Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Roansy Contreras Should be Promoted to AAA

Following three dominant starts to his career at the Double-A level, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Roansy Contreras should be promoted to the Triple-A level

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded starting pitcher Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees this past offseason the trade appeared to net the Pirates a great return. Between Taillon’s struggles and how well the four players the Pirates acquired are performing, this trade is shaping up to be a great one for Ben Cherington.

One of the players the Pittsburgh Pirates received in this trade was right-handed pitcher Roansy Contreras. The 21-year-old Contreras currently pitches for the Double-A Altoona Curve. While this is his first taste of Double-A bat, Contreras has been dominant as he emerges as a top pitching prospect for the Pirates.

Contreras has made just three starts at the Double-A level. In these three starts Contreras has pitched 17.2 scoreless innings. Contreras has allowed just 7 hits, walked 4.8% of batters faced and has struck out 45.2% of batters faced in his 17.2 scoreless innings of work.

This hot start includes Contreras pitching 6 no-hit innings in his second start of the season with the Curve. With Contreras being flat out dominant at the Double-A level, it is time for the Pittsburgh Pirates to promote him to the Triple-A level.

Not only has Contreras produced elite results at the Double-A level, his pitches have been elite as well. His fastball has sat in the mid-to-high 90s, topping out at 98 MPH. His curveball has generated 3,000+ RPM in terms of spin rate. Oh, and let’s not forget that he also has a plus changeup in his arsenal as well.

Contreras has all of the tools needed to be a top 2-3 starting pitcher in a MLB starting rotation. In fact, there is an argument to be made that he has the pure stuff needed to be a top fo the rotation arm.

Prior to reaching the Double-A level his minor league results were strong as well. Contreras posted a 3.33 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 6.7% walk rate and a 21.1% strikeout rate in 132.1 innings pitched across 24 starts at the High-A level in 2019. Split between the High-A and Low-A levels in 2018, Contreras posted a 2.42 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 8.4% walk rate and a strikeout rate of 24.0% in 63.1 innings pitched pitched across 12 starts.

At the Double-A level Contreras has been dominant. It is time for the Pittsburgh Pirates to promote him to the Triple-A level. This could also set him up to make his MLB debut at some point later this season.