Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Potential 2022 Lineup for Double-A Altoona

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system is loaded with prospects. The upper minors will hold many of these high-end prospects, including at Double-A Altoona.

The Pittsburgh Pirates upper minor leagues are very strong. Previously, we’ve taken a look at what prospects could reach Triple-A and what the overall roster could look like. It was quite strong with advanced prospects such as Oneil Cruz, Roansy Contreras, Carmen Mldozinski, Travis Swaggerty, Ji-Hwan Bae, Diego Castillo, Tucupita Marcano, and many more all having a very good chance of starting 2022 at Indianapolis (if teams must keep prospects down in the minors to start the year because of service time).

However, Double-A Altoona looks to also be a very strong group of players. Their line-up consists of many high-end prospects, and some that could be future stars within the next year or two. Double-A is, after all, just two steps from the major leagues.

What could Double-A Altoona’s lineup look like to open the 2022 season?

Catcher: Carter Bins

In all likelihood, the chances that Carter Bins stays as Altoona’s primary catcher for most of 2022 are low. With the likes of Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Abrahan Gutierrez likely starting the season at High-A Greensboro, Bins is more or less just a placeholder until one of that trio is ready to make the jump to the majors. Nonetheless, Bins is still one of the system’s more notable backstop prospects.

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Bins from the Seattle Mariners as one of the two players for Tyler Anderson. Bins got off to a great start to the year at the Seattle’s High-A affiliate. In 185 trips to the plate, Bins posted a strong .284/.442/.493 line with a .410 wOBA, and 127 wRC+. Before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bins received 43 plate appearances with the M’s Double-A team, but had just 2 hits, albeit with 10 walks.

Bins didn’t find the power stroke he had to start the season with Altoona, at least not yet. He posted a poor .200/.333/.236 line with a .279 wOBA, and 71 wRC+. Bins still had a phenomenal 15.2% walk rate but struck out 28.8% of the time while having just 2 extra-base hits in 66 trips to the plate.

Bins is a bat-first backstop. He projects to have above-average raw power, but a 40-grade hit tool. Fielding-wise, he’s about average with a powerful arm. He’s quite athletic for a backstop and played some first base and left field in college.

Carter’s first showing with the Pittsburgh Pirates wasn’t good. But he’ll still be 23-years-old to start 2022. If he gets off to a hot start, he’ll likely be moved to Triple-A by mid-May or earlier to make room for one of the organization’s more noteworthy catching prospects at Greensboro. However, his chances of earning the position could be compromised by Blake Sabol who performed well at Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro.