Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Two Underrated Players to Watch

Tucupita Marcano

Tucupita Marcano was the headliner going back to the Pirates in the Adam Frazier trade. Although he wasn’t the flashiest name, there’s a lot to like about the infielder/outfielder. For one, he has the best hand-eye coordination throughout all the minor leagues. Marcano’s 70-grade plate coverare is the highest mark FanGraphs gives any current player. He strikes out just around 10% of the time while walking well above 10%.

Before heading to the Pittsburgh Pirates Marcano was hitting .272/.367/.444 with a .352 wOBA, and 104 wRC+. Plus he walked more than he struck out with a 27/25 BB/K ratio. Although on paper those aren’t the most impressive numbers, they look even better once you get some context. Marcano is only 21-years-old.

He’s younger than almost all of the Pirates’ players at Double-A Altoona and even High-A Greensboro. He also completely skipped both levels, going directly into Triple-A action this year. He already made his major league debut and struggled, but in only 50 plate appearances. The fact he has put up solid numbers at Triple-A despite completely skipping over two levels of the minor leagues as well as being just 21-years-old is a good sign of his development. Two teams now view him as a capable batter at Triple-A.

Overall, he’s done solid throughout the minor leagues. He has a .277.354/.359 line, and .322 wOBA. He’s walked 129 times to oppose just 103 strikeouts. Marcano has a strong hit tool, one that projects as a 60-grade tool. He’s a plus runner (60-grade) with plenty or range to remain at shortstop. He also has quick hands, but his arm can be a bit fringy for the position which could necessitate a move to second base where he would be an even better defender. He’s also started to play the outfield this year, which could add to his versatility.

The one thing he doesn’t have a lot of, at least not right now, is power. He has a slender 6-foot, 170 pound frame. Though he’s shown a bit of pop this season, it’s the only weak spot in his game. He has a 30-future game and raw power grade on FanGraphs. He’s already making good contact, has an outstanding approach to the plate, has good speed, and is a plus defender.

Marcano gets forgotten on Pirate prospect list for two reasons. One, he’s a primary middle infield prospect. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of those. Gonzales and Peguero are the most prominent, but you also have Ji-Hwan Bae, Oneil Cruz, Maikol Escotto, and Rodolfo Castro who’s shown decent promise at the Major League level. The other reason is that he wasn’t a big name in the Adam Frazier trade. Frazier’s hot season led many to believe that he could fetch a high-end prospect (aka top 100-75 or better prospect) when that just wasn’t the case. Now that’s not to say that Marcano isn’t a good prospect nor that Frazier didn’t have value, just that Marcano has plenty to offer and Frazier was about a league average hitter in five seasons prior and was having a career year.