Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Top 5 Performers in May

Altoona Curve pitcher Roansy Contreras as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies hosted Altoona on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The Ponies lost to the Curve, with a score of 5-0.
Altoona Curve pitcher Roansy Contreras as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies hosted Altoona on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The Ponies lost to the Curve, with a score of 5-0. /
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BRADENTON, FLORIDA – MARCH 22: A detail of the 2021 MLB Grapefruit league logo during a spring training game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles on March 22, 2021 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
BRADENTON, FLORIDA – MARCH 22: A detail of the 2021 MLB Grapefruit league logo during a spring training game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles on March 22, 2021 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Infielder Maikol Escotto

Another piece that came to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Yankees in the Taillon trade was infielder Maikol Escotto. Escotto has been one of, if not the system’s best minor league bat so far this year. In 82 plate appearances in the month of May, Escotto hit for a slash line of .317/.476/.429 with a .450 wOBA and 160 wRC+. Among all Pirate minor leaguers with at least 60 plate appearances this season, he’s leading them all in wRC+, wOBA, one-base percentage and batting average. He’s also second in OPS and walk rate (20.7%).

Escotto’s power hasn’t shown up yet. He only has a .111 isolated slugging percentage, compared to his .238 mark with the Yankee Dominican Summer League team in 2019. Escotto only has four extra-base hits with two doubles, a triple and a home run. Though he is carrying a solid 21.1% line drive rate, he’s still hitting ground balls at a 55.3% rate, and only has a 23.7% fly ball rate. He is hitting the ball hard, so the power will likely eventually come around.

Escotto has mainly played shortstop this year where he has 92 innings logged. But he’s also played a fair bit of second base. He’s played 42 innings at the keystone. He could also see some time at third base later in the year, as he played 67 innings at the hot corner in 2019.