Pittsburgh Pirates: Best Performing Unrated Prospects

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system has it’s fair share of unranked prospects who are off to a good start to the 2022 campaign.

The Pittsburgh Pirates enter 2022 with one of, if not the best, farm system among all thirty MLB teams. They have at least a half dozen consensus top 100 prospects with more on the rise. Overall, they have a robust farm that should provide them with good players for the foreseeable future.

But what about the guys who don’t rank among the team’s best? The unranked guys making an impact with the Pirate minor league affiliates despite not being among the team’s top 30 or even top 50 prospects? The season is still young, and the playing time is nothing more than a small sample size, but it’s nice to see these guys doing well.

Infielder Jacob Gonzalez

Jacob Gonzalez was added by the Pittsburgh Pirates via the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft from the San Francisco Giants during December 2021. In the three seasons before being claimed, the infielder had an OPS above .700 just one time. Jacob is also the son of Luis Gonzalez, a five-time all-star and a franchise icon to the Arizona Diamondbacks. But so far, Jacob is off to a phenomenal start with Low-A Bradenton.

Through 67 plate appearances, Gonzalez has racked up 26 total hits. Among these hits are seven doubles and four home runs. Although he’s only drawn five walks, he’s also only struck out seven times. The infielder has consistently shown above-average raw power but has never translated that across an entire season.

When the Giants drafted Gonzalez in the second round of the 2017 draft, he was lauded for his outstanding power potential. MLB Pipeline named him the best prep power hitter. Gonzalez, who primarily played third base with some first base and left field intertwined during his tenure in the Giants’ organization, has only taken the field as a first baseman. His lack of range and average arm gave him a first baseman’s outlook when he was drafted.

Now, sure, it’s a small sample size from a 23-year-old at Low-A, but there are some late bloomers out there. While that’s not to say that Jacob will become what his father was, he has done well for a waiver claim. He could jump to High-A within the next few weeks if he keeps it up.