Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Five Super Sleepers to Watch

RHP Nic Laio

Nic Laio is by far the name that we’ve brought up the fewest here at Rum Bunter. A minor league phase Rule 5 Draft pick, Laio was originally a 20th round pick by the Texas Rangers. The right-hander’s first full season was an interesting one, to say the least.

Let’s start with the positives. Laio showed an ability to get a ton of strikeouts and avoid the walk. He had a 32.9% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate. Among the Rangers’ farmhands who tossed at least 50 innings, he was second in strikeout rate and K/BB ratio at 4.94. He also boasted a solid 3.40 xFIP and 1.296 WHIP.

Now the downside. Although Laio was getting strikeouts, he also gave up many home runs. He had a 2.2 HR/9 rate, including a 2.7 mark at High-A in 30 innings of work. All told, Laio had a 5.43 ERA and 5.20 FIP.

Laio worked as a starter in college and has primarily worked in long relief as a major league pitcher. Although he pitched more than 50 innings, he only made 24 total appearances. Only one of his games was a start. He’s increased his velo to reach the 93-95 MPH range to go with a slider with late break. Laio needs to improve his change-up if he wants any chance at starting, but his solid slider/fastball mix will be enough to be a bullpen arm.

Now there is some hope for improvement from Laio. To go along with his solid xFIP, he also had the 4th highest HR/FB ratio in the league. Although he’s been susceptible to the fly ball and line drive, he still had a usable 41.4% ground ball rate.

Laio is 24-years-old, meaning that we could see him in the majors in 2022. He’d likely be slated for the long-relief role until he can prove he can handle more high leverage situations. Though if he becomes a right-hander who can provide multiple innings at a time out of the pen, and possibly the occasional start with an ERA in the 3.50-3.80 range, that would end up being a very good Rule 5 pick.