Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Left-Handed Pitching Prospects Off to a Strong Start

The Pittsburgh Pirates have two left-handed pitching prospects who are off to good starts to the 2022 campaign.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have plenty of talented pitching depth. There’s a lot in the upper minors between Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, Carmen Mlodzinski, and Mike Burrows, along with the low minors like Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Po-Yu Chen. Most of these names are among the most recognizable in the Pirate system, but there are plenty more who deserve credit where credit is due.

Today, we will take a look at two left-handed pitchers who are off to an excellent start to the 2022 campaign. One was a prospect the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired during the 2020-2021 offseason, and another was an un-drafted free agent. These guys are underrated arms but have made the most of their situation and could be part of the team’s future.

Omar Cruz

Omar Cruz was one of the many prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates received in the Joe Musgrove trade. Although he was more of a throw-in to the trade, he’s steadily climbed the minor league ladder and is currently pitching for Double-A Altoona. He spent over half of his 2021 campaign with the Curve as well, so he might face a promotion to Triple-A once the Pirates promote someone like Roansy Contreras to the majors.

Cruz has been used in a swing-man role, starting two of his six total appearances. He’s only allowed seven earned runs through his 22 innings of work while having a phenomenal 31.5% strikeout rate. His walk rate might not explode off the page but sits at a solid 9.0% mark. Currently, he averages 3.50 strikeouts for every walk. The only downside of his season is that he’s allowed three home runs, leading to a sub-optimal 1.23 HR/9.

Cruz isn’t an overpowering guy. His fastball tops out around 92-93 MPH, but he does have good command and a great change-up. He also throws a curveball, but it’s only considered an average offering. Cruz may only have the outlook of a 6th starter/swingman role, but hey, Dillon Peters has pitched 16.2 scoreless innings with a good changeup.

Nick Dombkowski

It’s not every day that you find a diamond in the rough with an undrafted free agent. But Nick Dombkowski has proved to be a pretty solid pick-up. Dombkowski is a product of the University of Hartford. Although the southpaw didn’t post dominating numbers throughout college, he was good enough for the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a shot on him.

Dombkowski made his professional debut with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders, where he tossed 18.1 innings with eight earned runs, 23 strikeouts, and just six walks. He showed off some pretty good strikeout numbers and walk numbers as well, but he also gave up three homers. The homers were a slight concern, but it was a promising start to Dombkowski’s career nonetheless.

So far this season the southpaw has 15.2 innings under his belt with 27 strikeouts and just five walks. Home runs have seemed to be less of a problem for Dombkowski this year, as he’s surrendered just one. Dombkowski started the year with Bradenton but was promoted to Greensboro at the very end of April. Dombkowski, who is in his age-23 campaign, might see Double-A Altoona before the end of the season.