Key Pirates pitching prospect has concerning first rehab outing

One of the biggest stories in the Pirates minor leagues entering the season was whether or not Anthony Solometo would bounce back. As one of the two ranked southpaws in the organization, his development is really important. Thankfully, he got off to a great start ... which was quickly stalled by a shoulder injury.

He landed on the 60-day injured list after allowing just one run through his first 10 innings. Just as things were heading in the right direction, the worst possible scenario happened for him. Fast forward to midsummer, and the 60-Day clock has finally expired. Solometo just made his first rehab outing in Single-A Bradenton and things did not look great.

Solometo failed to complete an inning, getting two outs before being pulled. He allowed two hits, a walk, and three runs (two earned). Management likely pulled him at 23 pitches to avoid a very long inning. A fielding error didn't help him out by any means, but the bigger concern was his velocity.

Pirates' pitching prospect Anthony Solometo makes first rehab start and the results are concerning.

He touched 90 mph with his fastball just twice. Everything else was mainly 88-89 mph. Velocity isn't everything, and funky lefties can get away with low numbers, like we see with Andrew Heaney. But when Solometo struggled in 2024, it was because his velocity was down around this level. In 2023, when he posted a 3.26 ERA, his fastball got up to 95 mph. That velocity drop is concerning, especially after it was trending upwards, sitting around 91-92 during the spring. This injury seems to have set that progress back.

Solometo was once the organization's top left-handed pitching prospect, but his decline and Hunter Barco's emergence pushed him back in the rankings. He still has a ton of upside on the table, and if he can stay healthy, then the results can follow, but he certainly seems to be operating at less than 100% these days.

The lack of left-handed pitching in this organization will show next season when Andrew Heaney and three southpaw relievers hit free agency. Pittsburgh needs Solometo badly to help with this left-handed depth in the organization, or else they will need to keep relying on free agency. As we know with the Pirates, free agency never helps this team, which is constantly hampered by a lack of spending, so they really need these prospects to hit.