Pittsburgh Pirates: The All-Under-20 Prospect Team

Catcher: Geovanny Planchart

Among all the players we’ll be talking about today, Geovanny Planchart is just one of two that has ever appeared on FanGraphs extensive list of top prospects. Regardless of that, Planchart is probably the team’s best catcher that’s younger than 20. The likes of Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Carter Bins, and Abrahan Gutierrez are 21-years-old or older.

Planchart may not be a high-ranking prospect, but he’s put up good numbers in the Pirates’ low minors for two straight years in a row. In 2019, he stepped to the plate 121 times at Rookie-Ball. He batted .368/.433/.406 with a .417 wOBA, and 140 wRC+. He didn’t show much power with an ISO of just .038, but he walked at a solid 9.9% rate and struck out in just 7.4% of all his plate appearances.

This year, he’s improved his game. Through 89 plate appearances at the Florida Complex League, Planchart has a .333/.416/.493 line, .422 wOBA, and 143 wRC+. The 19-year-old is walking a lot more, having a 13.5% BB%. Plus his power has seen an uptick with a .160 ISO. Though this has come at the cost of his strikeout rate, which has risen to 23.6%. Planchart has been a line-drive machine. His LD% sits at 25.5% while having a sub-40% ground ball rate (39.2%).

Planchart may not be the team’s highest-ranking catching prospect, but is still a potential solid future option for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The position is deep, but they’ll find room if many of their catching prospects do pan out.