Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Best Players Added Via International Free Agency

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system is filled with prospects from the draft, but who are their best Five internationally signed prospects?

Many of the Pittsburgh Pirates notable prospects have been acquired through the amateur draft. Quinn Priester, Henry Davis, and Nick Gonzales were all first-round picks. Anthony Solometo, Carmen Mlodzinski, and Bubba Chandler were also high-ranking draft picks they’ve gotten the last 2 years.

But they also have a handful of prospects that were acquired through international signings. Now by that, I mean the Pirates signed them themselves. Roansy Contreras, Oneil Cruz, Miguel Yajure, and Ji-Hwan Bae may be the team’s most notable prospects that came from the international market, but they traded for the first three and signed Bae after he was released by the Atlanta Braves during John Copperella’s international signing scandal.

So among the international prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates signed, which are considered their top 5? I’m mostly taking into consideration where sites such as FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline rank their top prospects, but will also look at their performances so far as well.

Number 4 – infielder Rodolfo Castro

The Pittsburgh Pirates have an overabundance of middle infielders. There are about a dozen young infielders with plus potential in the Pirates’ minor league system. Obviously, Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, Oneil Cruz, and Ji-Hwan Bae are the highest-ranking ones. But don’t count out Rodolfo Castro as a potential long-term roster piece.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Castro out of the Dominican Republic on October 30th, 2015. Early in Castro’s career, he showed a solid ability to make contact and get on base at a solid rate. However, he didn’t show much power. In 2018, Castro started to see a rise in his power output and then hit 19 home runs in just 461 plate appearances while posting a .214 isolated slugging in 2019. However, this came with just a .242 batting average and sub-.300 OBP (.298).

Castro started the 2021 season at Double-A Altoona where he batted .300/.349/.527 with a .373 wOBA, and 133 wRC+. Castro got a call to the major leagues for about a month between late July and late August he continued to show that power potential. He blasted 5 home runs and had a .198 isolated slugging percentage. However, overall he only had a 75 wRC+ in a small number of plate appearances (93).

But when he was sent back to Double-A, Castro would go on to have a negative wRC+ during his time at Altoona. He did so poorly in his final handful of games that his 133 wRC+ dipped all the way to just 92 at Double-A. Regardless of that, Castro earned a late-September promotion to Triple-A where he only had 38 plate appearances, but 10 total hits including 7 extra-base hits (4 doubles, 3 home runs)

Castro has ample experience at both middle infield positions as well as third base. Castro will have a hard time pushing through in the major leagues as a regular for the Pirates at any of those positions with the aforementioned Gonzales at the keystone, Peguero, and Cruz as the team’s top shortstop prospects, and Ke’Bryan Hayes locked down at third base. But Castro can provide a solid holdover for Gonzales and Peguero. Plus he is athletic and fast enough to make a move to left field if need be.

Castro may find it hard to find regular playing time with the Pirates, but he’d make a fine utility man with some power, and maybe even a trade chip if the Pirates decide to go down that route. Next year will be his age-23 season. With limited time at Triple-A and struggles in the major leagues, he probably gets a bit more time at Indianapolis. However, I’d expect him to be in the Major Leagues serving in some capacity for the Pirates by even late May.

Number 3 – right-handed pitcher Po-Yu Chen

Signed out of Taiwan in 2020 the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to land one of the country’s top high school prospects in the trade that sent Jarrod Dyson to the Chicago White Sox. In return, the Pirates got international bonus pool spending, which helped them sign Po-Yu Chen.

Chen looked outstanding during play at the Florida Complex League. He tossed 26 innings, allowing just 2 earned runs, zero walks, and struck out 29 batters. He was eventually promoted to A-Ball Bradenton, but things didn’t go all that well for the right-hander. Chen finished his 2021 with 16 innings of 10 ER, 12 walk, and 15 strikeout ball. Not the greatest ending, but still only a small sample size of 16 innings.

Chen is your command/control type pitcher. He currently only averages out in the 88-92 MPH range with his fastball, but it looks like a solid offering. His slider and curveball look like good offerings. He’ll occasionally throw a change-up, but he doesn’t use it very often. He has a good feel for his four-seamer and his breaking balls. He’s displayed some solid command as well, hitting his spots often.

Chen just turned 20 on October 2nd. The Taiwanese product stands at 6’2″, 187 pounds. It’s quite possible he reaches the 90-94 MPH range with his fastball by the time he fully matures physically. With good command and break on his pitches, even a small uptick in velocity could make his offerings that much better.

Number 2 – outfielder Shalin Polanco

One of the most notable international prospects during the 2020-2021 offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates landed outfielder Shalin Polanco on January 15th, 2021. He’s the youngest player in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system at just 17-years-old. He has a ways to go before he’s even close to being considered major league ready, but he has a ton of talent.

Polanco received his first 176 plate appearances of his professional career at the Florida Complex League. While he only hit .204/.284/.338 with a .307 wOBA, and 77 wRC+, he drew walks at a solid 10.4% mark while having a 39.8% flyball rate. He was the youngest player with the Pirates’ Complex League teams and it was just 176 plate appearances, so I wouldn’t worry too much about his overall performance.

Polanco’s 5’11″, 168 frame is very projectable. Many experts see a good amount of power potential within Polanco. Not only does he have plus bat speed, but he’s able to hit to all fields with authority. But he’s athletic enough to handle centerfield with a good enough glove and arm to remain there.

There is some swing-and-miss in his game. His mechanics need some polishing, which is one of the reasons he has some swing-and-miss. But once he gets everything set, he could be one of the Pirates’ future long-term outfielders, one who can provide some pop and plus defense in the outfield.

Number 1 – outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed the slugging outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco out of the Dominican Republic during the July 2018 signing deadline. Since arriving at the professional level, Nolasco has performed very well. In 2019, Nolasco put together a .302/.373/.472 line with a .405 wOBA, and 133 wRC+. The right-handed hitter only had a 7.1% walk rate, but an outstanding 11.6% strikeout rate. The only problem was that he had a tad high of a ground ball rate of 57.6%.

This past season, Nolasco got even better. He batted .284/.409/.552 with a .436 wOBA, and 150 wRC+. He also slammed 8 home runs in just 164 plate appearances (compared to just 5 in 225 PA’s the year prior. While his strikeout rate rose to 26.2%, his walk rate has rocketed up to over double his 2019 mark, all the way to 15.9%.

Nolasco’s batted ball rates were also majorly improved. His groundball rate decreased by over 15%, down to 41.7%. Plus his flyball rate rose to an identical 41.7% mark. This helped Nolasco post a strong .269 isolated slugging percentage, a near one-hundred point increase from 2019. He was on pace for almost 30 home runs in 600 plate appearances this year. He also had 8 doubles.

Nolasco projects as a power-hitting outfielder. FanGraphs currently sees both his game power and raw power reaching a 55-grade. Both already sit at a 50 at just 20-years-old. His hit tool projects as average, as well as his fielding ability and arm strength. Although not a bad fielder, once he fills out, he only projects as a 40-grade runner. He’s mainly played right field so far, but long term, he is a left fielder, albeit a good one at that.