3 Pirates prospect favorites who are finding their groove after tough starts

Po-Yu Chen

Po-Yu Chen is in his second go-around at Altoona. Last year, he pitched to the tune of a 4.03 ERA, 4.34 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP across 134.1 innings. Chen carried a 7.5% walk rate and 0.89 HR/9 ratio. However, his strikeout rate fell from 24.5% in 2023 to only 16.8% last season. Chen did better after April, posting a 3.54 ERA and 4.00 FIP from May 1 onward.

Chen hasn’t just continued his solid production from the start of May last season to the end of the year, but has gotten better. In 22.1 innings of work, Chen owns a 2.82 ERA, 2.88 FIP, and 0.84 WHIP. Chen’s strikeout rate is back up, sitting at 27.3%. If he continues to strike out batters at this rate throughout the rest of the season, it will be his highest single-season K%.

Chen’s K% isn’t the only peripheral that shows clear improvement from last season. His walk rate is also down to 5.7%, the 17th-lowest among the 79 total qualified Double-A pitchers. His K%-BB% of 21.6% also ranks fairly high among his fellow Double-A pitchers at 27th. The right-hander has only allowed a single home run.

Chen has been exceptional lately. His last three starts have yielded 15.2 innings and only two earned runs. He’s only handed out a pair of walks with 13 Ks. Opponents aren’t getting hits off of Chen either, with an opponent batting average of .167. None of the nine hits Chen has allowed have left the park.

There’s not much left for Chen to prove at Altoona in his age-23 season. He deserves a bump to Triple-A Indianapolis. Once the Pirates decide to start calling up top pitching prospects like Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Mike Burrows, Chen should be at Indianapolis. With how well he is performing to start 2025, it’s very possible we see him in the majors.