Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Anthony Solometo Set to Debut at Low-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates top left-handed pitching prospect Anthony Solometo will make his first professional start with Low-A Bradenton.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been making some big promotions throughout the system over the past few weeks. Top catching prospect and 1/1 2021 pick Henry Davis was promoted to Double-A Altoona a few weeks ago. Matt Gorski has recently reached Double-A, and the Pirates just promoted right-handers Roansy Contreras and Yerry De Los Santos to the major leagues. The Pirates made another notable promotion, getting Anthony Solometo his first work at Low-A Bradenton.

Solometo’s first professional start will come on Friday against Fort Myers, the Minnesota Twins’ Low-A affiliate. The news of Solometo’s promotion and when the first start of the season was first broken by Rum Bunter’s own Kody Duncan Monday afternoon.

Solometo was the Pirate second round draft pick from last year’s draft. The southpaw was one of the Pittsburgh Pirates many over slot picks, signing for $2,797,900 when his slot value was $1,999,300. He was the 37th overall pick, but MLB Pipeline had ranked him as the 17th best prospect in the draft class. Solometo was committed to South Carolina, which caused some teams to pass him up.

Solometo was arguably the best command pitcher in last year’s draft. The only other player who had better command was Gunner Hoglund. Solometo averages out in the low-90s, but can crank it up into the mid-90s when he needs to. He also throws a very good slider, slurve, and decent change-up. His command might be a big selling point, but his decetive wind-up and arm slot add even more difficulty for opposing hitters.

Solometo’s wind-up is something akin to a Dontrell Willis leg kick with a Madison Bumgarner delivery/arm slot. There are a lot of moving parts, but Solometo makes it work. He is currently the Pirates’ 15th best prospect on FanGraphs, but the team’s 8th best prospect by MLB Pipeline’s standards.

Solometo has yet to appear in a game, so this will be his first look against pro batters in a competitve setting. He’s still just 19-years-old and won’t turn 20 until December. However, he has some of the most talent in the system, among the Pirates’ pitching prospects.