All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Scott, Siani, and Campana all have big physical tools and have all struggled badly from a bat-to-ball standpoint. Castillo is a loose rotator without a lot of bat speed, but he seems to find a way to put the bat on the ball and the power might come if he gets stronger. His range and footwork are great, while his actions and arm are fine. A double-plus hit tool leads the way for Termarr Johnson, a 5'7" 175 lb left-handed hitter who calls Jose Ramirez to mind on a quick visual evaluation. From 2017-21, Webbs strikeout rate more than doubled as a result of his uptick in arm strength. Before he was drafted he was considered, at least at FanGraphs, a more likely reliever due to the quality of his stuff. He was one of the younger players available in the 2022 draft and yet at a listed 205 pounds, Kennedy is more physically mature than most of his peers, even some who are a year or two older than he is. In most cases, corner-only outfielders who play consistent big league roles have better actualized their raw power in games. He also mixes in the occasional changeup or curveball, which accounted for a combined 11% of his offerings at Low-A. Looking forward to fangraphs being wrong Campman92 5 min. 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. The type of contact he makes is unlikely to ever lead to home run power commensurate with a true everyday player, but Bae makes enough stinging, all-fields contact that he projects to hit plenty of doubles and triples. 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. He has an interesting long-term body projection and breaking ball combination. Rodriguezs arm is comfortably plus. His turn at the 2022 Futures Game gave viewers a glimpse of his heater/curveball combo, showcasing the carry on his mid-90s fastball in contrast to the vertical depth of the high-spin (2,800 rpm) curve. There were some signs of offensive progress in 2022. His slot also helps generate two-plane sweep on his breaking ball. Indeed, of his offerings, only his four-seamer had a whiff rate above the big league average, and he struggled to keep that pitch competitive, only throwing it for a strike 57% of the time. Ercolani, an 18-year-old righty from San Marino, had a velo spike during the winter and has been up to 97 mph in the bullpen recently. (2/2/2021) 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. The depth charts found on the Team Pages are based on projected playing time, NOT the current status of a team's roster. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Mechanically, Burrows adds additional length to his 6-foot-2 stature with an over-the-top delivery. Jones checked all but two scouting boxes as a high school pitcher. D-backs Dodgers Giants Padres Rockies: Offseason Tools. Nunez started 2022 at St. Louis Double-A affiliate before being dealt to Pittsburgh as part of the Jos Quintana deal at the trade deadline. Robert_roberts82 1 min. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. If it does, he should be a 50, and that grade was discussed during the Pirates list-making process. 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. His slider has a sweeping horizontal shape, but his inability to locate it has hampered its utility. White was a multi-sport star in high school and after initially making a verbal commitment to Clemson solely for baseball, he eventually became a two-sport commit to Penn State to play wide receiver and center field. (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.) Tony Sanchez / C 6. As of list publication, Rodriguez is one of just two catchers on Pittsburghs 40-man roster, and while its possible hes beaten out by a veteran non-roster invitee like Tyler Heineman, Rodriguezs defensive chops and versatility give him a shot to break camp with the big club, split time with Austin Hedges, and moonlight at one or two other positions before eventually seizing the primary catcher job. Hernandez sat 93-96 mph in 2021 and when seen prior to Dodgers list publication last season, then kept throwing harder throughout the summer and ended up averaging 95-97 and touching 101 while with Double-A Tulsa. RotoWire News: Gonzales will join the Pirates' major-league camp this spring. He would slot among Priester and Ortiz on this list had he completed a totally healthy 2022. He can already land his breaker in the zone and its angle should help it become a viable back-foot offering to righties. Cheng entered 2022 coming off an incredible season in which he slashed .311/.449/.492 with twice as many walks as he had strikeouts. 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. He spins the hell out of everything that leaves his hand, in particular his slider, which averaged over 2,700 rpm, but his inability to fine tune his command puts a damper on its utility (his walk rate was an untenable 12.4% across his 75.2 innings of work). Not Quite Enough Hit Tool Scouting. Pathways toward a more impactful role are most likely to be carved by Harringtons command outperforming this projection. ago I'm surprised how far Nick Gonzalez and Hudson Head dropped in a few years. 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. as compiled by Ben Clemens and the FanGraphs staff. 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. Juan Jerez, 3B 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. 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. 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. Their top ten, in. The FanGraphs prospect team presents their 2022 top 100 list . The site listed four Dodgers prospects on their list. 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. 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. Now 24 and neither protected from nor claimed during the 2022 Rule 5 draft, its imperative for him to start throwing strikes more consistently in order to find his way to a big league bullpen. Axiel Plaz, C Across the 2022 calendar, Davis had nearly as many HBPs as he did extra-base hits, to which the wrist fracture likely contributed. Hes on the 40-man roster and will likely get a chance to sink or swim on the big league roster in 2023. Hes a young, switch-hitting catcher with cartoonish offensive numbers (especially from a bat-to-ball standpoint) and uncommon defensive versatility, as hes played a bunch of second base and left field as well. 2022 Pittsburgh Pirates Summary Stats Schedule Player Usage Depth Chart The depth charts found on the Team Pages are based on projected playing time, NOT the current status of a team's roster. Melendez (sitting 97) and Mateo (sitting 95) are upper-level relievers with poor control. in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. He fills out the bottom half of the zone with his slider, itself an impressive bat-misser, thanks again to Dombkowskis command. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. His fastball velocity is down, in the 92-94 mph range, a far cry from Priesters upper-90s peak. A few months later, the Pirates emerged as the word-of-mouth favorite to sign him; he inked a deal for $750,000 in January. 4/5 starter. Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Mitch Keller, Travis Swaggerty, Tahnaj Thomas and. He has a delivery similar to Ubaldo Jimnezs, where his front side flies way open and he tilts out, which helps Kellington get to a vertical arm slot. 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. Blanco is a gigantic corner outfield/1B prospect who had the most present raw power in the January 2022 international signing class. Garcia is only 19 but is already sitting 96. He ultimately went fourth overall to Pittsburgh, and because hes a relatively advanced hitter with a mature build, theres a good chance the Pirates move Johnson through the minors pretty quickly if he hits the ground running offensively. Brennan Malone, RHP. He and Solometo have the same flavor of stuff wrapped in different packages. He spent much of the season leading off for Altoona, where he slashed .282/.376/.419 and stole 24 stolen bases. Hes been able to maintain nearly average contact rates despite a pull-heavy approach to contact. 1/ . 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. 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. The 11-15 group consists of Jared Jones, Ji-hwan Bae, Anthony Solometo, Kyle Nicolas and Jared Triolo. 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. 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. 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. Counter to our past reports, his swing is rather stiff and some of Lopezs length makes him vulnerable to pitches in on his hands. Swaggerty matched the nine home runs he posted in 2019, but this time, he did so against better pitching, in fewer at-bats, and in a much less hitter-friendly park, and he improved on his walk rate by a couple of ticks. 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. Oneil Cruz, SS Video Signed: July 2nd. 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. He threw it 16% of the time (up from 9% the previous season) and induced a 53% whiff rate with this power-action, mid-80s change. 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. A successful 2022 pro debut (47.2 IP, 9.63 K/9, 3.59 BB/9, 2.64 ERA) driven by very advanced fastball command contrasts with skepticism about how Solometos stuff will play against older and better hitters. 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. All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. 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. 2023 Updated In-Season Projections Cubs pitching prospect Hayden Wesneski is proving he belongs in his latest Spring Training outing. Carter Bins, C 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. He moved into a minor league relief role in 2022. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Scouting reports were. 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. Vilade spent some time near the top of the Rockies list due to his feel for contact. 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. Matt Fraizer, CF Its a shorter, less natural looking delivery than what Flowers had as an amateur, but hes been able to throw strikes with it. Chandlers pitching performance wasnt as lights-out as it had been pre-promotion, but it was still a display of the rightys potential. His 2022 performance deserves some age-related adjustment, but its possible we saw flaws in Pegueros game exposed by upper-level pitching. Either way, he played over half the season in the outfield and was roughly average, which is much better than I would have expected after the reporting on him previously called him a positionless defender. Chandler started the 2022 season on the complex, where he showed two-way promise, slashing .231/.444/.654 over 36 plate appearances while annihilating opposing batters, issuing 27 strikeouts and giving up just three hits without allowing a run over 15.1 innings. 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. Gonzales had a 68% Z-contact% as a 23-year-old at Double-A. He throws precise, high-quality strikes with the heater, and the pitch has enough tailing action to have stayed off of A-ball barrels. The organization will be thrilled if . 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. It can be found here. RotoGraphs. 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. Defensively, Nunez has transitioned from full-time third baseman to mostly first base, with a handful of innings in the other corner of the infield still mixed in. RotoGraphs. The Pirates got a deal done for a cool million, nearly twice the slot amount in the fourth round. Hes 19 and struggled over the winter in Australia. 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. Hudson Head, CF Hard-Throwers He pairs it with two above-average secondaries: a high-80s slider with sharp, downward movement that garnered a 48% chase rate against righties, and an 11-5 curveball with a shape that mimics the slider, only slower and looser, which helps keep batters off balance and enables him to pitch backwards. 11/ . Ricky Tiedemann is one of the fastest-rising pitching prospects in the game. Andres Silvera, RHP. Moreover, he has one of the more unusual profiles in professional baseball. Drafted: 1st Round, 2022 from Mays HS (GA) (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Dominican Republic (NYM), Drafted: 1st Round, 2021 from Louisville (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Dominican Republic (PIT), Drafted: 1st Round, 2019 from Cary-Grove HS (IL) (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2017 from Dominican Republic (ARI), Drafted: 10th Round, 2018 from Waterford HS (CT) (PIT), Drafted: 3rd Round, 2021 from North Oconee HS (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2019 from Houston (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2017 from South Korea (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2020 from La Mirada HS (CA) (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2022 from Dominican Republic (PIT), Drafted: 1st Round, 2022 from Campbell (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2020 from Ball State (MIA), Drafted: 16th Round, 2018 from Randolph-Macon College (PIT), Drafted: 8th Round, 2019 from Seton Hall (ATL), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Venezuela (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2023 from South Korea (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2021 from Gloucester Catholic HS (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2022 from Florida (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Cuba (STL), Drafted: 1st Round, 2020 from New Mexico State (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2015 from Dominican Republic (LAD), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2019 from Pei-Ke High School (Taiwan) (PIT), Drafted: 4th Round, 2022 from Troy HS (NY) (PIT), Drafted: 2nd Round, 2021 from Malvern Prep HS (PIT), Drafted: 1st Round, 2020 from South Carolina (PIT), Drafted: 15th Round, 2021 from South Alabama (PIT), Drafted: 1st Round, 2018 from South Alabama (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2016 from Venezuela (PHI), Drafted: 3rd Round, 2022 from Notre Dame (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2019 from Taiwan (PIT), Signed: July 2nd Period, 2016 from Bahamas (CLE), Drafted: 4th Round, 2019 from Florida State (PIT), Drafted: 11th Round, 2016 from Valley View HS (PA) (PIT), Drafted: 4th Round, 2017 from Rockwall Heath HS (TX) (NYY), Drafted: 34th Round, 2016 from Lees Summit HS (MO) (KCR), Drafted: 6th Round, 2017 from Tracy HS (CA) (PIT), Drafted: 4th Round, 2021 from U-32 HS (PIT). 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. 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. He showed a velo spike (92-96) at the onset of the 2022 college season before his arm strength and command regressed. Hes still on a path toward a glove-reliant bench role but is closer to having meaningful pop than he was last year. Its going to be fascinating to watch him develop, and if it doesnt work, hell probably still be a viable reliever. Hes now 23 but could still be a fifth outfielder. Antwone Kelly, RHP Davis skills and offensive style are tailored like those of Evan Gattis. window.FGWebsite_head_section.buildProspectsListControls(); When we last saw Swaggerty for a full season of play, he was a 21-year-old whose nine home runs in 120 games was far lower than youd expect from someone with so much raw power playing in a hitter-friendly park. He projects as a quick-moving no. Both feel like high-floored backend or long relief types who need to walk an atypical path to an impact role. FanGraphs Top 43 Pirates prospects blogs.fangraphs Vote 3 comments Best Add a Comment Robert_roberts82 14 min. The powerfully built Kelly, 19, is a squat but loose righty who sits 93-95 mph and throws quality strikes with his fastball. His range, footwork, ability to bend, and overall athleticism are all plus, and it made sense to try to develop him as a shortstop for as long as possible, but Peguero finally saw time at second base in 2022 and a permanent move there will hopefully help him throw more confidently and accurately. If he moves to first base, this will become especially scary. On Friday, FanGraphs released updated rankings. Be warned that he may hit for huge power at Greensboro in 2023, but the key thing to watch is his strikeout rate. His fastball remains in the mid-90s but continues to underperform in terms of its bat-missing ability due to its hittable line. Hes an arm strength reclamation project with a shot to pitch in Pittsburghs bullpen. The barrel-chested Smith-Njigba has huge strength-driven power and a patient approach that borders on passive. 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. 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. This is the case with De Los Santos. ago They do not like solemeto or Gonzalez. His slow, mid-70s curveball is easy to identify out of his hand, but it has lovely shape and depth of break, so perhaps it can be sculpted into a more traditional big league breaking ball. We considered Glenn a high priority senior sign in the 2021 draft, but he needed to hit all the way up the minor league ladder and didnt do that in 2022. His curveball was his only secondary to induce an above-average chase rate. His changeup is deceptive against batters in both boxes, but in particular against righties, who have a 40% chase rate on the offering. While prospect list ultimately isn't what makes a player great, it is . If his defense continues to look like it did in the 2022-23 Dominican Winter League during 2023 spring training, he may quickly be repositioned on this list. ), and some of the recent, perhaps overzealous examples (Maikel Escotto, Rodolfo Nolasco) are in this system. It sounds like Brannigan is going to develop as a two-way player. Quants and front office analyst types are more bearish, citing issues with Priesters fastball playability. Both can be in the lineup every night because of Rodriguezs defensive versatility and the universal DH, and a more liberal timeshare behind the plate might help keep them both healthier and more consistently productive on offense. But he was then shut down and had TJ, which ended his season early enough that he could be back in 2023. He walked more than a batter per inning in 2022. 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. He also has a promising sweeper slider, but he lacks typical physical projection for a teenage pitcher. 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. 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. This time around, the Top 100 has even more Moreno types, prospects who combine . 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. Escotto, 20, was a 40+ FV prospect after his huge DSL season and later became part of the Jameson Taillon trade, but he struggled very badly in 2022 and needed to be demoted back to Low-A. 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. That pitch plays up against lefties for reasons that are probably obvious, but it isnt a nasty pitch in a vacuum. They had a ton of depth and a need to fill their Triple-A roster with external veterans in case of injury, and its likely that they mis-evaluated some of their own players who they should have protected, players like Trey McGough, Cristian Charle, Joelvis Del Rosario, Austin Roberts, Wilkin Ramos, Jared Oliva, and Peter Solomon, all of whom have either been on past prospect lists or were flagged for interesting performance or characteristics during this list cycle. 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. DeVito brandishes a five-pitch arsenal headlined by a filthy splitter, but he struggled to locate any of his pitches well enough for them to really complement each other. 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%. Here hes projected as a no. Webbs velocity began to climb in 2019, when he went from sitting 89-92 mph to sitting 90-94 and touching 96. That makes it seem all but inevitable that Chandler will eventually ditch the bat to optimize his development on the mound. 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. He maintained his patient approach in Altoona, and when the Double-A season ended, he was sent up to Indianapolis for the last five games of the Triple-A season. 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. In some ways, this makes aspects of De Los Santos data even more impressive, because hes turning around soft DSL pitching with ridiculous pace. It shows above-average arm-side action on occasion, but hes only throwing it 12% of the time.