Best late round draft prospects in the Pirates' system

Jase Bowen

A year later, after the Pirates took Burrows in the 11th round of the 2018 draft, they would take utility man Jase Bowen in the same round in 2019. Bowen is a power/speed threat who has seen playing time at all three outfield positions and both positions on the right side of the infield. 

He spent most of his 2023 campaign at High-A Greensboro, where he hit .257/.333/.469 with a .360 wOBA and 117 wRC+. Bowen was a 20/20 threat with 23 homers and 23 stolen bases. But he displayed mediocre plate discipline. Bowen posted a below-average 7.1 percent walk rate and a 24.5 percent strikeout rate, which was only about one percent better than the league average. At the end of the season, he was promoted to Altoona but performed poorly in eight games, with seven hits and only one walk in 33 plate appearances. On the plus side, he struck out just seven times.

Bowen is an above-average runner who is also considered a quality defender wherever he plays. A lot of his value comes from his utility. He's also shown some power potential (after all, he had 23 homers and a .221 ISO last season), but his unimpressive plate discipline has left some questions about his hit tool. 

But again, a lot of his value comes from his ability to play first base, second base, and all three outfield spots. If Bowen ends up being a 15-home run/stolen base threat and can at least post a .710-.730 OPS, he'll be a valuable utility man. Bowen is only 23, and Altoona should be his real test. Hopefully, his struggles in the small sample size are only a product of a small sample size, and he can look more like he did at Greensboro.