Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Three Relievers Off to a Strong Start

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of good pitching prospects, but these three relief prospects are off to good starts to 2022.

The Pittsburgh Pirates major league bullpen has been nothing short of phenomenal. Wil Crowe, David Bednar, and Dillon Peters have combined for 31.2 scoreless innings. Chris Stratton, Anthony Banda, and Heath Hembree have been a solid trio. But the Pirates could supplement the bullpen with some of their relief prospects.

Relief prospects aren’t usually on prospect boards. Most great relievers started their careers out as starting pitchers. But that doesn’t mean that all relief prospects turn out as busts. Some of the best relievers in the Pirates’ recent history, like Bednar, Mark Melancon and Tony Watson, were utilized as relievers in the minor leagues.

The season might still be young, but I want to take a look at three relief prospects who are off to good starts to the 2022 campaign. With that all out of the way, let’s get into our first arm.

Tyler Samaniego

Tyler Samaniego is a personal favorite prospect of mine. He’s a lefty with a wipeout slider and mid-to-upper-90’s fastball. Like with most young relievers, he’s not the best when it comes to command, but he can sure get his strikeouts.

Between his time with A-Ball Bradenton in 2021 and his 17.2 innings pitched at the University of South Alabama, the southpaw had a 41.2% strikeout rate. His walk rate was only 10.8%, but he allowed home runs at a 0.73 HR/9 rate. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Samaniego in the 15th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Needless to say, 2021 was a terrific year in Samaniego’s life.

The 23-year-old has kicked things off Greensboro Grasshoppers to open the 2022 campaign. So far, he only has 6.2 innings to his name but has surrendered just a single earned run while striking out seven batters. He’s also only allowed two batters to reach via free pass. He’s also kept opponents to a .125 batting average. Samaniego is a bit old to be at Greensboro, so he could get the bump to Altoona when summer rolls around.

Austin Roberts

Another guy we could see later this year is right-hander Austin Roberts. Roberts was an eighth-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2019. Despite his ugly ERA with the Grasshoppers in 2021, Roberts still had a 34.9% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Plus, he had a much healthier 4.04 xFIP, pointing to better things to come.

Despite already making his Triple-A debut, Roberts is currently stationed with the Altoona Curve. He’s resumed his role as a multi-inning reliever, having pitched six innings in 4 appearances. He’s only allowed one earned run but has 9 K’s. Walks haven’t been a massive issue either, with an 8.7% walk rate. While it is a small sample size of 23 batters faced, he has seen his K-rate increase while his walk rate remains constant.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Roberts, he was only hitting the low-90’s. But now, he sits closer to the 94-96 MPH range. He has topped out at 98 before. He also has a curveball that averages out with 2500 RPM of spin and a solid change-up. He could end up serving a similar role Wil Crowe is currently performing.