Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect: Four Potential Triple-A Promotions by Season’s End

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a ton of talent in the lower minor leagues, but some of those names could reach the minor’s highest level by the end of the 2021 season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the deepest farm systems in all of baseball. They have gotten a large influx of prospects over the past year and a half, but most of those prospects are in the lower minors. Most are working their way up, but the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, don’t have nearly as much talent, at least when you look at their A-Ball and Double-A affiliates.

But very soon, Indianapolis could be the team’s strongest minor league affiliate. Double-A and High-A are stacked with notable names that are going to be pushing for promotions to the minor league’s highest level. We’ve talked about guys like Oneil Cruz, Rodolfo Castro, Mason Martin, Roansy Contreras, and so on plenty in the past, but there are some names we’ve not covered nearly as much.

Today, I want to take a look at three under-the-radar prospects that could at least get their first taste of the minor league’s highest level this year. These players are excelling at their respective levels and could be promoted as soon as the draft to make room in the lower minors. So without further ado, let’s get into our first player.

Pitcher Travis MacGregor

Travis MacGregor was a pretty highly thought of prospect a few years ago. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected him with their second-round pick in the 2016 draft, but missed 2019 because of Tommy John surgery, and didn’t appear in any games in 2020 because there was no minor league season and he never got a call to the bigs.

So far, MacGregor has pitched 36.2 solid innings this year. He has a 3.68 ERA, 4.08 FIP, and 1.17 WHP. MacGregor has struck out over a quarter of the batters he’s faced this season. He currently holds a 25.8% strikeout rate. Walks have been a bit of an issue, but not a massive one as he sits with a 9.7% walk rate. However, he has a career-best HR/9 mark of .74.

MacGregor’s good home run numbers come from the fact he’s induced ground balls at a 54.3% rate, his best mark in at least 30 innings since his 2016 pro debut season. He’s kept opponents to a line drive rate of just 13% while having a 32.6% flyball rate.

MacGregor’s overall numbers would look better had it not been for one blow-up start where he went just 1.2 innings and allowed 5 earned runs. A third of his ER allowed have come from that game alone. Outside of that one outing, he has a 2.57 ERA and 3.39 FIP.

MacGregor has a three-pitch offering and all three pitches are seen as at least average. His four-seam fastball and change-up are considered 55-grade offerings in the future while his curveball is seen as a 50-grade offering.

As long as MacGregor doesn’t have more outings as he did on the 9th of June, then the 23-year-old should be looking at a promotion soon. He could get a similar treatment to Max Kranick, an older prospect who started at Double-A but moved up through the system fast.

Outfielder Matthew Fraizer

Matthew Frazier is currently at High-A Greensboro, so he’s a bit more of a long shot than some of the other names I’ve already talked about. But once you take into account how well he is doing and his age, it’s quite possible he gets at least a taste of playing time at Indianapolis.

To say that Fraizer has done well at Greensboro would be an understatement. So far through 236 plate appearances, the lefty outfielder has a .324/.396/.573 batting line, 13 home runs, and 10 doubles in 236 plate appearances. All told, he has a wOBA above .400 at .418 and wRC+ above 150 at 161. Frazier has walked at a strong 10.8% rate but has avoided strikeouts as well. He has only gone down on strike three 18.7% of the time. Having a sub-20% strikeout rate and walk rate above 10% is a good indicator of good plate discipline.

Fraizer has never been a highly regarded prospect, at least to the degree of MacGregor ever was, or like Canaan Smith-Njigba is. But he’s hitting for power, something he never did in college or during his debut season in 2019. Through 496 plate appearances dating back to 2016 up through 2019, he never had a home run while only walking 6.5% of the time.

Currently, Fraizer has an isolated slugging percentage approaching .250 and is on pace for over 30 home runs across 600 plate appearances. He’s yet to play a game at Double-A, but his massive improvements when it comes to plate discipline and power should translate well when he is promoted. If he can keep it up, he should at least get a shot at Triple-A pitching late in 2021.

Pitcher Omar Cruz

Another player the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired over this past off-season, Omar Cruz was a part of the Joe Musgrove trade. Cruz started the year as a teammate to Fraizer, tossing 28.2 innings at Greensboro. He had a solid 3.45 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and strong 32.2% strikeout rate, but struggled with the long ball and walks. He had an 11.9% walk rate and 1.26 HR/9, which led to a poor 4.60 FIP.

However, the lefty was already promoted to Double-A. So far, he’s only pitched 10.2 innings, but has walked just one batter and has given up 2 earned runs. Though he’s showing better control, his strikeout rate hasn’t fully translated to the upper minors just yet. Though it went from just 9.5% in his first Altoona start to 20% in his second. Still, his 6 K/BB ratio is very good.

Cruz is a soft-tossing lefty, only working in the lower-90’s with his fastball. However, what he lacks in speed and velocity he makes up for in movement on his curveball and his deceptive arm speed with his change-up. Though despite the lack of an overpowering pitch, he’s still been effective.

If Cruz were to be promoted to Triple-A, he’d be a bit young for the level. He’s only 22 and won’t turn 23 until January. However, if he continues to be effective and starts seeing his strikeout rate increase, him getting at least a bit of time at Indy nearing the end of the season isn’t out of the question.