5 non-top prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system who are having sneaky good years

Luis Peralta

Luis Peralta is the most highly touted of any of the names on today’s list. The southpaw was recently ranked as the Pirates’ 25th best prospect on FanGraphs’ Pirates top prospect list. However, he’s not featured as a top 30 prospect by MLB Pipeline or Baseball America. Peralta struggled for most of his career in the Pirates’ system, mainly with his ability to control his stuff. Luckily, it seems like a full-time move to the bullpen has done him good.

Throughout 32.1 innings, Peralta has an ERA under 1.00 at 0.56. He’s yet to allow a home run and has a 50.9% ground ball rate. His strikeout rate is an impressive 43.2%. Peralta still has a mediocre 12% walk rate. However, it’s much better than what he’s posted in the last few years. Peralta’s walk rate has also been below 10% since the start of May, and he’s only gotten better. 

The lefty is a fastball/slider reliever, but both pitches have a lot of potential. He throws around the mid-90s, but his arm angle makes the pitch play up. Peralta’s sweeping slider is another pitch with plus potential. His command has been trending upward, and even if he’s never Greg Maddux, having average command over his stuff will make him a potential force to be reckoned with out of the pen.

The Pirates have many notable relief prospects who are doing well, and Peralta is having the best season out of all of them. He’s 23 and at Double-A, so he could possibly force himself into the team’s late-season bullpen plans. Stuff has never been the question for Peralta, so to finally see him get his control under wraps could be huge for him, as well as the future of the Pirates’ bullpen.