Pittsburgh Pirates: Prospect to Watch at Every Position in 2021

PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 22: Ji-hwan Bae #72 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians at PNC Park on July 22, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 22: Ji-hwan Bae #72 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians at PNC Park on July 22, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Right Field: Rodolfo Nolasco

Another one of the top signing from the 2018 international class for the Pittsburgh Pirates was outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco. Like Campana, Nolasco made his pro debut in 2019 during his age-17 season. While with one of the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League teams, Nolasco hit .302/.373/.472 with 5 home runs, 13 doubles and a 133 wRC+ in 225 plate appearances.

Nolasco has some good power potential. Not only did he rack up 21 extra base hits with a .170 isolated slugging percentage, but he has a future 55 grade for his game power and raw power on FanGraphs. He also already averaged 89 MPH off the bat. Nolasco also showed some solid plate discipline. While he only walked 7.1% of the time, he put up a strikeout rate of just 11.6%.

The powerful outfielder had a line drive percent of just 15.3% and high ground ball rate of 57.6%. While it was a short amount of plate appearances these are not very good but it was in a short amount of time. In terms of fielding, he’s an average fielder with a future 50 grade but an above average arm at has a future 55 grade. He currently has a 50 speed grade but 40 future grade.

Nolasco has a fair amount of power potential in his future. Currently, FanGraphs ranks him as the Bucs’ 19th best prospect but given a full season, he could quickly rise through the rankings.