3 underrated Pirates pitching prospects having strong seasons

Alessandro Ercolani

Alessandro Ercolani might be the best prospect of any of the names on today’s list. The right-hander from San Marino had a solid season in 2023 at Bradenton. He’s now having a better year at Greensboro, owning a 3.60 ERA, 3.87 FIP, and 1.14 WHIP through 65 innings of work.

Ercolani has struck out his fair share of batters with a K% just a touch below 30% at 29.4%. Neither walks nor home runs have been a huge issue for him, either. He has an 8.6% BB%, as well as a 1.11 HR/9 rate. Ercolani has been used in a swingman role, starting nine of his 20 appearances.

While Ercolani’s surface numbers are good, the negative elements have been inflated by one outing where he allowed nine earned runs, two home runs, and three walks in 2.1 innings in May. Outside of this one game, Ercolani owns a 2.44 ERA, a 30.8% strikeout rate, an 8% walk rate, and a HR/9 rate of just 0.86. This blowup represents one of just two games where he allowed more than three earned runs. The other was May 4th, when he allowed four.

Ercolani works in the mid-90s. His secondaries include a cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup. Last year, his four-seamer and cutter were his primary offerings. Ercolani struggled with his control in the past. He had a walk rate above 10% in both 2022 and 2023, but he’s quelled some of those walk concerns this year.

The most impressive part is that Ercolani has been able to do this at just 20 years old at High-A. He is the third-youngest pitcher at High-A to have thrown at least 50 innings, as well as the youngest in the South Atlantic League. The average age of pitchers in the Sally League is 23.1 years old. He has a very good chance of making his Double-A debut before his 21st birthday, which is April 20th, 2025. Given how well he’s pitched this year, it might happen before the end of this season.