4 Pirates prospects who possess the best position player tools in the farm system

Power: Tony Blanco Jr.

Power can be evaluated a few different ways. It can represent a player's ability to hit home runs and get extra-base hits, or it could reflect a player's raw power ability, which can be evaluated through stats like exit velocity, barrel rate, and home run distance. Either way, no prospect in the Pirates’ system exudes the power potential that Tony Blanco Jr. does. The Pirates signed the outfielder/first base prospect in the 2021-2022 offseason and he was one of the top international signees of his class. Very few prospects throughout all of the minor leagues have the potential to hit bombs like Blanco does.

That’s because, at just 19 years old, Blanco Jr. is listed at 6’7”, 245 pounds. He is nearly the same height as New York Yankees’ slugger and former MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who is the same weight but just one inch shorter. Blanco Jr. is massive, to put it lightly. He batted .305/.385/.505 with a 138 wRC+ in 109 plate appearances for the Pirates’ Florida Complex League this season.

Blanco has the potential to lead MLB in home runs someday, but he will definitely need to make enough contact to do so. Blanco Jr. struck out 28.4% of the time this year. Granted, that was an improvement over the 39.2% strikeout rate he carried throughout 176 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League, but it's still a ghastly number. His size leads to a very large strike zone, and he has a long swing.

Jhonny Severino also deserves an honorable mention in the power category. He displayed a lot of potential this year. But, given Blanco’s insane size and raw power already, he just edges out Severino for this position on this list heading towards 2025.

Fielding and Speed: Konnor Griffin

The Pirates’ first-round pick from 2024 unsurprisingly appears on this list, and he does so representing two of the five tools. Konnor Griffin was considered the highest-ceiling prospect in this year’s draft. His athleticism, combined with his potential to be a 30/30 threat at two different premium positions, makes him one of the most dynamic minor leaguers out there.

Griffin is very fast. He stole 87 bases in 88 attempts this spring. Griffin receives very high praise for his ability to run. MLB Pipeline grades his run tool at 65 on the 20-80 scale. Baseball America is even more bullish, putting him at 70. He can use that speed to both swipe a ton of bases, as we saw this year, as well as cover ground at a very efficient rate.

Speaking of his defense, he easily has the most potential with his glove. The Pirates drafted Griffin as a shortstop, but he can also play center field. Both Pipeline and BA project him as a 60-grade defender. Pipeline states that he has Gold Glove potential in CF, but could easily stick as a plus defensive SS.

One thing of note is that Griffin has the best shot at being a five-tool player out of any Pirates prospect. He has the potential to grow into plus power, projects with an average hit tool, is exceptionally fast, can play two positions very well, and has a powerful arm that can play anywhere. No other position player prospect the Pirates have does as many things right as Griffin does, with very few minor leaguers anywhere matching his ceiling.

Billy Cook is definitely up there with Griffin in terms of both defense and speed. He had +6 defensive runs saved between all three outfield positions and was in the 93rd percentile of sprint speed across all of MLB during his brief taste of big league action. Wyatt Sanford is another talented middle infield defender. Both Jebb and Tsung-Che Cheng are worth mentioning when it comes to the fastest prospects the Pirates have as well. But Griffin can do it all.

Arm: Jack Brannigan

Jack Brannigan was the Pirates’ third-round pick in 2022. He was initially taken as a two-way player, seeing time at third base and out of the University of Notre Dame’s bullpen. Although the Pirates have seemingly scrapped his two-way prowess, given he has not pitched in the pros, Brannigan has been able to show off his powerful arm on the left side of the infield.

As a pitcher, Brannigan was sitting mid-to-upper-90s and topping out at 100 MPH. That kind of arm strength has been very useful for the infield prospect. Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America are in agreement that Brannigan has plus-plus arm strength, putting him at a 70-grade. It also helps that he projects as an above-average to plus defender who can play third base, second base, and shortstop. SS was his primary position this past season.

Griffin gets an honorable mention here, too. He also pitched some as an amateur and received a 60 grade from Pipeline and BA. His arm will play at shortstop and in the outfield. Cook also gets another honorable mention. Baseball Savant put his arm value at +1, and while it’s not the best way to evaluate a player’s arm strength, he did make two outfield assists in less than 100 innings in the major leagues.