Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Three Young Pitchers to Watch in 2022

Many of the Pittsburgh Pirates best pitching prospects are under-20 years old, but there are some underrated arms in this age group as well.

For the past few years the Pittsburgh Pirates have used the first-year player draft and international signings to add quite a few notable arms to the organization. Many of the under-20 group make up some of the organization’s best pitching prospects.

Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Owen Kellington headlined some Pirates top pitchers from this past draft. They went on to sign Hung Leng Chang and Pitterson Rosas as their two most notable pitching prospects from the international signing date. But many other under-20 pitching prospects aren’t getting the same attention as these players are.

The system isn’t just limited to Solometo, Chandler, Kellington, Chang, or Pitterson. Nor is it limited to the MLB-ready or near MLB-ready arms like Roansy Contreras, Carmen Mlodzinski, Miguel Yajure, Quinn Priester, or Max Kranick. They have plenty of good pitchers in Low-A and below in the under-20 age group that deserves some recognition.

Carlos Jimenez

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Carlos Jimenez back in July 2018, his age-15 season. Jimenez would make his professional debut the following season, his age-16 campaign. Despite his extremely young age, Jimenez has put up quality results in the innings he has pitched so far.

In 73.1 innings, Jimenez has a 2.82 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.27 WHIP. Jimenez has been great at getting swings and misses while preventing the home run. He has a 28.3% strikeout rate and 0.49 HR/9. But command hasn’t been his strongest suit. He has dished out a walk to 10.2% of all the batters he has faced.

Jimenez has gotten rave reviews for his changeup. The pitch has late break on his arm side, and some even consider it the best changeup in the Pirate organization. He also throws a fastball that rides through the zone well. His breaking pitch is a slider/slurve that has some bite. It’s a good repertoire for one of the youngest pitchers in the organization.

Jimenez carries under the radar talent that could help him blossom into a major league pitcher. He’s still young as 2022 will only be his age-19 season. But you can’t help but be intrigued by a guy who’s only 19-years-old and an elite-level change-up already. If he improves one of his other two offerings, he could, at the very least, be a good reliever, and he could be an excellent starter as well.

Cristopher Cruz

Cristopher Cruz was one of the Pirates’ top signings in the 2019-2020 offseason. Cruz was considered the best Dominican pitcher when the Pittsburgh Pirates signed him back in 2019. He was ranked as the 20th best international prospect by FanGraphs while coming in at #25 per MLB Pipeline.

The Bucs signed Cruz to an $850,000 deal. Cruz’s first bout against professional hitters saw him take his lumps. In 29.1 innings, the right-hander had a 6.44 ERA, 6.23 FIP, more walks than strikeouts (23/25 K/BB ratio). However, there were some silver linings. He had a 47.2% ground ball rate, .61 HR/9, and 15.7% LD%.

Cruz currently averages out in the low-90’s. It has some late sinking break to it and has plus potential. His curveball and change-up are also considered pitches with average to above-average offerings. Cruz just turned 19-years-old back on January 6th, so he has plenty of time to develop fully.

Cruz stands at a projectable 6-foot-2, 170 pounds. Once he cleans up his delivery and adds some muscle, he could be a guy who grows into a fastball that sits around 93-95 MPH. The right-hander has projectability and talent on his side.