Pittsburgh Pirates: Breaking Down New Outfield Prospect Hudson Head

Monday evening was a big night for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Monday saw starting pitcher Joe Musgrove head on out of Pittsburgh as part of a three team trade that included the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.

The headliner in the trade was Hudson Head. Head is a highly touted center field prospect who came to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Padres. Head was ranked the 7th best prospect in the Padre farm system. In the Pirate farm system, MLB Pipeline ranks him as their 6th best prospect.

Head is a 6-foot-1, 180 pound lefty who was drafted straight out of high school in Churchill, Texas. In 2019, Head was drafted by the Padres in the third round and signed the highest bonus at the time for a third round pick. The bonus that he signed was $3 million.

His only pro-ball action has come in 2019 when he played for the AZL Padres in the Arizona League. Head played a total of 26 games there in 2019. In all of those games, he stated in center field. His slash line in these games came out to be .283/.383/.417.

FanGraphs has the potential for all of his attributes to be around average or higher. The two areas receiving the most praises are his speed and ability to hit. On the 20/80 scale, these categories received a 60 grade, which equates to above average.

While Head is currently listed as a center fielder, the Pirates may look into making him a right fielder though. Right now, the Pittsburgh Pirates have Travis Swaggerty being projected to get called up at some point this season to take over the centerfield duties.

This means by the time Head gets to the Majors, around 2023, Swaggerty may have held down the position for approximately two years, granted that he plays well. If this is the case, then Head may move over to right field. In Ben Cherington’s dream scenario the future of the Pirate outfield is likely a combination of Bryan Reynolds, Swaggerty and Head.