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 Piraters Right-Handed Pitcher, Eddie Yean

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Eddie Yean from the Washington Nationals last December.  The deal came out of nowhere and quickly set the tone for what would be an active offseason.  Along with Yean, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired right-handed pitcher Will Crowe in exchange for Josh Bell. At the time of the deal, many viewed it as a mixed result with the saying “time will tell”.

The intrigue in Yean makes sense.  He has everything one would want in a starting pitching prospect.  He is projectable standings at 6’2” and weighs around 185 pounds.  To go along with that he has an electric arm with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and has reached into the upper 90s. FanGraphs gives his fastball a Future Value Grade of 60 which is great to see for a 20-year-old.  They also project him to have a plus offering in his slider and changeup.

The big question around Yean is whether or not he will be able to harness his stuff.  This issue showed up during his first year in the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization.  In 2021, Yean pitched to an ERA of 5.23, which was much his 2019 ERA of 3.50.  He did not pitch in 2020 which could have played a part in his struggles this past season.

The bigger concern is that he walked over 13% of opposing hitters, a high mark for a potential starter.  Yean needs to settle in this year.  He was brought in to be a potential impact starting pitching prospect and found himself shifted to the bullpen in 2021.  Yean will likely get another chance to start in 2022 and he needs to show that he has taken a step forward.

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.