Pittsburgh Pirates: Best Prospect From Each Country

Baseball is a very diverse sport and the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system has plenty of players from around the world. Who are the best from each country?

Baseball is a game played throughout the world. Although it originated in the United States, it has since spread across the globe. It’s arguably more popular in Asian countries like Japan and South Korea than here in the United States.

Major League Baseball is a very diverse professional sports league, given how widespread baseball is. Over 30% of players on major league Opening Day rosters were not born in the United States, and every team has multiple players that were not born on US soil, which extends to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirate prospect list is filled with high-end talent from all over the world. They’ve drafted, traded for, and signed many prospects to make a phenomenal farm system. They’ve also been one of the most diverse teams in MLB history. They put together the first-ever all-minority line-up and had the first MLB players from South Africa and Lituania debut. They were also the only team who did not vote to boycott games against the Brooklyn Dodgers when they signed Jackie Robinson and hired Branch Rickey (the man who signed Robinson).

Today, I want to look at the best prospect from every country represented in the Pirate organization. Two countries that aren’t represented in the organization despite being baseball powerhouses are Cuba and Japan. Just to preface, the list we will look at today isn’t in any particular order.

United States – Catcher Henry Davis

Baseball was born in the United States. While it may no longer be as popular as it once was, it’s still a beloved sport in the country’s culture. It was a pretty close decision for Henry Davis, who was born in New York, and second baseman Nick Gonzales, who hails from Arizona. However, most publications rank Davis over Gonzales, and we had Gonzales at no. 3 and Davis at no. 2 in our pre-season rankings.

Davis was first overall in the 2021 amateur draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The backstop prospect bulldozed college pitching. He hit .337/.435/.565 with a .439 wOBA during his time at Louisville. This also came with 21 home runs and a 52:46 BB:K ratio. Once Davis reached the professional level, he had eight hits in his first 31 plate appearances. Three of his hits were homers, with two doubles and a triple. Plus, he had four walks.

Davis’s power potential is through the roof. He has 70-projected grades for both his game power and raw power. He also has an above-average hit tool per MLB Pipeline and average projected tool per FanGraphs. Davis has a powerful arm, one that would-be base stealers have to think twice about when running on. MLB Pipeline also praised his footwork behind the dish.

His biggest issue is his overall defensive prowess. He has struggled to catch higher-end stuff and has issues with framing, blocking, and overall reaction. Though framing might not be an issue given the increasing use of automated and digital strike zones throughout pro baseball. Still, the blocking and reaction issues need to be resolved.

Davis has improved his defensive ability, though he still rests well into the below-average territory. At worst, he splits his time at catcher and designated hitter. Davis’s prodigious power potential could give him 40 homers a year with a .280 average. He will also get on base at a healthy rate with plus plate discipline.

Dominican Republic – Shortstop Oneil Cruz

The Dominican Republic is a baseball powerhouse. In 2021, there were 98 total players from the DR who started the year on Opening Day rosters. That was 34 more than Venezuela, the second most. Of the 830 players to play in the MLB from the Dominican Republic, four have made the Hall Of Fame, with many more like Adrian Beltre, Albert Pujols, and possibly Jose Ramirez eventually joining them. 15 of the 61 total prospects on FanGraphs Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect list are from the Dominican Republic. Among those 15, Oneil Cruz is considered the best.

Cruz flew up prospect boards this past year. The shortstop started the year at Double-A, where he had a quality .882 OPS, .377 wOBA, and 136 wRC+. He also had a dozen home runs in 273 plate appearances and a .244 isolated slugging percentage. While that might look good, everything he did in his small sample size at Triple-A pales in comparison.

Cruz only had 29 plate appearances but 11 hits. Five of those hits were home runs and he added a double. Cruz also drew 8 walks. To put it simply, he did something productive in 19 of his 29 trips to the plate. That earned Cruz a promotion to the majors during the last series of the year, where he had three hits in 9 at-bats. One was a home run on one knee, and another was the 7th hardest-hit ball in all of MLB.

MLB Pipeline recently highlighted Cruz’s athleticism. He might be 6’7″, 210 pounds, but he moves exceptionally well and has a real chance of staying at shortstop. He’s a capable defender there, but the only reason he might end up at another position is because of the multitude of shortstop prospects behind Cruz. His arm can play anywhere, as he has an 80-grade for that.

One of the few worries some had about Cruz was his hit tool. He always had so-so walk and strikeout rates but has consistently hit above .285. Plus, both his walk and strikeout rate have moved in the right directions over the past few seasons. So even if Cruz only ends up being a .260-.270 hitter, he’s arguably the best power-hitting prospect in all of baseball.

Venezuela – RHP Miguel Yajure

Like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela is also a baseball powerhouse. 438 players have come out of Venezuela; however, surprisingly, there is only one Venezuelan Hall of Famer. That’s Luis Aparicio, but all-time great Miguel Cabrera will likely join him once he retires.

Currently, the best Venezuelan prospect the Pirates have is right-hander Miguel Yajure. When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Yajure, he was a notable prospect coming out of the New York Yankee system. He was joined with three other prospects (one of which was now consensus top 100 prospect Roansy Contreras) was sent to the Pirates in the Jameson Taillon swap.

Yajure only pitched 58.2 innings between Triple-A Indianapolis and the major leagues. He had a solid 3.09 ERA, 4.35 FIP, and 1.05 WHIP at Indy. On the plus side, he did have a much better 4.15 xFIP mark. Throughout the minors, he’s shown a strong ability to command his offerings and limit home runs.

We’d probably be talking about Diego Castillo, the Pittsburgh Pirates second-best Venezuelan-born prospect, right now had it not been for an injury that kept Yajure out for a good chunk of 2021. The injury took a toll on the right-hander as he was hitting 91-94 MPH at the beginning of the year and was only around 89-90 MPH at the very end of the season.

Still, a healthy offseason could do good for the right-hander. Yajure has six offerings, three of which play at an above-average level. That includes his fastball, change-up, and cutter. He’ll also throw a curveball, two-seamer, and slider. He uses his sinking two-seamer almost exclusively against right-handed hitters. That’s another trio of average offerings. His cutter is the best among his pitches as it’s a 60-grade projected pitch. His four-seamer and changeup are 55-projected pitches.

If Yajure can get back to the 90-95 MPH range he showed early in the season this year, he may end up as a high-end no. 3 starting pitching. Think of something akin to a Marcus Stroman-lite. Overall, he’s a solid prospect who will look to prove himself next season.

South Korea – INF/OF Ji-Hwan Bae

The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t initially sign Ji-Hwan Bae out of South Korea. He was actually an Atlanta Braves prospect before going to the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, the Braves were forced to release Bae during John Copperla’s international signing scandal, and that’s when the Pirates scooped up the Korean infielder.

Korea has produced many professional players who have eventually made their way over to the MLB. Given that they have their own league, the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), it’s not surprising that baseball is very popular in Korea.

Bae currently ranks as one of the organization’s top 15 prospects. Last season he spent most of the season at Double-A Altoona, where he had a .278/.359/.413 line, .343 wOBA, and 114 wRC+. He was a comfortably above-average hitter who got on base and hit for average. Plus, he did show some improving power. His .134 ISO was a noticeable increase from 2019, when he had a .107 mark.

Bae’s ability to hit for average and reach base at a healthy rate helps his speed play way up. He’s already very fast, a 65-grade runner per FanGraphs, but he can make that speed a deadly tool if he gets on-base at a .350+ rate. He had a 10.4% walk rate and swiped 20 bases in 28 attempts.

Bae has mainly played second base and shortstop throughout his minor league career. However, the Pirates are starting to give him more time in center field. Last year, he recorded 79.2 innings in center, plus 86 more innings at the Arizona Fall League. Bae’s athleticism and speed play well in center, and given the amount of middle infield talent the Pirates have, it’s an understandable move.

This season for Bae will be in his age-22 season. However, with him starting the year at Triple-A Indianapolis, we should see him at the major league level by summer. What position he will play will likely depend on the major league situation. If any of Diego Castillo, Hoy Park (another South Korean infielder/outfielder), Michael Chavis, Cole Tucker, Rodolfo Castro, or Kevin Newman start the year out hot, he may make his debut in the grass.

Taiwan – RHP Po-Yu Chen

Taiwan has only seen 16 players appear in the MLB, but the Pirates have a handful of Taiwanese prospects. They scooped up right-hander Hung-Leng Chang this past international signing deadline to join infielder Tsung-Che Cheng and top Taiwanese prospect Po-Yu Chen.

The Pirates signed Po-Yu Chen with international signing money they acquired in the Jarrod Dyson trade. So far, that trade has looked like a massive win for the Bucs. At the time, he was considered Taiwan’s best prospect. Last year, Chen started the year out with the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate, where he looked like Cy Young 2.0.

In 26 innings, he gave up two earned runs, had 29 K’s, and no home runs surrendered. The most impressive part? He didn’t give up a single walk. However, he struggled mightily once he got to A-Ball. He only pitched 16 innings but gave up 12 walks, ten earned runs, and two home runs. Still, both were small sample sizes.

Chen isn’t a hard thrower but was already hitting 90-93 MPH as a teenager. He’ll never be an Aroldis Chapman, but by the time he’s 22-23-years-old, he might be hitting closer 91-94 MPH and topping out around 95-96 MPH. He also throws a curveball that resides in the low-to-mid-70’s, along with a splitter. While he doesn’t have one elite-level offering, all of his pitches play at an average level and could play up because of his excellent command.

Chen is one of the more interesting pitchers in the Pirate system. He’ll start the year out at Bradenton and could end up being a very solid MLB pitcher. He’s still years away, but he’s one guy to keep an eye on over the next handful of years.

Colombia – RHP Santiago Florez

Columbia has produced 28 total players. While they’ve never produced a Hall Of Famer, the Pirates do have the second-best player to ever come out of Colombia and play in the United States, that being Jose Quintana. Quintana has the second most bWAR of all time among Colombian-born players. But we’re not here to talk about Quintana. We’re here to look at right-hander Santiago Florez.

Santiago Florez was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2017. After a few mediocre years from 2017 through 2019, Florez looked like he was on his way to figuring things out in 2021. His first 52.2 innings of the season saw him post a 1.37 ERA, 2.07 FIP, and 0.85 WHIP. He struck out well over a third of batters faced with a 34.6% strikeout rate while having a quality 6.8% walk rate. The best part of all of this? He didn’t allow a single home run. That is correct; no home runs in over 50 innings of work.

This earned him a promotion to High-A Greensboro, but things didn’t go so well for him there. He pitched 43 total innings posting a 7.53 ERA, 6.49 FIP, and 1.81 WHIP. His strikeout rate plummeted to just 18%, while his walk rate shot up to 10.5%. Meanwhile, he would go on to surrender nine home runs. Granted, he did have some bad batted ball luck with a .366 BAbip, as well as playing in a hitter-friendly environment, but Florez still has plenty of questions to answer moving forward.

Florez has some truly elite-level stuff. His four-seamer sits in the low-to-mid-90’s but averages out with over 2400 RPM. Meanwhile, his curveball comes in with 2800 RPM. They’re both projected to be 60-grade offerings. The thing is, that’s all he throws.

Florez has all the hallmarks of a reliever: two excellent pitches and so-so command. So far, he’s only made three professional appearances out of the bullpen, but he may just very well end up as a late-inning arm in Altoona next year. 2022 is his age-22 season, and while there is a chance another team scoops him up in the Rule 5 draft, it’s not very likely.

Australia – Outfielder Solomon Maguire

Australia isn’t a big baseball powerhouse of a country, with only 33 players appearing in the major leagues from Down Under. Some successful players have come out of Australia, including Liam Hendriks, Grant Balfour, and Peter Moylan. However, despite the few players that come out of Australia, the Pittsburgh Pirates did add a prospect from Australia during the 2019-2020 off-season when they signed outfielder Solomon Maguire.

Maguire was one of their more notable international signings. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for just under $600,000 at $594,000. The athletic outfielder made his professional debut last season at the organization’s Florida Coast League affiliate.

Maguire only had a .580 OPS, albeit in a small sample size of 59 plate appearances. On the plus side, he did have a healthy 16.9% walk rate and was a bit unlucky on batted balls. His BAbip sat at just .156. Maguire was very fly ball heavy with a fly ball rate over 50% at 51.6%.

According to FanGraphs, he’s a crude but athletic outfielder with great bat control. MLB Pipeline also highlighted his power potential. He showed plus potential in the power department and good bat speed for a teenager. Maguire gets good reviews for his speed and projects to stay in center field long term.

Maguire is one of the Pirates’ best-unranked prospects. He and Braylon Bishop are two very talented unranked, highly athletic, centerfield prospects with plus power potential. He’s still young as he’ll turn 19 on March 4th, but it’ll be fun to see what he can do moving forward.

Bahamas – RHP Tahnaj Thomas

The Bahamas have very little representation in Major League Baseball. Only eight players have ever appeared in the MLB from the Bahamas, with all but 2 coming before 1985. Another player could join their ranks in right-hander Tahnaj Thomas.

Acquired back in the 2018-2019 off-season, Thomas was part of the deal that got the Pirates Erik Gonzalez. Thomas is a big, athletic right-hander who transitioned to the mound from shortstop. He has a big fastball that can hit triple-digits, as well as a great slider. The issue is he has no good third offering nor good command.

The right-hander pitched 60.2 innings at High-A Greensboro but struggled to the tune of a 5.19 ERA, 6.49 FIP, and 1.58 WHIP. Despite his powerful stuff, Thomas only had a 22.1% K-rate. But it was clear command was a massive problem. He allowed walks at a 12.5% rate and 1.93 HR/9 rate.

Thomas had a great year in 2019 and has shown talent as a potential future reliever. Thomas has a lot of risk, and the Pirates opted not to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. If and when the draft happens, Thomas could end up being selected. He’s almost a perfect fit of the Rule 5 pitcher: a physically strong athlete with extremely raw but extremely powerful stuff. Regardless of where he ends up, whether that’s with the Pittsburgh Pirates or another team, he’ll likely be the 9th player from the Bahamas to play in the majors.

Panama – RHP Joaquin Tejada

Panama has produced many players, some being the greatest of all time. Legendary closer Mariano Rivera hails from Panama, as does Minnesota Twins Hall Of Fame second baseman/first baseman Rod Carew. One of the greatest Pirates of all time, Manny Sanguillen, also was born in Panama. Joaquin Tejada is the Pirates’ best Panamanian-born prospect.

The Pirates acquired the right-hander at the 2021 trade deadline. He was sent with backstop Carter Bins from the Seattle Mariners to the Pirates for left-handed pitcher Tyler Anderson. Tejada was a notable international signing by the M’s back in 2019. This year, the right-hander made his pro-debut with the Mariners and Pirates’ Dominican Summer League teams but only pitched 28.2 innings, posting a 4.40 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. On the bright side, he did have a .63 HR/9 and 24.3% strikeout rate. An interesting fact on Tejada is that he played in the Little League World Series in 2016.

Tejada is still a very young right-hander. He’s still only 18-years-old and won’t turn 19 until July. However, he’s already displayed four offerings with plus potential. This includes a fastball, curveball, slider, and splitter. Like Chen, while Tejada is only hitting 90-92 MPH now, he might be closer to 92-94 MPH when he reaches 21-23-years-old.

FanGraphs has praised Tejada for his athleticism on the mound as well as the spin he can put on his breaking ball. He averaged around 2900 RPM on his slider and curve, which helps add some wicked break to his slider. Baseball America also highlighted Tejada as a sleeper prospect.

Again, Tejada is very young. Like many young pitchers, he’s a high-ceiling arm that needs more development. He should get plenty of that under the Pittsburgh Pirates’ new regime. He’ll probably see time at Rookie-Ball next season.

Other countries represented in the organization

So far, the prospects we talked about are ranked among the organization’s best. But there are a handful of other countries with representatives in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. While there isn’t much to go off of with these prospects, I still want to highlight every country represented within the farm.

Nicaragua – Outfielder Heiron Montalban

Nicaragua has been the birthplace to 15 MLB players. The most successful of which is Dennis Martinez. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Heiron Montalban back in 2019. He made his pro debut last season, racking up nine hits and seven walks in only 48 plate appearances. He is already listed at 6’1, 215 LBS, giving him a sturdy frame. While he hasn’t shown it in-game yet, he’s been praised for his above-average power with the potential to add more pop.

Aruba – RHP Antwone Kelly

Aruba is the country that has the second least amount of MLB players we will be looking at today. Only six have come out of Aruba, though Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogarts has been the most successful among all 6. Antwone Kelly is the lone Aruba representative in the Pirate organization. He’s a talented arm who had a 24.5% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate, and gave up just two long balls in 37 innings of work. He’s reportedly hit 97 MPH at the Florida Complex League. If the velocity is real, he might become a real name to watch.

Brazil – RHP Juan Santos

While Aruba had the second least amount of MLB representatives, Brazil has the least, with just five players ever appearing at the game’s highest level. The most successful is backstop Yan Gomes. The lone representative the Pittsburgh Pirates have is right-hander Juan Santos. Santos only pitched 7.2 innings at the FCL but allowed six earned runs.