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Rum Bunter’s Top Ten Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: End of 2022

By Noah Wright

Jul 29, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick Termarr Johnson and fourth overall player drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft takes batting practice before the Pirates host the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 29, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick Termarr Johnson and fourth overall player drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft takes batting practice before the Pirates host the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 18: Liover Peguero #60 of the Pittsburgh Pirates takes the field in the first inning of his MLB debut during the game against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park on June 18, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 18: Liover Peguero #60 of the Pittsburgh Pirates takes the field in the first inning of his MLB debut during the game against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park on June 18, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Number Ten – Liover Peguero
Pre-season Ranking: #6

Coming in at number ten and the first prospect we’ll delve deep into, we have shortstop Liover Peguero. The Pirates acquired Peguero in the Starling Marte trade in the 2019-2020 offseason. Peguero was the headliner of the deal and has steadily climbed prospect boards since arriving at his new organization, but stalled out a bit this year. Though that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to become a capable player in the future.

Last season, Peguero batted for an impoverish .259/.308/.387 with a .306 wOBA and 88 wRC+. Although Peguero only struck out at a 21.3% rate, he drew walks in just 5.6% of his total plate appearances. On the plus side, he swiped 28 bases in 34 attempts and hit double-digit home runs for the second season in a row.

Peguero made his major league debut but only played one game before the team optioned him back to Double-A Altoona. Through the first two-and-a-half months of the season, Peguero had a quality .784 OPS, .340 wOBA, and 110 wRC+. That was before he was promoted, and after he was optioned, he managed a poor .608 OPS, .277 wOBA, and 69 wRC+. While Peguero did poorly overall at Altoona this year, you have to remember he was in just his age-21 season. The average age of pitchers at his level was 24.5 years of age.

Peguero still projects to be a similar player to Philadelphia Phillie middle infielder Jean Segura, a guy who hits for a decent average, gets on base at a healthy rate, and can provide 20+ stolen bases a season. He might not have upper-deck power, but he can blast upwards of 12-15 home runs a season, and he’ll surely rack up plenty of doubles. Peguero made some errors last season, but it’s not to a worrying degree just yet. He has shown the skill set to be a shortstop in the long run.

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