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Is Pirates Rebuild Beginning Transition into Relevancy?

In a trade deadline tradition, the Pittsburgh Pirates sold this past Tuesday. Those words get uttered every year, the day of the week just changes year-to-year. However, those days could soon be coming to an end as they have built up a talented prospect system and are starting to see the fruits of losing coming to life. It seems the Pirates rebuild might just be nearing its ugly end.

Baseball America is touting the Pirates’ system as the best in baseball. They drafted pitcher Paul Skenes in July and added a handful of prospects in the past week with their trades. They’ve already seen Henry Davis, Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, and Endy Rodriguez make their MLB debuts. All four likely are cemented as MLB players now that the deadline is passed and there is ample playing time for each.

Nick Gonzlales unfortunately just got demoted to Triple-A but he is certainly not to be given up on just yet. Termarr Johnson, the Pirates’ 2022 first-rounder, just got bumped up to High-A ball. Lonnie White Jr., another higher-end Pirates prospect, also just got bumped up a level. Jackson Wolf, a 6’7″ lefty the Pirates acquired from the Padres, will start in Double-A but just recently made his MLB-debut for San Diego.

Pirates Rebuild in Later Stages

How are MLB Prospects Faring?

Of the five top-ten prospects who have debuted this season for Pittsburgh, Davis has been the most consistent at the plate. His averaged has slipped a bit to .227 but he is getting on base at a .329 clip so that is encouraging. His play in right field has been spotty but his catcher background shows through with his cannon of an arm. With Austin Hedges mercifully gone, he may even transition back to catching a bit more.

Speaking of catchers, Rodriguez is now receiving the lion-share of the playing time behind the dish. His defense isn’t other-worldly. However, the 23-year old is improving by the day. His offense hasn’t come around fully but he has certainly shown flashes of what he can do on that side of the ball. Despite his lackluster .255 on-base percentage, Rodriguez is slugging .409 through 15 games.

Peguero is riding a mini-hot streak. His .821 OPS through 12 games certainly would play over a full season. He has three home runs already and plays a smooth middle-infield. With no true staple at second base currently, it’s very possible Peguero stays in MLB and finishes the season as the second baseman if Oneil Cruz returns.

The 22-year old starter Priester currently sports a 9.19 ERA through 15 1/3 innings pitched. That certainly is a ballooned number and could cause concern. He’s walking north of six batters-per-nine-innings, a number that hopefully comes down as the innings pitched rise. As a sinker ball pitcher, Priester will be best keeping pitches on the ground. He’s shown an ability to get batters out the first time through the order. After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to how much he gets hit around.

What Prospects Could Arrive Between Now and End of 2024?

Outside of Skenes, right-hander Jared Jones is the highest rated pitcher in the Pirates’ system. He got promoted to Triple-A a few months ago after posting a 2.23 ERA in 10 Double-A starts. Jones hasn’t been awful in Triple-A but does have a 4.72 ERA across six starts at that level. With tons of uncertainty about other pitchers in the Pirates organization, Jones certainly could see a cup of coffee in MLB this season. Another pitcher, Mike Burrows, was making a nice rise through the system but needed elbow surgery this season.

Dariel Lopez, a third baseman in Triple-A, is a power bat that ranks as the teams’ 17th prospect on MLB’s official website. He’s a power bat that could reasonably transition to first base with the hot corner occupied by Ke’Bryan Hayes. Lopez plays a good defense and has the potential to see major league time between now and 2024’s end. He is out for the season after dislocating his knee in spring training.  was a 2018-19′ international signing for $400,000, something that could prove to be a big bargain for Pittsburgh if he heals correctly.

Anthony Solometo, a 6’5″ left-hander, just got promoted to Double-A. Solometo is a member of the Pirates’ 2021 draft class. He is 20 years old so he might still be a bit away from the majors yet. However, he’s got a combined 2.73 ERA in 19 starts between two levels of the minors. There is a chance he could see MLB-time in late 2024 or early 2025 if the Pirates decide to push him.

How close are the Pirates?

It feels like things might finally be coming together in the Steel City. 2023 is a lost season. 2024 could arguably see the Pirates grow towards being good again. They’ll have seen their prospects take their lumps this season to hopefully be ready to grow in 2024. Another wave will join them in 2024 and hopefully some sort of financial commitment will be made to someone in free agency to be a veteran leader on the team that isn’t just a 30+ year-old on a one-year deal. We all know that is a universal sign for “deadline trade bait”.

All-in-all, the Pirates might be trending towards relevancy again. Bright things might be ahead for this team if this large group of prospects can hit. Inevitably, some of them will be traded for pieces if the Pirates can actually transition into deadline buyers down the road. They just have so many prospects and only 26 men can be active for game days. This isn’t a bad problem for the Pirates, or any team, to have.

 

Photo Credit- Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Players Mentioned- Paul Skenes, Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis, Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, Termarr Johnson, Lonnie White, Jackson Wolf, Austin Hedges, Oneil Cruz, Jared Jones, Mike Burrows, Dariel Lopez, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Anthony Solometo

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