3 Pirates prospects who made great first impressions in 2024

Carlson Reed

Another 2023 draft pick who emerged this season was Carlson Reed, who the Bucs took in the fourth round out of West Virginia University. Reed worked solely as a reliever during his final season at WVU, but the Pirates were determined to try him out as a starting pitcher once again this season. Needless to say, the results speak for themselves.

Reed pitched 108.2 innings between Bradenton and Greensboro, working to a 1.99 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 1.08 WHIP. Reed struck out 29.7% of opponents while allowing home runs at just an 0.41-per-9 pace. Reed handed out a walk to 11.7% of opponents, but he cut his BB% below 8% after he got promoted to High-A ball. Very few minor league pitchers had as good of a season as Reed had. His ERA was the third best of all hurlers, while he ranked top 25 in WHIP, strikeout rate, home run rate, and in the top 50 in FIP (min. 100 innings pitched).

Reed’s numbers under the hood were also very promising. Reed was next to unhittable at Bradenton, inducing a whiff rate of 32.2%. Opponents could only respond with a meager 85.4 MPH average exit velocity and 3.3% barrel rate against him when they did make contact. His .260 opponent xwOBA was the second-best on the Marauders (min. 500 pitches).

Reed showed off a wide variety of pitches, including a four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and changeup. Reed typically sits 93-95 MPH with his four-seamer. His most used pitch was his sinker, which sat 92.5 MPH with 22.4 inches of drop and 13.2 inches of break. All four offerings induced quality results, but his slider and changeup had exemplary whiff rates of over 50%.