Pirates' Triple-A pitching depth has way more upside than last season

It’s frustrating when a team does not have good pitching depth. Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates ran into this problem. They had six pitchers who did not open the year on the team's Opening Day roster throw fewer than 30 innings and allow at least six earned runs. That group included Ben Heller, Justin Bruihl, Domingo Germán, Jake Woodford, Daulton Jeffries, and Brady Feigl. They combined for just 76.2 innings, about 5% of all innings pitched among Pirates hurlers in 2024. Despite that, they combined for 73 earned runs allowed, which made up about 11% of the Pirates’ earned runs surrendered.

Now, granted, depth pitchers are not expected to be All-Stars. That’s why they’re depth pitchers without a defined role. Still, the Pirates knew that each of these six pitchers had very limited upside. The only one with any upside was Heller because he has a good sweeper. The others were safe options, and they still failed.

Regardless of circumstance, 73 earned runs in 76.2 innings pitched is an ERA of 8.57. Even an ERA of around 6.00 in that many innings is 21 fewer earned runs allowed (52, to be exact).

But 2025 might be a different story. The Pirates will have fewer of these no-upside depth arms at Triple-A this season. One of their current options is Po-Yu Chen. Formerly one of the Pirates’ notable international signings, Chen has shown some promise at each level of the minor leagues.

Pirates' Triple-A depth options entering 2025 season have actual upside

Chen didn’t get off to a great start at Double-A in 2024, as he had a dismal April with a 7.98 ERA, 7.13 FIP, and 1.77 WHIP through his first 14.2 innings of the year. However, after that, he really turned things around. After that rough April, Chen would go on to pitch to a solid 3.54 ERA, 4.00 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP over his next 119.1 innings. The Taiwanese right-hander struck out just 17.8% of opponents, but he put up an above-average 7.2% walk rate and 0.68 HR/9. Chen is a soft-tosser, sitting in the low-90s, but has a plus splitter and plus command. 2024 is his age-23 season, and he should open the year at Triple-A Indy.

Another arm that had a surprisingly good year in 2024 was Scott Randall. Randall pitched 53.1 innings across A-Ball through Double-A while working in a swingman role (19 appearances, eight starts). His 4.39 ERA wasn’t great, but he had a strong 2.82 FIP and 1.14 WHIP. Randall had a 24.3% K%, but a microscopic 3.2% walk rate and strong 0.51 HR/9. His 7.57 K:BB ratio was the 11th-best among all minor leaguers with at least 50 innings pitched. He was one of just 74 pitchers across all of minor-league baseball with a sub-3.00 FIP, sub-3.50 xFIP, and a K%-BB% over 20% in 50+ frames. Randall is going into his age-26 season, but is coming off a better year than most minor league pitchers, including top prospects.

Then there’s former eighth-round pick Sean Sullivan. The right-hander pitched 72.2 innings at Altoona last year, working to a 3.84 ERA, 3.87 FIP, and 1.27 WHIP. He had some very similar peripherals to post-April Chen, with an 18.7% strikeout rate, a 7.2% walk rate, and an HR/9 of 0.74. This was Sullivan’s second stint at Altoona, but he should open 2025 at Triple-A Indy (if healthy). He’s one of the Pirates’ better unranked pitching prospects, along with Chen.

Even the depth relief options, like Eddy Yean, Emmanuel Chapman, Peter Strzelecki, and Tanner Rainey, have each shown some level of upside, especially Yean and Strzelecki. Yean may even have a chance to open the season in the Pirates’ bullpen after such a promising 2024 season at Altoona and Indianapolis. 

Of course, the Pirates still have a ton of top pitching prospects to account for, like Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco, Mike Burrows, and Anthony Solometo. These high-upside arms will all be stationed between Altoona and Indianapolis to begin the season. However, if the Pirates need an extra arm and don’t want to promote a top prospect, they have better options at their disposal this year. Instead of Domingo Germán and Jake Woodford taking spot starts, you may see Po-Yu Chen absorb those innings. Hopefully, the Pirates do not need to reach far into their depth chart this year, but in the event they do, they have significantly better options compared to last season.