5 former top prospects the Pirates should take chances on to improve depth

James Karinchak

James Karinchack was ranked as the 101st-best prospect by Baseball Prospectus in 2020. The reliever delivered on his promise throughout his first few seasons in the major leagues. From 2020 through 2023, Karinchak had a 3.14 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP in 160.1 innings of work for Cleveland.

Karinchak’s peripherals included some mixed numbers. He had a healthy 36.3% strikeout rate, the sixth-highest among any reliever with 150+ IP between these four seasons. Stuff+ had Karinchak at an elite 127. He also had a respectable 1.01 HR/9, but he was prone to hard contact with a 90.1 MPH exit velo and 8.3% barrel rate. The worst number among his peripherals was his horrid 14.4% walk rate, the third-highest among fellow relievers with 150+ IP.

The 2024 season, however, did not go well for the hard-throwing right-hander. Karinchak only pitched 6.2 innings at Triple-A and did not appear in a major league uniform for the Guardians. He spent most of the season on the 60-day IL with back issues. More worryingly, his lack of velocity was evident. Karinchak averaged 92.1 MPH and topped out at 94 with his four-seamer. For reference, he averaged 95.6 MPH from 2020-2023.

Karinchak has the most major league success of any of the five names on today’s list. That would make him a decent reliever to store at Triple-A. He’d definitely be a better option than any of Brady Feigl, Ben Heller, or Ryder Ryan, given his much better track record.

Sixto Sanchez

Sixto Sanchez once looked like he was on his way to becoming one of baseball’s biggest stars. Once one of the game’s best prospects, Sanchez made his MLB debut during the shortened 2020 COVID campaign and impressed with a 3.46 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP through his first 39 innings in the major leagues for the Miami Marlins.

2021 would only be Sanchez’s age-22 season, and he headed into the season ranked as a top-10 prospect in baseball by some outlets. Unfortunately, this would be the start of the collapse for the young flamethrower. Sanchez would not pitch in the majors in 2021, 2022, or 2023. He sufferedmultiple injuries and underwent numerous shoulder surgeries in his various attempts to return to the mound.

Sanchez did make an appearance at Triple-A late into 2023 and finally made it back to a big league mound in 2024. The results, however, were not pretty. Sanchez had a 6.06 ERA, 4.74 FIP, and 1.60 WHIP in just 35.2 innings. He also had a meager 10.5% strikeout rate with an 8.5% walk rate. The only silver linings were his 0.76 HR/9 and 6.3% barrel rate.

Sanchez was once one of the hardest-throwing pitching prospects in baseball. When he made his debut in 2020, Sanchez averaged 98.5 MPH with his four-seamer. For reference, Paul Skenes averaged 98.8 MPH with his heater in 2024. During his time on the bump this past season, Sanchez only averaged out at 93.7 MPH with the same pitch.

Sanchez would definitely be a higher-upside arm to stash at Triple-A over Domingo Germán or Jake Woodford. It has been a lot of years (and a lot of injuries) since Sanchez was seen as a force to be reckoned with, but it would be worth stashing him at Indianapolis to see if he can regain any semblance of his former self.

Francisco Mejia

Francisco Mejia was one of the best prospects in baseball in the late 2010s. He was seen as the catcher of the future for Cleveland, San Diego, and Tampa Bay. Mejia was part of two very high-profile trades: from Cleveland to the Padres in the Brad Hand trade, and then from San Diego to Tampa in the Blake Snell deal.

Mejia had shown some potential in the bigs at the time. In 2019, he had a .754 OPS, .317 wOBA, and 97 wRC+ in 244 plate appearances. Then, in 2021, he put up a .738 OPS, .320 wOBA, and 107 wRC+ in 250 trips to the dish. Unfortunately, that’s been the extent of his success in the major leagues thus far, and he has a sub-90 wRC+ for his career at 86. Considering he was a bat-first catching prospect with -20 framing runs in his career to begin with, that’s not good.

Mejia did not appear in the major leagues in 2024. He spent the entire season with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A team, where he had some decent numbers, highlighted by a .273/.348/.428 triple-slash, .348 wOBA, and 103 wRC+. Mejia rarely struck out, with a 17.3% K% and 21% whiff rate. He also walked 10.1% of the time. The downside is Mejia did not hit for much power, with just a .154 ISO, 85.3 MPH exit velocity, and 3.3% barrel rate.

Now, the Pirates already have a ton of catching depth. They have four backstops on the 40-man roster. Still, catching is definitely a position where you can never have too much depth, and with Henry Davis likely on the trade block, there may be a need here. Besides, Mejia would be an upgrade over Grant Koch as the team’s Triple-A backstop. It would be a higher upside play as well, given Koch was never considered a top prospect like Mejia.

Brendan McKay

Before Shohei Ohtani, many thought that Brendan McKay would take the baseball world by storm and become the first two-way star the sport has seen in quite some time. Unfortunately, that never came to pass. Injuries have consistently sidelined McKay, but he returned to the mound this past season and had some decent numbers, albeit in a very small sample size.

McKay made his MLB debut in 2019, where he pitched 49 innings and worked to the tune of a 5.14 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, but a much prettier 4.08 FIP. He struck out 25.9% of batters faced with a strong 7.4% walk rate. The southpaw was prone to home runs, however, with a 1.47 HR/9 rate. In his defense, though, every pitcher was prone to allowing home runs in 2019. McKay also had a .773 OPS in 11 plate appearances.

McKay was obviously seen as a long-term cog in the Rays’ rotation and lineup after that brief but strong 2019 performance, but injuries would quickly set in. McKay has barely pitched since his promising debut. From 2020-2023, McKay tossed just 28 innings and did not throw a single pitch in 2020 or 2023. He also gave up his two-way prowess after 2021.

McKay pitched 18 innings at Double-A this year, which is the most he’s tossed since 2019. It’s a microscopic sample size, but he pitched well, for what it’s worth. McKay only allowed two earned runs and struck out 17 opponents. Free passes were essentially a non-issue, as he handed out just a single walk.

Like Sixto Sanchez, McKay is far removed from being the promising young pitcher he was in 2019-2020, but he’s a better option to stick at Triple-A than guys like Germán and Woodford. Plus, it gives the Bucs a lefty depth arm to mix things up.