Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Who Could Be Lost in the Rule 5 Draft

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Now that we know which prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates did not protect from the Rule 5 Draft, which are they most likely to lose in the draft?

Tuesday evening was the deadline for MLB organizations to add prospects to their 40-man rosters in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Prior to the 6:0 PM EST deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to add four prospects to the 40-man roster.

Catcher Endy Rodriguez, relief pitcher Colin Selby, starting pitcher Mike Burrows, and infielder/outfielder Jared Triolo were the four prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to protect.

Now that we know which prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates have decided to leave exposed in the Rule 5 Draft, who are they most likely to lose? While there might be multiple prospects that come to mind, such as reliever Tahnaj Thomas, there are three that they appear to be in the most danger of losing.

Catcher/Outfielder Blake Sabol

Blake Sabol is the prospect the Pirates are most likely to lose in the Rule 5 Draft. Sabol can play catcher and the outfield, and put together a strong minor league season in 2022. A season that saw him climb to the Triple-A level.

Sabol, who will be 25-years-old on Opening Day, hit for a .281/.347/.486 slash line to go with a 124 wRC+ and a .206 isolated slugging (ISO) in 412 plate appearances at Double-A Altoona. With Triple-A Indianapolis, Sabol then hit for a .296/.46/.543 slash line with a 158 wRC+ and .247 ISO in 101 PAs. Between the two levels, he drew walks at a 10.7% rate while striking out at a 25.1% clip.

Following his minor league season success, Sabol went on to play in the Arizona Fall League. In the AFL, Sabol hit for a .234/.346/.340 slash line with a home run, two doubles, seven walks, and 15 strikeouts in 55 PAs.

With Sabol having a 100+ PA sample size of great success at the Triple-A level, combined with his left-handed power bat he will be very intriguing in the Rule 5 Draft. Throw in his ability to catch as well as playing elsewhere in the field, and the Pittsburgh Pirates will likely be sweating things out with Sabol.

PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 26: Roansy Contreras #59 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches to Kyle Farmer #17 of the Cincinnati Reds in the third inning during the game at PNC Park on September 26, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Outfielder Matt Gorski

Few prospects across baseball were turning heads quite like Matt Gorski during the first few months of the 2022 season. Though the first three months of the season Gorksi hit for a .294/.375/.664 slash line in 270 PAs between the High-A and Double-A levels.

In these 270 PAs Gorski drew walks at an 11.1% rate, while hitting 23 home runs, which led all minor league hitters at the time, to go with a ridiculous .370 ISO. One issues, however, was his strikeout rate which sat at a very high 28.1%.

Well, after June 29th Gorski would not play again until August 30th due to injury. Following his return from injury, Gorski hit for just a .216/.273/.294 slash line. His ISO plummeted to .078, his walk rate to 5.5%, and his strikeout rate rose to 30.9%. While it was very limited, he did, however, make his Triple-A debut.

Obviously, a hitter with this type of power potential is going to intrigue other organizations. This is why he was a player that we had projected the Pittsburgh Pirates would protect from the Rule 5 Draft.

One thing that prevent the Pirates from losing Gorski are injury concerns. He missed a big chunk of 2022 with a shoulder issue, and was only able to accumulate two PAs at Triple-A after he returned before injuries ended his season. Those injury concerns may prevent a team from drafting Gorksi. Hell, those injury concerns may be something that worry the Pirates also and played a role in them leaving Gorski exposed.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – AUGUST 06: Manager Derek Shelton #17 of the Pittsburgh Pirates watches the game in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 06, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

Infielder Malcolm Nuñez

As part of this past summer’s José Quintana trade the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Malcolm Nuñez from the St. Louis Cardinals. When Nuñez was acquired he was a top 10 prospect in the Cardinal farm system.

Nuñez has played first base, third base, and served as a designed hitter in the minor leagues. Although, his long-term future appears to be at first base or as a DH. When Nuñez was acquired it appeared the Pirates could have him in their long-term plans at first base.

Nuñez being left unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft did come as a bit of surprise. When he was acquired it appeared to be a safe bet that he would be protected because, if nothing else, it seemed unlikely the Pirates would acquire him that close to being Rule 5 Draft eligible without having plans of protecting him.

During the minor league season in 2022 Nuñez hit for a .262/.367/.466 slash line with a 117 wRC+ in 493 PAs across the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He drew walks at 14.0%, struck out in 20.9% of his trips to the plate, and he hit 23 home runs. Typically, a young power hitting prospect that has already reached the Triple-A level will not be left exposed in the Rule 5 Draft.

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History would indicate that Nuñez is unlikely to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Very rarely are first baseman selected in the draft. That said, with the universal DH now being place that could add to Nuñez’s value and interest from National League clubs. Additionally, a prospect that is already as close to the majors as Nuñez is with the power potential he has is likely to interest clubs.

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Now that we know which prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates did not protect from the Rule 5 Draft, which are they most likely to lose in the draft?

Catcher/Outfielder Blake Sabol

Outfielder Matt Gorski

Infielder Malcolm Nuñez

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