Pittsburgh Pirates: Top Performing Minor League Hitters Part One

Rookie: Dominican League

The Dominican League features a crop of young and talented players that have yet to make their professional debuts on US soil, as these players are still extremely raw.  Often times the top prospects in this league line up with the equivalent of high school sophomores and juniors.  They feature tools, but they’re not yet advanced and often times the biggest drawback is their swing and miss profile.

Yoyner Fajardo is older than the competition at 19 years old, but he did perform with the bat, hitting  .311/.402/.455 with an 11.3 percent walk rate and a 10.9 percent strikeout rate.  He’s a left-handed hitting second baseman, but his age brings down his total-z score, something that is important when trying to find undervalued prospects.

The top performer is Carlos Arroyo, who had a total z of 2.16.  The middle infielder hit .294/.416/.322 in 56 games, with his biggest skillset really being his youth, as the 2018 season was his age 16 season (his birthday is July 11, 2001).  The right-hander didn’t show much power (-0.66 ISO z-score) but showed good discipline in the walk and strikeout rates.

The second best performer in total z-scores, and really the best because of the huge boost Arroyo received with his age z-score, is Juan Pie.  The 17-year-old outfielder hit .258/.382/.421 in 255 plate appearances with a 14.1 percent walk rate and 18.4 percent strikeout rate.  His strikeout rate was around average (just a 0.05 z-score).  The young outfielder seems to be the best prospect of the bunch, by not only this method but traditional scouting.  Fangraphs has Pie as the Pirates 19th top prospect, writing,

“Pie showed a little bit of everything, and we think the upside is that of a 5 hit, 6 power, 5 run/defense type everday right fielder, but it’s still early to be projecting a 5 bat with any certainty given that Pie hasn’t played stateside yet.”

In a youthful crop of players, Pie performed the best among those in the Pirates organization.  To go along with what the scouts see in his tools, Pie could really improve his prospect status with another big 2019 season.  The total-z scores for all eight of the Pirates that meet the criteria in the Dominican League are below, ordered by their total z-score:

Rookie: Gulf Coast League (GCL)

The GCL features a lot of raw players, most recent high school draft picks and first-time stateside players.  There are some players that do stick out for the Pirates, especially a 2018 30th round draft pick in Jack Herman, but he does need to prove himself again this year and against better competition, before he can be viewed as a top 30, or close to, prospect:

Samuel Inoa, a catcher from the Dominican Republic, is interesting, as he showed good power but the walk rate did leave lots to be disappointed.  He is older than the group of players looked at, and 2018 was his first year of pro ball stateside, and he hit .316/.433/.487 in the DSL in 2017.  Fangraphs does note that he might stick as a catcher but do talk about the hit tool.

Ji-Hwan Bae originally signed with the Braves but after their problems in regards to signing international players, Bae signed for $1.25 million with the Pirates.  He didn’t show much with power, being average in slugging and below in ISO, but did make a lot of contact as seen by the strikeout rate z-score.  Bae is most known for his speed, and he went 10/14 in 2018.  His developmental path will be one to watch.

The top performer was Herman, who slashed .340/.435/.489 with a 13.6 percent walk rate and a 14.2 percent strikeout rate.  The outfielder was by far the best of the Pirates performers, and Fangraphs wrote up,

“He’s just 6-foot tall but has a broad-shouldered frame with some room for more mass and there’s already some pop here. His arm is plus.”

There is a lot of risk in Herman, and it’s too soon to make any conclusions, but the corner outfielder did have a loud debut and he’ll need to continue to make noise to be put on the prospect radar, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to hit or if he’ll struggle as Mason Martin did in his second year of pro ball.  The top performers by z-score are:

Rookie: Appalachian League (Appy)

The Appy League again features some raw players, mostly recently drafted high schoolers or international signings coming through the system.  The league lasts after the draft in June and ends in September.  The most notable name for the Pirates would be Conner Uselton, the Pirates second-round pick in 2017.  Unfortunately for him, he struggled most of the year after playing just two games in 2017 because of injury.

The only plus last season for Uselton was the strikeout rate, just 17.7 percent, but he slashed .225/.280/.250 in 175 plate appearances.  Fangraphs gives the arm a 60, which is above average, and he has future 70 raw power, so there’s still hope that now even further removed from injury Uselton will start to hit.  But it needs to happen soon.

One of the best performers was Sherten Apostel, who slashed .259/.406/.460, with the only drawback being the 24.0 percent strikeout rate.  The third base prospect was traded in July alongside Taylor Hearn for Keone Kela.

The best performer in the Appy League for the Pirates was Jonah Davis, who hit .306/.398/.612 with 12 home runs in 51 games and 241 plate appearances.  His 24.5 percent strikeout rate was high, but the 15th rounder from Berkley hit for power.  He was a bit old for the level and with the lack of pedigree, Davis will need to show more, and Fangraphs wrote:

“Davis has easy plus raw power from the left side but is a LF/DH-only defender and he struck out a ton in college”

For Davis, the bat will need to continue to play, and with the way PNC Park is in left, perhaps he’s more a RF/DH only and the bat will have to be well above average to start.  Davis is starting 2019 in Greensboro.  The Total_Z scores are:

The numbers are not adjusted for park and league and some of the players above have since been traded or released since the start of the 2018 season.  The biggest names to watch in these low levels are Carlos Arroyo, Juan Pie, Samuel Iona, Jack Herman, Ji-Hwan Bae, and Jonah Davis.  There are some positional and defensive concerns among this group, primarily with Iona and Davis.  Conner Uselton had a rough first season and will hopefully bounce back in 2019 and show why the Pirates took him in round two.

*All numbers and scouting reports from Fangraphs