Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Season Recap: Carter Bins

After being acquired from the Seattle Mariners at the trade deadline last season catcher Carter Bins struggled with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization

In late July the Pittsburgh Pirates traded starting pitcher Tyler Anderson to the Seattle Mariners. In return for the veteran left-handed pitcher the Pirates received catching prospect Carter Bins from the M’s.

Prior to being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates the right-handed hitting catcher was playing for the Double-A affiliate the Arkansas Travelers. This came after starting the season with the High-A Everett AquaSox.

Bins had 185 plate appearances in 40 games played at the High-A level. Bins hit for a .284/.422/.493 slash line to go with a 147 wRC+, .209 isolated power (ISO) and a 9.2% extra base hit rate. He had a borderline elite 17.3% walk rate, although is 29.2% strikeout rate was certainly concerning.

The Double-A debut of Bins came with the Travelers on July 8th. Bins went on to accumulate 114 PAs in 28 games played between the Travelers and the Altoona Curve after joining the Pirate organization.

At the Double-A level Bins struggled hitting for a .144/.325/.200 slash line to go with a wRC+ of 63 and an ISO of .056. Bins continued to struggle with the swing-and-miss striking out at a 28.9% clip. However, he continued to draw walks at an elite rate, walking at a 19.3% rate at the Double-A level.

Looking ahead to 2022 Bins should begin the season as the Curve catcher once again. Bins will look to find his footing at the Double-A level after struggling with 2022. This will be vital for Bins as the 23-year-old looks to move up in the Pirate farm system.

The long-term future for Bins appears to be as a backup catcher in the Majors. There are questions about both his offense and his defense, although reports are his defense has improved. But a backup catcher who can draw walks and hit for some power appears to be his ceiling.

Bins is also Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason. This means the Pittsburgh Pirates will need to add him to the 40-man roster. With the Pirate farm system having no catching prospects in the upper levels Bins should be a safe bet to be added to the 40-man roster.