5 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects whose careers were derailed by injuries

Injuries suck. In sports, a poorly timed injury can completely throw a wrench into a team's best-laid plans. Sometimes, they can derail entire careers, occasionally interrupting players who were on Hall of Fame trajectories -- like David Wright, Dustin Pedroia, and Troy Tulowitzki, to name a few recent examples. Earnestly, though, it sucks even more when the player’s career doesn’t even get off the ground.

This has happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates plenty during their rebuild. There are prospects they have acquired or had in the system who once looked extremely promising and like potential long-term pieces of the puzzle. But injuries took their toll, and these prospects never seemed to recapture the talent they once had.

Brennan Malone

The very first trade Ben Cherington made was sending former All-Star outfielder Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks for two prospects. One was Liover Peguero, but you could have argued that right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone was the deal's headliner. The D-Backs had selected Malone as a hard-throwing high schooler in the 2019 draft. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline ranked him as one of the top 20 prospects in the draft.

Despite being a high schooler, Malone could already run his fastball into the mid/upper-90s. While his slider and curveball were inconsistent at times, both had the potential of being plus offerings and were showing improvement. Malone also threw a changeup that looked like a fourth pitch with at least average potential. On top of that, he looked to have decent control over all of his stuff.

Malone made his pro debut late into the 2019 season, but only pitched eight innings. He was expected to see more playing time in 2020, but then the minor-league season was put on hold because of COVID. Still, heading into just his age-20 season in 2021, Malone was expected to put on a show at A-Ball Bradenton. His Pirates minor league debut would be delayed, however, by a blister, and a lat injury would soon shut him down in June. While he would ultimately return to the mound, he’d end up only throwing just 14 innings in ‘21, followed by just five frames in 2022.

Malone returned to the mound in 2024 after missing all of '23. It was once again an injury-shortened stint, as he only tossed 8.2 innings. It wasn't a pretty 8.2 innings, either, as he walked nine batters, allowed eight hits, and watched one ball soar out of the yard. Since getting drafted in 2019, this marked just the third time he has reached over five IP in a season.

It’s not the fault of the Pirates, nor the fault of Malone. Some players simply just can’t stay healthy, and you can’t blame either party for the outcome. Nobody could have predicted his career would have gone so haywire, with constant setbacks, injuries, and less than 30 innings pitched across nearly five years in professional baseball.

Miguel Yajure

Another one of the first big trades the Pirates made heading into the rebuild was sending right-hander Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees. Arguably the headliner of that deal was right-hander Miguel Yajure, who was one of the most promising prospects in the Yankees' system at the time. Unfortunately, injuries that befell him after being acquired by the Pirates seemed to put a dent in his stuff and command to the point where Pittsburgh decided to move on.

Yajure had an outstanding 2019 season in the Yankees’ system. He pitched 138.2 innings while working to a 2.14 ERA, 2.65 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. He had a 23.9% strikeout rate, but a walk rate of just 5.4%, as well as an 0.32 HR/9 rate. Yajure wasn’t just one of the best Yankees pitching prospects, but one of the best minor-league pitchers altogether. There were 436 minor league arms who threw at least 100 innings in 2019. Yajure had the 10th-best ERA and the 11th-best FIP. He also ranked in the top 50 in K:BB ratio and HR/9 rate.

Yajure even made his MLB debut late into the season in pinstripes, but only pitched seven innings. Yajure first pitched in a Pirates uniform during April 2021, where he tossed 4.1 innings but allowed four earned runs against the Detroit Tigers. But once the minor league season started up in May, Yajure got off to a solid start, allowing two earned runs with 11 Ks and just two walks in his first 12 innings. The Pirates recalled him again for another start, and this time he pitched five shutout innings against a San Francisco Giants team that would go on to win more than 100 games that year.

But after getting sent back to Triple-A, Yajure struggled mightily in late May and was placed on the IL with a forearm and elbow injury. He didn't return to action until August. While he still pitched decently after the injury, owning a 3.23 ERA, 22.2% K%, and 7.1% walk rate, he was allowing far more home runs, surrendering them at a clip of 1.47 HR/9. The Pirates opted to recall him to the bigs in late September, but he allowed 10 earned runs in just 5.1 innings. 

Over the offseason, Yajure suffered another back injury that kept him from pitching in the Arizona Fall League. Although Yajure would open the year with the Pirates in 2022, the results were quite worrying. He allowed 13 earned runs in just 10.1 innings, walking (six) more batters than he struck out (four). He was then sent down to Triple-A, but the issues continued, as he pitched to a 6.09 ERA, 4.61 FIP, and 1.50 WHIP in 54.2 innings. After once posting a walk rate hovering around 5%, he now had a 13.4% BB% to match his 13.4% K%. The Bucs gave him one more chance late into the year, but the results weren’t any better. During that offseason, the Pirates designated Yajure for assignment.

If Yajure could have stayed healthy, he could have been another future long-term rotation anchor for the Pirates. Instead, he represents another unfortunate casualty of injuries. A once-budding young arm with plenty of potential got derailed and never could seem to find what had once made him a top-100 prospect. He lost a good portion of his command after his back and elbow/forearm injury.

Travis MacGregor

The Pirates selected high schooler Travis MacGregor in the second round of the 2016 draft. He was inconsistent through his first few years, but was still considered a potential breakout prospect to watch, and one with a decent amount of future potential.

In 2018, MacGregor looked like he'd made a significant breakthrough. In 70.1 innings, the right-hander had a 3.13 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, and 7.3% walk rate. His 1.02 HR/9 was a tad high, but nothing poor, either. He also had a 1.22 WHIP and 3.89 FIP. Unfortunately, MacGregor’s season was cut short by Tommy John surgery. This also eliminated him entirely from 2019, and with 2020 being the COVID cut season, he was unable to return to the mound until two years later.

MacGregor got off to a solid start to that season. By the end of June, he owned a 3.68 ERA, 4.01 FIP, and 1.17 WHIP. He was still striking out just over a quarter of the batters he faced while carrying a 25.8% walk rate, and he cut his HR/9 rate down to 0.74. His walk rate of 9.3% was a touch higher than it was in 2019, but through his first 36.1 frames, it represented a decent start.

But after that point, MacGregor seriously struggled. Through his final 13 outings, the right-hander had a horrific 8.00 ERA, 5.89 FIP, and 1.67 WHIP. His K% dipped to 19.6%, while his walk rate rose to 10.8%. He also allowed a ton of home runs, posting a 1.67 HR/9 rate through 54 innings.

MacGregor continued to struggle as a long reliever/spot starter the next two seasons, pitching to a mediocre 4.54 ERA, 4.27 FIP, and 1.47 WHIP. He still induced a decent amount of Ks with a 26.1% K%, but was now allowing far too many free passes with an 11.2% BB%. At least his HR/9 rate remained under 1.00 at 0.91, but it was very little consolation. After the 2023 season, MacGregor hit minor league free agency and signed a deal with the LA Angels. His time in Pittsburgh was over.

Travis Swaggerty

The first position player on this list, Travis Swaggerty, once flashed five-tool potential early in his minor-league career with the Pirates. A former 2018 first-round pick, Swaggerty looked like he could have been a 20/20 threat with Gold Glove-level defense in the grass.

Swaggerty got off to a cold start in 2019, but was in full swing of it by the middle of the season. From the beginning of June through the end of the year, the outfield prospect hit .328/.396/.469 with a .398 wOBA and robust 158 wRC+ through 219 plate appearances. Swaggerty had both a respectable 9.6% walk rate and an 18.3% strikeout rate, with the only genuine criticism being that he didn’t hit for much power. He had just a .141 ISO, but when you’re batting well above .300 with an OBP approaching .400, that's a pretty minor blemish. Swaggerty definitely showed off raw power, but struggled to lift the ball and had a 49.3% ground ball rate. However, at just 21 years old at the time, he had plenty of time to fix his swing and hit for more pop.

In 2021, not only did Swaggerty pick up where he left off, but he finally started to hit for more power. He hit three home runs, with six walks and eight Ks through his first 48 plate appearances. The raw power he flashed in his previous season was starting to translate into game power, as he started to lift the ball more frequently, getting his ground ball rate below 40%. He had just a .200 batting average on balls in play, which definitely would have leveled out if he'd played more.

Unfortunately, after just 12 games, Swaggerty underwent shoulder surgery, which halted his season then and there. This shoulder injury seemingly took away his ability to lift the ball. While Swaggerty returned for 2022, his ground ball rate shot back up to 50.2%, and he posted the lowest fly ball rate of his career at a meager 30.8%. Swaggerty did make his MLB debut, but only appeared in five games with nine plate appearances.

Swaggerty then entered camp in 2023 with a chance to win a roster spot as the team’s fourth outfielder. To his credit, Swaggerty had an outstanding spring training, hitting three dingers and collecting 11 total hits. with five walks and just seven Ks in 34 plate appearances. Unfortunately, Canaan Smith-Njigba had an even better spring, and beat Swaggerty out for the final roster spot.

While Smith-Njigba would struggle in his first extended look in MLB, Swaggerty couldn’t be called upon for many reasons. The first was that he was injured yet again. Swaggerty played just 17 games in April before landing on the IL. The second reason was even more unfortunate and tragic. Swaggerty’s wife was suffering from a rare blood disease that had been caused by a rabid raccoon attack over a year prior. The Pirates eventually released Swaggerty, and while he was signed by the Chicago White Sox, his attention remained aimed toward his wife and family’s wellbeing, and rightfully so.

While off-field personal issues definitely played a role in Swaggerty’s derailment, the shoulder injury he suffered in 2021 clearly affected his game, too. After making progress toward making better contact, he had serious trouble lifting the ball after his injury, a real shame for a potential standout player. Swaggerty looked like a possible Gold Glove center fielder who could've provided some pop and stolen bases for the Pirates, who remain on the hunt for outfield solutions to this day.