{"id":123518,"date":"2026-06-07T18:34:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T22:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=123518"},"modified":"2026-06-07T18:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T22:34:45","slug":"pirates-prospects-trade-chips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/07\/pirates-prospects-trade-chips\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Pirates Prospects Who Have Become Trade Chips"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to one of their best starts in quite a while. They are now 34-32, seven games out in the National League Central, but only half a game out of a wild card spot. After an aggressive winter, the Pirates need to stay on the attack when it comes to acquisitions. They are already looking out for bullpen help<\/a>. As the summer heats up, so will the trade market<\/a>, and plenty of opportunities to improve the roster will open up over the next two months. When those opportunities start to arise, this trio of Pirates prospects should be used as trade chips.<\/p>\n

Three Pirates Prospects Who Are Possible Trade Chips<\/h2>\n

Lonnie White Jr.<\/h3>\n

If the Pirates want to capitalize on a prospect whose value is the highest it\u2019s been in years, Lonnie White Jr.<\/a>\u00a0is the player to trade. White Jr. was an overslot pick by the Bucs in 2021, and he made a good first impression in his first extended look in 2023. However, the young outfielder struggled to make contact on even a semi-consistent basis in 2024 and 2025, causing him to fall off many top prospect lists.<\/p>\n

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However, that is a much different story this year. Over his first 221 plate appearances of the season, White Jr. owns a .292\/.398\/.573 triple-slash, with a .422 wOBA, and 146 wRC+. After striking out over a third of the time with a sub-65% contact rate between 2024 and 2025, he has now cut his K% down to 26.7% and upped his contact percentage to 70.3%. White Jr. is walking at a healthy 14.5% rate as well. Both his power and speed are showing up in the game, with 13 home runs and going 15-for-17 in stolen base attempts.<\/p>\n

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? Home Run Lonnie White Jr! (13) ?<\/p>\n

Also his 6th in AA Altoona!<\/p>\n

Hes been absolutely fantastic since getting promoted, which is an outstanding sign<\/p>\n

He\u2019s slashing .292\/.399\/.556 in AA ?<\/p>\n

He needed a breakout like this – looks awesome pic.twitter.com\/g0nBjNg40b<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christian \u271e (@CWolfPGH) June 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n