Pittsburgh Pirates: 3 Prospects Who Need to Rebound in 2022

In order to have consistent success, the Pittsburgh Pirates need to have a consistent pipeline of prospect talent.

Gone are the days of wandering what the Pittsburgh Pirates plan of action was going to be under the new Front Office.  The team has spent the better part of the last two years dismantling the Major League roster and bulking up the minor league system with prospect talent. Now it is time to see if Ben Cherington’s plan will actually work.

With 2022 upon us, the Pittsburgh Pirates should start competing a little more.  We have been told to wait until 2023, but if the team is truly going to be competitive in 2023 then they need to start showing signs of that this upcoming season.  How good they will actually be remains in question. A lot of the future success of this team will depend on how some of the young players progress.

This is why the team needs to make sure that they do not “miss” on prospects.  Obviously, this is naturally going to happen, but it seems like the Pittsburgh Pirates have had a lot of bad luck with this.  Maybe it is more under a microscope because the team has such little room for error.  However, the important thing will be to make sure they are still getting something out of the players even if they do not reach their true potential.  So who are 3 prospects that need to bounce back in 2022:

Pittsburgh Pirates Right-Handed Pitcher, Brennan Malone

Much like the aforementioned Eddie Yean, right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone also needs to have a strong bounce-back season. The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Malone from the Arizona Diamondbacks back in the 2019-2020 offseason.  The Bucs sent outfielder Starling Marte to the D’Backs in exchange for Malone and infielder Liover Peguero.

There was a lot of excitement about the deal as it seemed to be a really good deal for both sides.  The Bucs received two significant prospects in return for their veteran outfielder.  Peguero was viewed as a budding Top 100 prospect.  Malone was a first-round draft pick in 2019 and the second prep pitcher off the board, only behind Quinn Priester.

Malone is even more intriguing than Yean in terms of his raw potential.  He is big, standing at 6’4” and weighing around 205 pounds. Much like Yean, Malone has a power fastball that received a 60 value on FanGraphs. He also shows a plus curveball and slider and has a changeup for show. The questions around Malone will be about his control.

Malone was always viewed as having a ton of raw talent as a pitcher.  However, with power prep arms, control typically is an issue.  Malone has walked hitters at a 16.7% and 13% clip in his first two professional seasons. The other issue is the fact that he has barely pitched competitively since being Drafted.  He has only thrown 22 professional innings thus far.

Malone will be to actually get him onto the mound consistently.  Last year he started the year in Low-A but was sidelined relatively early on due to a blister.  From there, he struggled with his control and was reassigned to the Complex League to work on his mechanics and approach. Overall he had an ERA north of 5 through his 10.1 innings of work at Low-A.  For Malone to bounce back he needs to just get on the mound consistently.  If he can start throwing consistent innings then maybe we can see what he really is as a prospect.

Pittsburgh Pirates Outfielder, Hudson Head

Speaking of former prospect headliners in trade packages, outfielder Hudson Head is the last prospect on this list.  Head was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the San Diego Padres.  The Padres gave up Head in a three-team deal that sent right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove to the Padres.  The Mets were also a part of the deal acquiring pitcher Joey Luchessi and sending catching prospect Endy Rodriguez to the Bucs.

Much like Yean and Malone, Head was described as the most intriguing piece coming from the Padres.  A former first-round talent, Head has the makings of a 5-Tool outfielder.  On top of that, he is a left-handed batter, making him very projectable for PNC Park.

Head has received high marks for his pure athleticism and his raw power.  FanGraphs gives him plus raw power at 55 and 60 speed.  The belief is that he has a Future Value of 60 for his hit tool, which projects him to be a pretty food all-around hitter.

So why does Head need to bounce back in 2022?  Well, Head much like the other two prospects mentioned, has gotten off to a slow start with his new Organization.  Head played the full season at Low-A Bradenton but saw a significant change in his offensive numbers from 2019.

Of course, Head also did not play in 2020 so that could have impacted his play in 2021.  Head saw his strikeout rate jump from a respectable 20% to over 30%.  He also saw his batting average and OPS drop over 50 points each compared to 2019.  Head only batted .212 this year and his slugging dipped below .400.  The one positive is that Head’s walk rate was an impressive 16.7%.  Hopefully, this was a product of him having so much time away from game action and Head can find some consistency in 2022.