Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Breakout Hitting Prospects for 2020

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to start developing some of their young talent in the minor leagues.  Here are a few hitting prospects who could breakout.

As the 2019-2020 offseason gets started, there is expected to be plenty of change in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.  Between the team bringing in new coaches and front office members, there is expected to be plenty of roster turnover.  The new staff could look to make a lot of moves, to get “their players” into the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

However, regardless of what the team does this offseason, they will continue to have to build through the minor league system.  One of the main reasons the Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled over the last few years is because they have not been able to develop their own prospects, especially at the big league level. For the new front office and management team to have success, they will need to make sure their top prospects produce at the big league level, something the previous regime started to fail at.

The Pittsburgh Pirates need some of their prospects to breakout this year to help boost the organization’s farm system.  Once a top five or six farm system in baseball, the Bucs now ranked more in the middle of the road.  However, there are plenty of prospects who could breakout, including three particular hitters who should.

Outfielder, Jared Oliva, Triple-A Indianapolis 2020 Projection

Jared Oliva is the first prospect who is primed to breakout in 2020.  Oliva was a seventh round pick out of the University of Arizona back in 2017.  The outfielder was ranked as a top 200 prospect in the draft, but slid to the Bucs in the seventh round.

Oliva is projected to be a a do it all type player.  He plays centerfield and should be able to play any outfield spot.  He has good speed and an above average arm.  The question has never been about Oliva’s athleticism or defense, but rather if he would hit enough.  This seemed to be the case when he only batted .217 through the first half of Double-A Altoona’s season.

However, Oliva bounced back very well in the second half of the season, batting a strong .325 and slugging nearly 100 points higher.  He carried that hot streak into the Arizona Fall League.  After leading the Fall League in batting and making an all-star game, Oliva has started to run out of gas but is still batting over .300 for the season.  With a strong second half and an impressive Arizona Fall League, Oliva is primed to breakout next year at Triple-A.

Outfielder, Cal Mitchell, Double-A Altoona 2020 Projection

The second prospect that could break out is another outfielder who is not far behind Oliva.  In 2016, the Pittsburgh Pirates used a second round pick on California prep outfielder Cal Mitchell.  The left-handed hitting outfielder, was and continues to, project as a potential power hitting outfielder with plus athleticism.

Mitchell played the the 2019 season at High-A Bradenton where he was one of the best hitters in the first half.  Through his first 59 games, the lefty batted .280 with seven home runs and 32 runs batted in.  The biggest concern from the first half was that he struck out 75 times.  His swing and miss carried into the second half when he struck out another 67 times.  He batted just .218 and his on-base percentage was less than .300.   Still, he hit another eight home runs giving him 15 in 118 total games.

Mitchell had a very good start to the year, and continued to show power potential as well.  He has always had a long swing and will likely continue to strike out at an above-average clip.  However, if he can learn a little more plate discipline, he could become a very dangerous hitter.  Look for Mitchell to put together a much more complete season this year at Double-A.

Outfielder, Travis Swaggerty, 2020 Projection Double-A Altoona

In 2018, the Pittsburgh Pirates used the 10th overall pick to select college outfielder Travis Swaggerty.  Swaggerty was taken from the University of South Alabama and was the second college outfielder taken.  Early on his player comparison was that of Brett Gardner, a good all around player who would hit with some pop and steal some bags.

Swaggerty played the full 2019 season with High-A Bradenton, an aggressive push for his first full season, and it proved that challenging for the centerfielder.  Like Oliva, Swaggerty also had a rough first half of the season batting just .221 through his first 58 games.  He showed little plate discipline striking out 58 times and only getting on-base at a .318 clip.

However, he made the necessary adjustments in the second half of the season and started to show why the Bucs spent a top 10 pick on him.  Over the 63 games he played in the second half, Swaggerty hit a strong .306 with an on-base percentage of .375.  Furthermore, he raised his slugging from .329 to a much more respectable .430.  He also cut down on strikeouts, sitting down 58 times in 63 games.

All around Swaggerty improved through the season.  The slow start very well could have been Swaggerty just getting used to professional baseball and the expectation each day.  Also most college players have a bit of an adjustment period, switching to a wooden bat against higher level pitching.  Swaggerty’s second half in 2019 is more the expectation for him.  In total, he hit nine home runs and stole 23 bases, showing that he could be a potential 20-20 guy one day.  This year Swaggerty should build off his strong second half and breakout with the Curve.