Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: 2022 Minor League Statistical Leaders

FIP, WHIP, strikeout rate, walk rate, xFIP, K:BB ratio, and BA against (Reliever)
Nick Dombkowski

Nick Dombkowski had a great 2022 campaign. After signing as an undrafted free agent after the ’21 draft, Dombkowski made it all the way to Double-A Altoona after starting the year with Bradenton. He led Pirates relief pitchers in a total of five statistical categories.

The first was FIP (fielding independent pitching) which is how good a pitcher did based on the three true outcomes (walks, home runs, and K’s). Dombkowski clocked in 3.29 mark. xFIP (expected FIP), which measures how good the batter was after normalizing their HR/FB ratio, pinned him at 3.62, which while not as good as his 3.29 FIP, was still solid nonetheless.

Dombkowski both struck out a ton of batters and didn’t allow many walks. His 30.7% strikeout rate was the second best among all Pirate minor league pitchers and the best among all relievers. He was one of two pitchers with a strikeout rate above 30%. His 6.8% walk rate was one of three sub-7% marks in the system. Of course, that means he led all relievers in K:BB ratio at 4.53.

Last but certainly not least, he held opponents to a .213 average against him. The only two notable reliever stats he didn’t lead in was ERA, in which he still had a 3.07 mark, and HR/9 at .94. For an undrafted free agent, he sure had a good year.

With the Pirate bullpen struggling, Dombkowski should surely be in future plans. The southpaw will likely take over a regular role in Indy’s pen to start 2023, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he were given the MLB promotion before summer.