besides Johnson and Harrington, two other 2022 draft picks made the top 30. A second base-only defensive fit puts the onus on Pegueros bat to perform at an everyday level. Cy Nielson, LHP His on-mound athleticism enables plus long-term command projection, though for right now Harrington really only locates his fastball to his arm side. His low, short-armed slot is like a righty version of Reiver Sanmartins delivery. Hes an arm strength reclamation project with a shot to pitch in Pittsburghs bullpen. Opinions around Shim vary because he offers less physical projection than is typical in the international talent space, even for an older pitcher. He went 2-for-4 with two singles, two runs and an RBI on Friday night against Kansas State. Prospects Coverage | FanGraphs Baseball In addition to sending Bradley back to Boston, the Milwaukee Brewers are also sending two of their top-30 prospects. Rodriguezs arm is comfortably plus. 2018 Brewers batting, pitching, and fielding traditional and advanced stats. Hes still on a path toward a glove-reliant bench role but is closer to having meaningful pop than he was last year. 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. So the question is, was there actual improvement in his ability or is this just noise in the signal? Andres Silvera, RHP. Johnson often ends his swing with his torso having made a full 180 degree rotation, sometimes swinging with such ferocious bat speed that he loses his balance and faceplants in the batters box. A 2022 eighth rounder, Nielsens velocity has been up and down depending on when hes been seen, peaking at 94 in 2022 but at 96 in years prior. Triolo earned industry praise for his defensive aptitude and high marks for his baseball IQ and instincts. The powerfully built Kelly, 19, is a squat but loose righty who sits 93-95 mph and throws quality strikes with his fastball. A draft-eligible sophomore in 2022, Harrington is an athletic, pitchability righty with a tailing low-90s fastball and a power-sink changeup in the mid-80s. Be warned that he may hit for huge power at Greensboro in 2023, but the key thing to watch is his strikeout rate. He still has a pretty exciting hit/power combination for a player his age, showing a proclivity for big contact to dead center and the opposite-field gap, the latter in part due to his length, which causes him to be late. He has a short arm action, which aids in his command, though refining his location will likely be the order of the day upon his return from injury as he continues to work out of the Pirates pen. Moreover, he has one of the more unusual profiles in professional baseball. Hayden Wesneski is a 25-year-old starting pitcher in the Chicago Cubs system. His swing may look different in 2023 and prompt a re-evaluation. Pro teams are more open to east/west fastball operation and the Pirates might be able to coax more sweep out of Harringtons slider, though Campbell does a pretty good job developing pitchers, so there may be less developmental meat on the bone here than youd guess considering hes coming from a smaller program. 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. It felt like the Pirates were slow-playing him a little too much after the pandemic (Nolasco was easily physical enough to go to Low-A in 2021), but perhaps they simply knew he wasnt ready to parse full-season pitching. Its possible Flowers strike-throwing consistency will make a big league manager feel secure going to him with consistency in the middle innings, but on stuff he projects more as a near-ready up/down reliever. 2023 Opening Day Tracker. RotoGraphs. Hes different from Kieboom (lever length) and Kiura (simpler footwork) in meaningful ways, but that entire group (and Downs) has had issues with letter-high fastballs, which Gonzales often swings underneath. Reports, tool grades, . Hes been up to 100 mph, sits 96, and has solid glove-side command of a mid-80s slider. Whats more, theres a chance Triolo hits enough to simply be an everyday option at second (or if he turns out to be okay in center). Clubs like the Pirates arent making buyers trades, so they have little to no incentive to move a potentially great young player, which in turn means teams have little incentive to scout said player. 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. 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. That pitch plays up against lefties for reasons that are probably obvious, but it isnt a nasty pitch in a vacuum. The 2021 edition of this list featured some carping about Eric Longenhagen ranking Gabriel Moreno in the 100, because he was the exact kind of player who might not have been highly regarded in earlier eras of public prospect evaluation but who had all the markers of future success. Theyre finding them. The Pirates snagged him in Decembers Rule 5 draft, making him only the second lefty reliever on their 40-man, so hell likely be called upon for consistent use out of the big league pen in 2023. 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. 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. Hes on the 40-man roster and will likely get a chance to sink or swim on the big league roster in 2023. 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. For the second straight year, he allowed a high rate of home runs, which inflated his ERA. Even though both Davis and Rodriguez are near-ready catching prospects, they arent redundant, and in fact they complement each other well. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Stratton, 26, sat 94-96 mph in 2022 and has a plus-flashing slider that he rarely throws for strikes. His acrobatics and creativity at third base make him a plus defender there. Mason Martin, 1B Sergio Campana, CF The Pirates have three of those 38 players, with Termarr Johnson ranked 21st, Endy Rodriguez 22nd and Henry Davis 38th. 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. }); Grouped by type and listed in order of preference within each category. His swing decisions and ability to make contact out front and tap into his latent power improved throughout the season. If he moves to first base, this will become especially scary. Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Mitch Keller, Travis Swaggerty, Tahnaj Thomas and. He fills out the bottom half of the zone with his slider, itself an impressive bat-misser, thanks again to Dombkowskis command. This FV grade is commensurate with a mid-first round high school infield prospect. His fastball velocity is down, in the 92-94 mph range, a far cry from Priesters upper-90s peak. It shows above-average arm-side action on occasion, but hes only throwing it 12% of the time. If you want to read me wax poetic about that you can check out my end of year review. Triolo has long been viewed as a glove-first third baseman whod likely have some big league utility, similar to D-backs third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. Alessandro Ercolani, RHP There isnt suddenly big power here or anything like that, but its the start of a physical step that was likely necessary for Cheng to take to play major league ball. Maggi is, by definition, a Major Leaguer. 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. In his time at Bradenton, Chandler struck out 33 batters over 26 innings, and while his walk rate was an unacceptably high 15.8%, thats actually down a notch from what he was allowing over a larger sample on the complex. A two-way high school player, Jones was clearly a superior prospect as a pitcher, as he was one of the most electric on-mound athletes to roll through the high school ranks over the last decade. He has the stuff to continue developing as a starter just in case things click, but the bullpen is Jimenezs more likely future destination. 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 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. Its unlikely hell make enough of an offensive impact to be a primary catcher, but hes very likely to spend time on big league 40-man rosters as a second or third catcher. While prospect list ultimately isn't what makes a player great, it is . As the Pirates improve and fall into the middle of the draft order, opportunities to do this might dwindle since they cant create a big pool space surplus as easily, but their steady stream of competitive balance picks should give them at least some opportunity to explore creativity in the draft room just about every year. He appears tentative on routine throws and still isnt a sure-handed defender. He is a 6-foot-5 20-year-old, after all. Jackson Glenn, 2B. All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. His multi-tasking fastball plays at the letters due to angle and also gets a groundball when located down, but at just 91-94 mph, its still a below-average pitch. Whether his ability to go get it in center field bounces back is the X-factor that will determine his ability to play a long-term big league role. 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. Diego Cartaya (37) - Catcher Cartaya is listed a little higher in The. 4/5 on a contender. Antwone Kelly, RHP The average draft position (ADP) included is from Draft Champions leagues from January 19 to February 19 at the NFBC, which you can find here.These leagues draft 50 players and that's all they get for the year no pickups or drops. Those games were taking place amid weight-lifting and practice for the coming football season and then during the season itself, so Whites balance of strength and flexibility might change as he trains just for baseball. Isaias Uribe, LHP Hes a fun one cause he had 20 grade defense apparently but scored positive defensively and 30 grade speed but ran nearly 29 feet/second. The top of this draft class right now is LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, who had a big weekend. Thats something to watch as Jones continues to progress through the minors. He absolutely towers over his father, who was twice a Baseball America Top 100 prospect but spent most of his pro career in Japan. 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.