3 prospects who missed 2025 MLB Pipeline Pirates Top 30 list who deserve attention

MLB Pipeline recently updated the Pirates' top 30 prospects for the 2025 season, and there were a handful of risers and fallers in that list. Even after adding a few guys, there are still a few prospects who missed the ranking and deserve some recognition.

Let's take a look at three unranked prospects that have a lot of potential and deserve to have eyes on them this season.

Pirates fans must keep an eye on these three unranked prospects this season.

Esmerlyn Valdez

Pitching seems to dominate the Pirates' prospect rankings these days, but there is still a young bat with upside that was missed in the updated list. Esmerlyn Valdez is a 21-year-old first baseman who was signed out of the Dominican Republic in the 2021 international free agent class. 2024 was his first season away from rookie ball, and he did very well.

Last season with Bradenton, Valdez belted 22 home runs with 17 doubles and a triple to generate a slugging percentage of .464. That paired with an on-base percentage of .352 to create an OPS of .815. He added a wRC+ of 132 and drove in 61 runs, but he struggled with a high strikeout rate of 30.6%. His bat is definitely notable for an organization that lacks offense at every level.

Po-Yu Chen

Another prospect signed through the international cycle was Po-Yu Chen, who signed a little earlier than Valdez. Chen is a 23-year-old right-hander who just put together an outstanding outing in the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. He is coming off a solid 2024 campaign and is looking to be a big part of Indianapolis' rotation before getting his shot in Pittsburgh.

Last season in Altoona, Chen put up an ERA of 4.03 across 134 innings and struck out 96 batters. Opponents batted .251 against him to go along with a walk rate of 7.6%, creating a WHIP of 1.29. He has some tools on the mound that still feel very under the radar and untapped. It'll be interesting to see what he can do this season, one step closer to the big leagues.

Alessandro Ercolani

Lastly is Alessandro Ercolani, who is another sneaky solid right-hander and is the only professional player to come from the country of San Marino. Entering his age-21 season, Ercolani has been in the organization for four years now and has steadily progressed in each one. He put together his best season in Greensboro last year, which is really impressive, given the history of his home field being a hitters' paradise.

In 2024, Ercolani posted a FIP of 3.50 with a WHIP of 1.08, coming from a walk clip of 8% and an opposing batting average of .202. He added a solid ERA of 3.29 and a K/9 of 10.92. Those are some solid numbers, which should get him up to Altoona this season. He's still very young and is definitely someone to keep an eye on.