Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Unsung Minor League Performances

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 21: The socks of Adam Frazier #26 of the Pittsburgh Pirates as he stands on first base during the seventh inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 21, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 21: The socks of Adam Frazier #26 of the Pittsburgh Pirates as he stands on first base during the seventh inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 21, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /
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Pittsburgh Pirates
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 Jared Triolo

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted infielder Jared Triolo in the second round of the 2019 draft. After a solid, albeit unimpressive first taste of big-league action in 2019, Triolo had a nice breakout campaign during the 2021 season. He was teammates with Lolo Sanchez, providing another very good bat down at High-A.

Triolo batted .304/.369/.480 with a .371 wOBA, and 128 wRC+. Triolo’s plate discipline wasn’t overly impressive but still was solid with an 8.9% walk rate and 19.9% strikeout rate. Posting a near-9% walk rate and sub-20% strikeout rate is decent, especially for a guy in just his second professional season. Now Triolo showed solid power as well. He blasted 15 home runs while having 29 doubles in 473 plate appearances. Triolo also had a solid batted ball profile as well. He hit line drives at a 23.8% rate while having a sub-40% ground ball rate (38%). He even had a higher fly ball rate than his ground ball rate (38.8%).

He also brings some athleticism. Along with 25 stolen bases, the third baseman is considered a plus defender at his primary position. However, he also has experience at shortstop. He appeared at the middle infield position for 150.1 innings. While it will be hard for him to breakthrough in the majors as a third baseman with the Pirates with Ke’Bryan Hayes on hand, he’s more than athletic and versatile enough to play other positions.

He’ll likely be teammates with Sanchez up at Double-A to start the 2022 season. But also like the speedy outfielder, could possibly get some Major League time by the end of the season. Along with both positions on the left side of the infield, he played a decent bit of left field in college, and could probably man both positions on the right side of the infield if he needed to.