Pittsburgh Pirates: Stocking Left-Handed Pitching Prospects

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One of the weakest areas of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league system was the quality of left-handed pitching prospects. Hopefully, that is changing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates do not have a lot of upside in the left-handed pitching department. However, what the team has now in terms of left-handed pitching prospects compared to previously is a big improvement. Especially considering at one point just a few years ago the Pittsburgh Pirates did not have a single left-handed pitcher on their top prospect lists.

This started under former General Manager Neal Huntington. Huntington seemed to avoid taking left-handed pitchers in the Amateur Draft, especially early in the drafts. One would have to go back to 2012 when he selected prep lefty Blake Taylor in the second round, the highest pick he ever spent on a lefty pitcher.

This was a pretty common theme for Huntington. During his final three years as GM, he only selected 3 left-handed pitchers with picks inside the Top 10 rounds. The two selected were Blake Weiman (2017, 8th Round) and Zach Spears (2018, 8th Round). Neither Weiman nor Spears is with the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization.

So when Ben Cherington took over it was easy to see why he wanted to add left-handed pitching. Since he has taken over he has acquired a few notable lefty pitching prospects. Let’s take a look at who are the top left-handed pitching prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Alcyon Park in Pitman on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Bishop Eustace defeated Williamstown, 8-1.High School Baseball Diamond Classic Final 4 /

The first left-handed pitcher that Ben Cherington brought in was Omar Cruz. Cruz was one of three prospects the San Diego Padres sent the Bucs in exchange for Joe Musgrove. Cruz came over with David Bednar, Hudson Head, and pitcher Joey Lucchesi. Lucchesi then was flipped to the Mets for Endy Rodriguez to complete the three-team deal.

Cruz immediately became the Pittsburgh Pirates top left-handed pitching prospect. Cruz had a solid 2021 pitching to a 3.44 ERA across 21 starts. However, things have not gone as well for Cruz this year. So far his ERA is over 5 and he has since been moved into the bullpen. He currently is ranked as the Buc’s 52nd best prospect according to FanGraphs.

Cruz was not the only left-handed pitcher Cherington acquired in 2021. The team selected prep left-hander Anthony Solometo with the 37th pick in the 2021 Draft. Solometo was actually ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 17th best prospect in the 2021 Draft Class, so the Bucs got a great talent 20 picks later.

According to Fangraphs, Solometo is already the Buc’s 13th best prospect. This is very promising for a young, left-handed pitcher. However, his numbers have also been very impressive since joining the Organization. He has thrown 25.1 innings and owns a 3.55 ERA.

Two stats jump out to me. First, he is striking out over 25% of the batters he faces (27 total). What might be even more impressive is that he is walking just under 10% of the batters he is facing. So far so good for Solmeto, who should be moving up the rankings in 2023.

There are two more notable left-handed pitching prospects that Ben Cherington has brought to the team. Both are from the 2022 Draft class, with a college arm and a prep arm. The Bucs spent nearly 20% of the overall Bonus Pool on the two picks.

With the 44th overall pick, the team selected college pitcher Hunter Barco. Barco was one of the top unsigned prospects from the 2019 Draft Class. He was selected in the 24th round by the Mets but it was known that he was not going to sign. In fact, he was ranked as a Top 100 Draft prospect in the 2019 class.

Instead, he went to the University of Florida. Barco was having a solid junior campaign going 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA. He also struck out 69 hitters in just 50.1 innings pitched. Then in Mid-April, it was announced that he would be undergoing Tommy-John Surgery. Now he will work his way back with the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization. FanGraphs ranks Barco @26 in the Organization which is pretty solid considering he is rehabbing from surgery.

The prep left-hander the team selected in the 2022 Draft class was taken in the fourth round. Michael Kennedy was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s 89th best player in the 2022 Draft Class. The Bucs were able to get him at pick #110 and signed him to a bonus of $1,000,000, which was basically double the amount of the assigned slot value.

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He was one of the youngest players in the Draft but already has a fastball that hits the low 90s. Yong is the furthest away compared to the other lefties mentioned, but still has tremendous upside. The Bucs may have gotten a steal in the former LSU recruit. Kennedy ranks as the #30 prospect in the Buc’s system according to FanGraphs. The system has come a long way in terms of left-handed pitching, adding 4 notables one after having 0 before 2020.

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