Pittsburgh Pirates: Rodriguez, Priester, More Promoted to Triple-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking advantage of the newly extended Triple-A season.  Who is getting promoted for the end of the season?

The end of the year is always an interesting time for rebuilding teams.  Often we see these teams call up a few prospects to get a “cup of coffee” at the Big League level.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are doing that this year with pitcher Luis Ortiz.  They did this at the end of last season with Roansy Contreras and Oneil Cruz.

However, things have changed some in terms of the Minor League ladder of progression.  First, rosters expansion is now limited to two additional spots in September.  This only allows a prospect or two, depending on the decision of the Orgazanition, to make the jump to the next level.

However, this is the first year that the Triple-A season will last longer than the other Minor League seasons.  So while the Pittsburgh Pirates are limited to how many players they can pull up to the Big League club, they are able to also promote prospects to Triple-A and gain an extra couple of weeks of development for those players.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be promoting a handful of prospects to Triple-A, with most of them being significant to the Organization’s minor league system.  Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted the list of promotions on Twitter:

Mackey points out a few of the higher-thought of prospects taking the jump.  Quinn Priester is the team’s top pitching prospect and going to Triple-A suggests he could be in the mix next season.  Endy Rodriguez is the Pittsburgh Pirates biggest breakout prospect of the year.  He has had success at Double-A and Triple-A making this his 3rd level of the year.

Malcolm Nunez was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Jose Quintana deal.  He is one of the top power prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization.  Speaking of power, Matt Gorski will also go to Triple-A.  Gorski hit over 20 home runs in 2022 but also missed time with a leg injury.  This will give both Nunez and Gorski opportunities to get more quality at-bats this year in the Organization.