The best pitches in the Pittsburgh Pirates' system

If there’s one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system has, it’s talented pitching. They have a lot of pitchers with good stuff, as well as many who thrive on good control. A successful Pirates team in the future will be built around the vast amount of young hurlers they have, both at the MLB level and throughout their minor-league system.

Earlier in this particular offseason, we coveredthe five best position player tools the Pirates have in the minor leagues. Now, it's worth combing through each of the best tools among Pirates pitching prospects.

For those who want to take a trip to the past, you can look at what the Pirates' best pitches were prior to the 2021 season here. It's certainly safe to say the system has come a long way.

Pirates' Best Fastball and Changeup: Bubba Chandler

Bubba Chandler, unsurprisingly, is going to get a lot of praise this offseason. Chandler’s fastball has always projected as a plus pitch, but it looked even better in 2024. According to Baseball America, Chandler’s four-seamer gained 1.4 MPH of velocity, sitting at 96.8 MPH. Chandler also gives his fastball the riding effect, with only 12.5 inches of vertical drop and solid horizontal break at 7.5 inches.

Along with an elite fastball, Chandler has arguably the best changeup in the system. His go-to offspeed pitch sits in the 88-90 MPH range with 28.4 inches of drop and 16.5 inches of break. However, the biggest stride forward Chandler has made over the last two seasons has been in locating his changeup much better.

There are some other impressive fastballs in the Pirates’ system. David Matoma can hit triple-digits. Zander Mueth’s four-seamer can also play to a plus level. Brandon Bidois and Carlos Mateo are two more relief prospects who can crank the heat up on their four-seamers. Thomas Harrington also stands out as a pitcher in the Bucs’ system with a good changeup.

Pirates' Best Slider: Braxton Ashcraft

Braxton Ashcraft has broken out in a big way in the last two seasons. After missing most of 2020-2022, Ashcraft showed off a lot of potential in 2023, albeit in a limited role. He finally got to show off what he can do when tasked with pitching more innings at a time in 2024. Ashcraft throws four pitches, including a four-seamer, slider, curveball, and changeup, but among all his offerings, his slider is arguably the best.

Ashcraft’s slider averages out around the upper-80s with about 32 inches of vertical drop and 3.4 inches of glove-side break. This pitch has around average movement, but above-average velocity. Ashcraft’s slider induced a whiff rate of 44%, as well as an exit velo of 84.1 MPH and a zero-percent barrel rate at Triple-A. Baseball America and FanGraphs project it as a plus or better offering.

Pirates' Best Curveball: Mike Burrows

Mike Burrows could have made a big impact in 2023, but was sidelined in April because of Tommy John surgery. The young right-hander returned this past year and eventually made his debut, showing off his impressive curveball. Burrows has always had one of the best breaking balls in the Pirates’ system.

Burrows’ curveball averages out in the upper-70s, topping out at 80.7 MPH at Triple-A. He has always been a high-spin pitcher, and his curve sat around 2750 RPM this past season. That high spin rate gives his curveball a decent amount of movement. The pitch has around 60 inches of drop.

Burrows would have ranked in the top 35 in vertical movement of pitchers with curveballs if he'd thrown enough innings to qualify this year.

Pirates' Best Command: Thomas Harrington

The Pirates’ second-round pick from 2022, Thomas Harrington, displayed an elite ability to command his wide variety of offerings. The top prospect can throw a four-seamer, cutter, slider, changeup, and curveball, all while locating effectively. Harrington nearly cut his walk rate in half from 2023 (7.8%) to 2024 (4.1%). Among minor-league hurlers who started at least 18 games, Harrington had the fifth-best walk rate and K:BB ratio at 6.05.

Ashcraft is a close second in this department, and Michael Kennedy deserves an honorable mention. Heading into this season, Anthony Solometo had previously shown off the best command in the system in 2023. Both Josh Hartle and Po-Yu Chen have shown they can also locate very effectively throughout the minor leagues. 

Other notable pitches in the Pirates' system

Fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup are four of the most common pitches. Of course, they are far from the only offerings a hurler can toss. The Pirates have other prospects who throw unique additions to the standard four offerings.

Po-Yu Chen’s splitter

Po-Yu Chen had a solid season at Altoona this year, especially after a rough start. Chen’s best pitch is his offspeed pitch, a mid-to-upper 80s splitter varietal. Chen commands the pitch well. He also mixes in a fastball, slider, and curveball, but his splitter is the only offering that currently projects as above average.

Josh Hartle’s cutter

The Pirates took their favorite sort of pitcher, a soft-tossing lefty with good command, in Josh Hartle in the third round of the 2024 draft. He throws a four-pitch mix, including a four-seamer, slider, changeup, and cutter. His mid-80s cutter is one of the best of its kind in the Pirates’ system and projects as an average offering, but it might play up because of his strong command.

Zander Mueth’s sinker

Zander Mueth’s sinker clocks in around 93-94 MPH on a radar gun but looks more like 94-95 out of the hand because of his release point extension. Mueth’s sinker has 14.6 inches of arm-side run. For reference, that is about what you’d see from the average Major League sinker, and Mueth just made it to A-Ball last season.