Pittsburgh Pirates building global imprint with impressive talent in unexpected places

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t strangers to finding players from unlikely places in the world. In 2017, they debuted Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas. Ngoepe was the first ever South African-born player, while Neverauskas was the first Lithuanian-born MLB player. Before that, they signed the first-ever Indian-born players, Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, in 2008.

Unsurprisingly, the Pirates’ recent forays into the international market have only turned up more talent from places where you typically do not find professional baseball players, and they could soon debut more at the MLB level. The Pirates now have two players in their system from Uganda. One impressive arm, David Matoma, signed in the 2022-2023 offseason.

Matoma showed off a ton of talent in 2024, pitching 22 innings at the Florida Complex League. He allowed just two earned runs, striking out 28, and walking nine. The six-foot, 155-pound right-hander is able to hit triple-digits with his four-seam fastball. He also has a slider that projects as above average. He’ll need to sharpen up his command, but he is only heading into his age-19 season and has already shown the potential of being a closing pitcher.

Pirates continue uncovering talent in Uganda, small country near Italy

The Pirates just recently signed another Ugandan-born player this offseason in Armstrong Muhoozi. The 17-year-old signed for $40K. He is a 5’10” infielder/outfielder who has already shown off a plus arm. He’s been able to hit over 95 MPH on crow hops, and has also displayed decent speed. Pirates scout Tom Gillespie identified Muhoozi, who attended the LA Dodgers’ complex in Uganda. This is also the same complex where Matoma trained; Gillespie was also responsible for scouting him.

Last, but certainly not least, is Alessandro Ercolani. The right-hander signed during the 2020-21 offseason and is coming off a strong season. Ercolani had a 3.29 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 1.08 WHIP. His K% clocked in just a hair under 30% at 29.8%, and he also had a solid 8% walk rate and 0.94 HR/9. Ercolani pitched both out of Greensboro’s bullpen and rotation, and did this all in just his age-19 season in 2024.

Ercolani was born in San Marino, a small, landlocked country north of Italy. It is allegedly the fifth smallest country in the world. According to the CIA’s website, San Marino’s population is just 35,095 people. For reference, the estimated population of Pittsburgh was just over 300K people in July 2023. Ercolani is the first player from San Marino to play affiliated ball.

Baseball is the world’s game. 2024 saw the fourth-most foreign players on Opening Day rosters ever with 264, and that number will likely only continue to grow. Just a decade ago, that number was only 224. Fans can rightfully criticize the Pirates for a lot of things, but scouting and signing players out of places like Uganda and San Marino helps grow the game and helps everyone, from fans to other teams. Hopefully, we will see Matoma, Muhoozi, and Ercolani in the big leagues someday, where they can make their country proud and attract fans from places where baseball will continue to grow.