Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Potential 2022 Rotation at Double-A Altoona
By Noah Wright
Ricky DeVito
Another prospect the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired via trade, Ricky DeVito, was sent over to Pittsburgh, alongside Bryse Wilson, in exchange for Richard Rodriguez. The Braves had selected DeVito in the 8th round of the 2019 draft. While he may not have been an early-round pick, DeVito brings an interesting pitcher to the organization.
2022 will likely be the right-hander’s first entire professional season. Last year, DeVito was limited to just 20.1 innings because of injuries. However, those 20.1 innings were effective. He allowed just 6 earned runs on two home runs, seven walks, and 19 hits. But he also struck out 29.7% of batters faced and induced ground balls 66% of the time.
DeVito throws three offerings, all of which FanGraphs projects average or better. Among the trio of pitches, the most interesting is his splitter. It’s a 60-grade offering in which he throws with great break. DeVito throws around the same speed as Florencio, sitting in the 92-95 MPH range and topping out at 97. He also throws a solid curveball. The ladder two offerings he has come in with 50-projected grades.
The issue is that DeVito’s command is spotty at best, at least right now. That could be a significant deciding factor as to whether or not he remains as a starting pitcher or three-pitch reliever. However, with his three offerings being average or better, it would be great if he remained in the rotation long-term.