Pittsburgh Pirates Boast Strong Farm System According to FanGraphs

#98 – Shortstop Liover Peguero 

Liover Peguero is the 98th best prospect on the BOARD and was acquired in the recent Starling Marte trade. First off, I have to own up to my previous article on the Starling Marte trade. Ben Cherington did get a top 100 (or at least close to it) prospect in the trade, which I thought he had failed to do.

Peguero, a young 19 year old, was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Diamondbacks. Drawing early comparisons to Jean Segura, Peguero absolutely killed it during his 2019 season. Between rookie ball and Low-A play, Peguero slashed .326/.382/.485 over a decent sample size of 249 plate appearances. Peguero also showed good speed with 11 stolen bases and is project to be a plus defender at the shortstop position.

Scouts are most excited about Peguero’s bat speed, as he apparently gets the barrel through the strike zone with extreme quickness – in an Andrew McCutchen like manner. This high bat speed will actually make Peguero a decent power hitter despite his smaller frame. While the Pirates don’t have a place for Peguero on the roster now, he still has a long way to go and will most likely start the year at either Low-A Greensboro or High-A Bradenton.

Reading about these six prospects should certainly give Pirates’ fans hope for the future of the organization. While a few of these prospects are years away from the Majors, prospects like Keller and Hayes will help the team this season. For me, something that stands out as unique is the potential of some of the Pirates’ better prospects. Tahnaj Thomas, Travis Swaggerty, and especially Oneil Cruz could all turn into top 25 prospects with strong seasons. Hopefully, Cherington will take this strong foundation of prospects and build a winner over time.