5 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects to watch at the Florida Complex League

The Florida Complex League is a short-season level and a step below A-Ball. Their season has just begun. This is where many recent high school draft picks or international signees are playing right now. With many of the Pittsburgh Pirates' best talents being recent international signings or guys they have selected out of high school over the last year, there are a lot of young kids to watch for the Pirates' affiliate at this level.

Zander Mueth

While Paul Skenes obviously gets all the attention from the Pirates' 2023 draft class, Zander Mueth is someone with a ton of potential. Ben Cherington always takes at least one high school arm early in the draft. Before him, it was Jared Jones, Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler, and Michael Kennedy. Last year, it was Mueth in the second round last year, who I think can be as highly touted as those other arms.

Mueth couldn't have asked for a better debut. He pitched 3.1 innings, striking out a whopping six batters. He only allowed one free pass as well. But it doesn't seem like the defense held up their end of their bargain for Mueth's debut as he also allowed six unearned runs. 

There's a reason why many like Mueth. For one, he's a 6 foot 6, 205-pound presence on the mound. There's projectability left in his tall frame. Second, he already has good stuff. Mueth sits at 92-95 MPH and tops out at 97 MPH already. Keep in mind he won't turn 20 until late June of next year. Mueth has a big slider that sits in the low-80s with a ton of break. His third pitch is a change-up in the mid-80s. All three of his pitches have at least average potential.

The third reason why many like Mueth is because of his deceptive arm slot. Mueth throws from a side-arm arm slot that some have compared to Boston Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck. Both have similar arm slots, though Mueth's might be slightly lower, and both have a similar frame as Houck stands at 6 foot 5, 225. 

I think Mueth has the potential to be the Pirates' next best pitching prospect. He throws hard for being so young, has a low and deceptive arm slot, and has projectability on his side. In two or three years, we might be talking about him the same way we talk about Bubba Chandler.

Estuar Suero

Last year at the trade deadline, the Pirates sent first baseman Ji-Man Choi and aging lefty starting pitcher Rich Hill to the San Diego Padres for three players. Of the trio of athletes they received, Estuar Suero was by far the most interesting. The 18-year-old switch-hitting outfielder has a ton of raw talent with a sky-high ceiling.

Suero has 345 plate appearances between the Padres and Pirates' affiliates, batting just .235/.336/.368 with a .344 wOBA, and 89 wRC+. Suero is walking at a respectable 11.8 percent rate, but he's also striking out nearly 30 percent of the time (29.1 percent). Suero has started out 2024 3-8 with a double.

There are a lot of reasons to be intrigued by Suero. The sky's the limit for the switch-hitting outfielder. He is only 18, but already stands at 6 foot 6, 180 pounds. He's already shown off the potential to be a plus power hitter and plus runner. There's also a real chance he could stick in center field, too. 

The definition of Suero's skillset right now is raw talent. The size, the athleticism, speed, power, and the ability to switch-hit give him an immense amount of potential. The talent just needs refined. At 18, there's time to do that. 

David Matoma

Uganda isn't typically a hotbed for baseball talent. But that didn't stop the Pirates from signing right-hander David Matoma out of the country in the 2022-2023 off-season. Matoma is just the third Ugandan baseball player to sign with a Major League Baseball team in North America. Matoma is an interesting story, but has powerful stuff on the mound too.

Matoma hits triple-digits and reportedly hit 100 on his first strikeout of the season. On top of lighting up radar guns, Matoma made a great first impression last year. He pitched 16.2 scoreless innings for the Pirates' Dominican Summer League affiliate with 14 K's and seven walks.

Baseball America is very high on Matoma, ranking him as the Pirates' 30th-best prospect already. They include in their write-up that Matoma's fastball has good induced vertical break and that he can hit the zone with his three secondaries, including his mid-80s cutter, curveball, and his change-up. Command might be his weak point as it sits at a fringe-average level right now, but with a 100 MPH fastball and the potential for average command in the future, he might do alright.

If Matoma stays as a reliever, the Pirates might be able to move him through the system with more haste. He's a powerful arm with the potential for a plus-plus fastball and two average or better secondary offerings. The command might not be the best, but as long as it doesn't stray below fringe average, he should be okay.

Axiel Plaz

Currently, the best catcher in the Pirates' system is arguably Axiel Plaz. The Pirates signed Plaz in the 2021-2022 off-season and he made a massive splash on the scene in his first look against professional pitching, batting .382/.500/.706 with a .550 wOBA, and 202 wRC+ through 86 plate appearances. Plaz had three home runs and 11 doubles. He also walked (13) nearly as many times as he went down on strikes (16).

His encore wasn't nearly as good, however. After getting moved to the FCL, Plaz turned in a .144/.359/.237 triple-slash, .332 wOBA, and 81 wRC+ in 132 plate appearances. The backstop only collected a singular home run and struck out 41 times. The only positive takeaway is that he drew walks at a more frequent pace, upping his BB% to 16 percent. Plaz has appeared in two FCL games and is 1-6. He has a walk, but at least he hasn't struck out yet.

Plaz's defense is considered his strong suit. He has thrown out 29 percent of the runners that have tried to steal on him. He's also displayed above-average receiving skills, according to Baseball America. Plaz also has the potential to be an above-average power hitter. His eye at the plate is advanced for someone his age as well. While he sees the ball well, he will need to cut down on the swings and misses.