Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: All-International Free Agent Team

Left Field – Rodolfo Nolasco

Signed as a 16-year-old back in 2018, Rodolfo Nolasco has become one of the Pittsburgh Pirates best power-hitting prospects. Nolasco had a good start to his pro career back in 2019 when he had a .846 OPS, .405 wOBA, and 133 wRC+ through his first 225 plate appearances. However, he would further build off of that in 2021.

His next 164 plate appearances saw the powerful outfielder put his pop on full display. Nolasco hit .284/.409/.552 with a .436 wOBA, and 150 wRC+. Nolasco made some massive improvements compared to 2019. The first thing is he hit eight home runs and had a .269 ISO. He hit just 5 in 2019 with a .171 ISO. The second thing was his walk rate rose by over double from 7.1% to 15.9%. Next was his batted ball rates. The biggest improvement he made was dropping his ground ball rate to 41.7% after approaching 60% in 2019 (57.6%). This also meant a massive boost in his fly ball rate (27.1% to 41.7%) and line drive rate (15.3% to 16.7%).

The only significant downgrade from 2019 to 2021 was his strikeout rate. He went down on strike three at a phenomenal 11.6% rate in ‘19 but 26.2% of the time in 2021. Hopefully, this isn’t a trend and a cause from a small sample size. If he can get it below 25%, he’ll be fine long-term. However, it isn’t unusual for large framed young players to have a higher strikeout rate than usual.

Nolasco’s raw power potential makes him a guy you could rely on for 30 home runs a year in the future. He has 60-future grades for both his game and raw power. He also has a solid hit tool and is an average fielder in the corners. He already isn’t swift and might slow down even more as he ages. He should remain an outfielder despite his limited range but an overall solid glove and a strong arm.