Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Pitching Prospects You May Have Forgotten About

Braeden Ogle

A 2016 4th round draft pick, Braeden Ogle put up overall solid numbers at Low-A and High-A during the 2019 season. The left-hander worked as a swing man, pitching a total of 43 innings, appearing in 27 games, two of which were starts. Ogle posted a solid 3.56 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 25% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate.

But he also put up a 4.21 FIP, mainly because of his extremely high home run rate of 1.5 per 9. However, at both Low and High-A ball, he had an xFIP below 3.50. After all, six of the seven home runs he gave up came from Greensboro. Once he got moved to High-A, he gave up just one through 11.1 innings of work.

Ogle has two plus pitches, a fastball that currently has a 55 grade and a future of 60. His curveball also has a plus future grade of 55. His change up though only has a 50 future grade. Still, three pitches that could be overall average or better is pretty solid. While he hasn’t played above High-A Bradenton yet, Ogle just turned 23 on the 30th of July.

Currently, the Pittsburgh Pirates four left handed pitchers on the active roster, Derek Holland, Steven Brault, Miguel Del Pozo and Robbie Erlin. Holland is being used as a starter and so is Brault technically piggy backing starts with Chad Kuhl. This only leaves Erlin and Del Pozo as the team’s only left-handers out of the pen. Both of them have struggled.

Ogle isn’t a top rated prospect either, but like with the other two, you might as well see what you have in him. Considering he is a left handed pitcher on the team’s taxi squad, Ogle could be the next in line to be tried out if both Del Pozo and Erlin continue to put up bad numbers.