Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Underrated Prospects Who Are Hot

BRADENTON, FLORIDA - MARCH 16: Carmen Mlodzinski #83 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a picture during the 2022 Photo Day at LECOM Park on March 16, 2022 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
BRADENTON, FLORIDA - MARCH 16: Carmen Mlodzinski #83 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a picture during the 2022 Photo Day at LECOM Park on March 16, 2022 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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Pittsburgh Pirates
BRADENTON, FLORIDA – MARCH 16: Bligh Madris #91 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a picture during the 2022 Photo Day at LECOM Park on March 16, 2022 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Outfielder Bligh Madris

Bligh Madris is an outfielder who doesn’t appear on many prospect radars but is still worth mentioning as a guy who deserves a shot in the majors. Madrid spent the 2021 campaign at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he posted solid numbers, including a .272/.352/.434 line, .347 wOBA, and 111 wRC+. Mardis started the year at Triple-A once again, and while he is now knocking on an opportunity in the bigs, he didn’t start the year off as such.

Madrid had a terrible April where he batted .200/.282/.257. Although he walked at a 10.3% rate, he also struck out at a 30.8% rate. Madrid didn’t start the year as badly as Lopez, but a .256 wOBA and 52 wRC+ isn’t anything to be proud about either way.

But in the last month, Madris has turned things around in a big way. The outfielder has hit .283/.377/.533. Madrid is walking a fair bit more often with a 13% walk rate, but he’s cut his K-rate down by nearly 10%. He’s only struck out 20.3% of the time. He is also hitting for a fair bit of power. He has nine home runs in just 69 trips to the plate, which is quite impressive, as is his .250 isolated slugging percentage.

Madris is hitting right-handers a whole lot better than he has hit left-handers. Madrid has spent his season in both corner outfield spots as well as designated hitter. The Pittsburgh Pirates could use some more pop in the major league lineup and is up there with the aforementioned Smith-Njigba as one of the organization’s most ready major league options.

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