Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Best Left-Handed Pitchers in the System

Left-handed pitchers are always a nice commodity. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a few notable southpaws that could become part of the team’s longterm future.

Every team loves left-handed pitchers. A good southpaw is a commodity. The Pittsburgh Pirates have a few good left-handed hurlers in their system, so I wanted to look at the team’s best lefties throughout their minor league system.

Their best lefty is Anthony Solometo. Solomon was the first pick in the second round of the 2021 draft by the Bucs. However, he was an over-slot pick as he was projected to go in the second half of the first round. Solomento was highly praised for his command, as well as his deception. Solomon’s delivery and arm slot are somewhat reminiscent of Dontrell Willis and Madison Bumgarner.

Not only does Solometo have the deception and command, but he also has a great pitch arsenal. His four-seamer is already hitting the low-90’s and topping out around 94 MPH. By the time he reaches 22-24-years-old, we may be seeing a southpaw with a low delivery who can hit 93-96 MPH regularly. His change-up is another solid offering, but his two breaking balls will get him a ton of strikeouts. Solomon has both a slider and a slurve, both of which are plus-plus.

However, Solometo was a high school pick. He’s only 19-years-old, so it’ll be a good 3-5 years until we see him in the major leagues. But the best Major League lefty in the system is Omar Cruz. Cruz was acquired in the Joe Musgrove trade and could be in the running for a swingman role.

Cruz pitched 99.1 innings last season, posting a solid 3.44 ERA, 4.28 FIP, and 1.24 WHIP. Overall, Cruz didn’t excel nor did he struggle in any particular category. Cruz had a 23.4% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate, and 0.91 HR/9. Although Cruz’s underlying numbers may not stand out, he did well with the Padre low-minors teams before heading to the Pirates.

Cruz isn’t a hard thrower who only hits 88-92 MPH with his four-seam fastball. But he throws a great curveball and changeup. The lefty primarily relies on command and soft contact to get outs. Cruz has the makings of a back-of-the-rotation arm who could eat up innings. If he can command his stuff well, he could provide the Pirates with a solid lefty for the next handful of seasons.

Another MLB-ready southpaw the Pittsburgh Pirates have is Trey McGough. McGough and Cruz should be among Triple-A Indianapolis’ rotation to start the season, but both should be in the majors sometime in 2022.

McGough pitched 113 innings, posting a quality 3.13 ERA, 3.57 FIP, and 1.12 WHIP. McGough only had a 19.7% strikeout rate but excelled at locating the strike zone and preventing homers. McGough had just a 5.5% walk rate and 0.64 HR/9. McGough had a 48.8% groundball rate, which led to his low HR/9.

McGough throws just a bit harder than Cruz, sitting closer to 92-94 MPH. He also throws a slider, curveball, and change-up. His curve is the only pitch he throws that doesn’t project as average. Moving McGough to the bullpen might be the right move for him. He’d likely hit closer to 93-96 MPH as a reliever. In 2019 when the Pirates drafted him, he was solely used out of the pen where he had a 29.5% strikeout rate, so maybe we see him out of the pen before the rotation next season.

Arguably the top southpaw reliever prospect in the system is Tyler Samaniego. Samaniego was selected in the 15th round of the 2021 draft. Samaniego has shown a remarkable ability to strike batters out, striking out 15 of the first 28 batters he faced as a professional. He throws a mid-90’s fastball that can reach the upper-90’s, as well as a wipeout slider. His command isn’t anything to brag about like most relief prospects, but he’s nonetheless an intriguing arm to watch in 2022.

A few other interesting left-handers in the system are Nick Dombkowski, Cam Alldred, and Luis Peralta. Dombkowski was an undrafted free agent coming out of the University of Hartford. Although he was mainly a starter during college, Dombkowski made his first 11 appearances out of the pen at Bradenton. Alldred pitched 66 innings between Altoona and Indy. While his 2.18 ERA might look great, it came with a poor strikeout rate, walk rate, and so-so home run rate (1.0 per-9). But he still has a sub-3 ERA across three minor league campaigns. Peralta showed a good ability to strike out batters keep home runs to a minimum, all while having a 2.81 ERA. However, he did struggle with walks.

The Pittsburgh Pirates do have a few noteworthy left-handed pitching prospects in the system. They should find at least one good left-handed starter and left-handed reliever emerge from the bunch.