3 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects heading into a make-or-break season

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent a handful of prospects into a brand new season coming off of strong 2023 campaigns. Some had great seasons, like Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington. Others took steps forward in 2024, like Nick Yorke (post-trade deadline arrival) and Hunter Barco.

Unfortunately, not all could capitalize on the gains they made in 2023, with some regressing fairly significantly under the spotlight.

2025 could be a huge year for those players, specifically. Another poor season will only further push them down the depth chart, especially after events like the draft where additional waves of talent join the system. Conversely, a rebound will propel them back into relevance in the Pirates' system.

3 Pirates prospects heading towards make-or-break seasons

Lonnie White Jr.

Outfield prospect Lonnie White Jr. headed into the 2024 season with high expectations, and for a good reason. On top of his great performance in 2023 (at the age of 20!), White Jr. was a highly touted prospect when he was drafted. MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the 72nd-best prospect in the draft, while Baseball America had him at No. 31. The Pirates then went on to sign him to a hefty $1.5 million signing bonus. To say that his 2024 season was disappointing would be an understatement. 

2023 looked like the start of something good for White Jr. The former second-round competitive balance pick had a .276/.406/.476 triple-slash with nine homers and 16 doubles in 276 plate appearances between the Florida Complex League and A-Ball Bradenton. White Jr. was one of only 41 minor leaguers with an OBP of at least .400 and an isolated slugging percentage over .200 in 250+ plate appearances in '23. White Jr. walked at an outstanding 15.6% rate, but his weakest tool, his hit tool, raised a red flag. He also struck out in 27.2% of his plate appearances. Although he struck out at a below-average rate, White Jr. still finished the year with an OPS of .881, a wOBA of .401, and a wRC+ clocking in at 139.

White Jr. was limited to 375 plate appearances in 2024, and did not perform nearly as well when he was able to take the field. He hit a meager .167/.275/.340 with a .290 wOBA and 80 wRC+. White Jr. still managed a respectable 9.6% walk rate and showed off both power and speed. He hit 14 homers with a quality .173 isolated slugging percentage and swiped 15 bags. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end.

White Jr. saw his K% jump all the way to 34.4%. Sure, there were a lot of factors playing against him that he had little to no control over. He had a .219 batting average on balls in play (compared to .373 in 2023). He also had multiple Injured List stints throughout the season. The South Atlantic League, the league that the Greensboro Grasshoppers play in, was very pitcher-friendly, as the league-average OPS was just .687. Still, all things considered, it was still a poor showing for the budding Pirates prospect.

If White Jr. reaches his ceiling, he could be an annual 20/20 threat with some Gold Gloves in his trophy cabinet. The potential is there. 2025 will only be his age-22 season, but he needs to show some improvement, making enough contact that his power becomes worthwhile. That would make his outlook as a future fourth/fifth outfielder brighter.

Yordany De Los Santos

One of the Pirates' best recent international signings was infielder Yordany De Los Santos. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic in the 2021-2022 offseason. So far, De Los Santos has done nothing but mash Florida Complex League pitching, but he's now received two promotions to Bradenton, falling flat both times. He needs to start showing some life at the first full-season level of the minor leagues.

De Los Santos has a combined .340/.404/.494 triple-slash in the FCL over the previous two seasons. He's walked at an 8.2% rate but has struck out in just 17% of his 294 plate appearances. De Los Santos' isolated slugging percentage clocks in at .150, and he has six homers with 14 doubles and four triples. Overall, his performance has amounted to a .427 wOBA and 140 wRC+.

But in 254 plate appearances at Bradenton, De Los Santos has slashed just .189/.312/.259. Although he has walked in 13.2% of his trips to the plate, he has also struck out nearly a third of the time, sporting an unsightly 32.3% K%. Along with a sub-.100 ISO, he has a wOBA below .300 at .298, and a wRC+ that sits at a meager 72. De Los Santos received 153 plate appearances at Bradenton in 2023 at just 18 and 101 more in 2024, posting a wRC+ of 72 in both stints.

The numbers under the hood are also concerning. De Los Santos' whiff rate is 37.8% at A-Ball thus far. When he does make contact, it hasn't been good contact. His 84 MPH exit velocity is 2.7 MPH below league average. Far more worrisome is his 1% barrel percentage. He is hitting the ball into the ground far too often, clocking in with a GB% of 53.5%.

De Los Santos is still only heading into his age-20 season, so there's less of an urgency for him than for White Jr. Still, it would be huge for De Los Santos' development if he can start showing some life at A-Ball. He doesn't have to light the league on fire, but if he can just show off some promising traits, it would be a massive step forward for him. De Los Santos' ceiling is that of a power-hitting infielder, and if he can show just a glimpse of that, his outlook will look a lot better than it currently does.

Anthony Solometo

Southpaw Anthony Solometo was another 2021 high school draft pick. Like White Jr., he was also one of the better players in his draft class and went into 2024 with high expectations. Solometo entered the campaign as a top-five pitching prospect in the Pirates' system. In just his age-20 season, Solometo put up solid numbers between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. However, after his 2024 campaign, Solometo is on the back foot and needs to rebound in 2025.

In 2023, Solometo put up a 3.26 ERA, 3.46 FIP, and 1.19 WHIP in 110.1 innings of work. He struck out just over a quarter of his opponents with a 26.2% K% while also carrying a solid 9.1% walk rate, along with a HR/9 of just 0.65. Solometo was just the sixth-youngest pitcher to make double-digit starts at Double-A, so for him to put up roughly average numbers was impressive.

2024 was a lot less promising for Solometo, however. He pitched 70 innings, putting up a poor 5.37 ERA, 5.40 FIP, and 1.52 WHIP. His strikeout rate dramatically fell nearly 10% to just 16.9%, while his walk rate rose to 12.4%. Solometo's 1.01 HR/9 was one of the only numbers among his peripherals that wasn't outright horrible, but it wasn't great, either. Another area he did well in was inducing ground balls, sporting a 51.2% GB%.

Solometo landed on the development list multiple times throughout the season for unspecified reasons, which isn't uncommon for players who get placed on said list. It could have come from a mix of injuries and tweaking mechanics, but Solometo saw a concerning decrease in velocity, which he no doubt tried to address during his time away from the game. In 2023, he'd made strides forward and was sitting 91-94 MPH, but last season, he was only averaging out in the upper 80s. His command, which once looked like the best in the Pirates' system, also waned. 

According to Baseball America's prospect handbook, however, Solometo struggled to get his mechanics in check. On the plus side, he also started to see his velocity return to his previous levels late into the season. Solometo is still just 22 years old, so he's not a complete bust and has some time to get things back on track. Regardless, 2025 is going to be a big year for him.