Pirates recent trade acquisition has made surprising, yet excellent first impression

A couple of weeks ago, the Pirates kicked off trade season with a minor deal with the Braves, sending Hunter Stratton to Atlanta in exchange for Titus Dumitru, a minor league outfielder.

At first, it didn't seem that important. Just a recently DFA'd guy going to another squad in exchange for a High-A player no one really knew. Now, all of a sudden, Dumitru has heated up at the plate in Greensboro and is starting to show some offensive upside through just nine games.

In this short stint with the Grasshoppers, Dumitru is batting .382 (13-for-34) with two home runs and seven RBI. He added two doubles as well, reaching a .618 slugging percentage. His strikeout rate has fallen slightly in this small sample, too, from 25.3% with the Braves to a 23.7% rate.

The numbers have been perfect since the acquisition, marking a very sneaky early victory in this deal. Dumitru has a lot more to prove beyond just a quick hot week before we can really judge this as a trade win. Nonetheless, this early success is very noteworthy, especially with the lack of offensive prospects in the organization.

Pirates' recent acquisition from Braves, Titus Dumitru, is off to a fantastic start with the organization.

Dumitru was a 16th-round pick by Atlanta in the 2024 MLB Draft out of New Mexico State, and the 22-year-old outfielder has never exactly been a top prospect according to any network. There is still lots of time for him to prove himself as a solid offensive prospect, too, as his professional career is nearly at the one-year mark.

Pittsburgh lacks offense throughout their entire organization. Dumitru is starting make the overall offense in the Pirates' farm system look better, alongside other unranked prospects such as Will Taylor, Malcom Nunez, and Javier Rivas.

On the other side of the deal, Stratton has tossed 3.1 scoreless innings in Triple-A, striking out three, walking two, and allowing zero hits.

Dumitru's hot start with Greensboro is definitely providing some optimism that they found an under-the-radar bat that can help the team down the road. Time will tell on this young outfielder, but if he keeps things up, he could find his way into Double-A before the end of the season.