Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect 2022 Outlook: Ricky DeVito

Ricky DeVito was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the summer and is an intriguing young arm in their deep, talented farm system

Acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a part of the Richard Rodríguez trade, right-handed pitcher Ricky DeVito is an intriguing arm to watch in the Pirate farm system. The 23-year-old DeVito was an 8th round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 2019 MLB Draft.

DeVito features a three-pitch mix. FanGraphs rates his fastball as a 50 grade pitch. His fastball sits in the 92-95 MPH range, can touch the upper 90’s, and averaged 2200 RPMs last season. DeVito also throws a curveball and a splitter, which FanGraphs rates as 45 and 55 grade pitches. FanGraphs gives DeVito a future value of 40+.

The 2021 season was a bit of a lost one for DeVito. Pitching at the High-A level for the first time he made 5 starts, pitching 20.1 innings. In these 20.1 innings pitched the righty posted a 2.66 ERA and a 3.57 FIP. DeVito walked 7.7% of batters faced, which was a new career low, to go with a career high 29.7% strikeout rate. He allowed just a 2 home runs in his 20.1 innings pitched.

However, the injury bug would cut DeVito’s season short. After just 5 starts DeVito suffered an injury that ended his season. Due to this, he has yet to make his pitching debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

This came after DeVito did not pitch in 2020 with the minor league season being canceled and him pitching just 36.2 innings across three levels in 2019. So, dating back to 2019, DeVito has pitched just 57 professional innings, which are all 57 innings of his professional career, and he has not pitched above the High-A level.

When the 2022 season begins it will be interesting to see where the Pirates send DeVito. One on hand it makes sense to have him start the season with High-A Greensboro as he only made 5 starts at the High-A level last season before injury ended his season.

On the other hand, at 23-years-old the Pirate may want to be more aggressive with DeVito despite him only having pitched 57 professional innings. It would not be a surprise to see the Pirates have DeVito start the season in the rotation for Double-A Altoona. Honestly, this is likely the best move to make with DeVito.

Wherever DeVito starts his 2022 season he will be a prospect worth following for Pirate fans. He has the three-pitch mix necessary to be a successful starting pitcher in the Majors. At worst, DeVito should be a very good reliever for the Pirates when his time for MLB action comes.