Pittsburgh Pirates: Best Performing Unrated Prospects

RHP Beau Sulser

Beau Sulser was the big story of Tuesday evening. The right-hander was seen as mostly organizational depth going into this year. A 10th-round pick in 2017, Sulser mainly had served as a relief pitcher for the first three years of his career from 2017 through 2019. Then in 2021, the Pirates had Sulser make the full-time move to the starting rotation.

Things could have gone better for the right-hander, to say the least. In 122.2 innings, Sulser struggled to the tune of a 5.65 ERA, 5.32 FIP, and 1.65 WHIP at Triple-A Indy. The right-hander only had an 18.4% walk rate while giving up free passes to 9.4% of batters faced. But the biggest culprit to his struggles was home runs, which he gave up at a 1.54-per-9 rate.

Sulser re-opened the season with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. He has pitched just 12.1 innings but has 14 Kstreikouts and just two walks. He also has just one home run surrendered, and three earned runs. FanGraphs noted that Sulser was getting a whole lot more swinging strikes, something he struggled to do in 2021.

This week, Sulser made his major league debut, tossing 2.2 innings, allowing three hits, but striking out four. The one walk was an intentional walk, and the two runs that scored were unearned after a throwing error by Michael Chavis.

Sulser throws a low-90s sinker that topped out at 93.7 MPH in his major league debut. He also throws a four-seamer around the same speed, but his sinker is used more often. His main breaking pitch is an upper-80s cutter, but his best offering is a low-80s change-up. His change was quite effective in his debut, getting five swinging strikes with it on Tuesday.

Sulser might be a soon-to-be-28-year-old non-prospect, but he looked terrific in his major league debut. The starting rotation could use some serious help, and he could end up getting a few starts in the majors if he can prove himself again in a multi-inning role.