Five underrated Pittsburgh Pirates prospects who are off to good starts to 2024

Garret Forrester

Garret Forrester isn’t the only underrated 2023 draft pick who is off to a phenomenal start to the season. The Bucs selected the corner infielder out of Oregon State with their third-round pick. Throughout college, Forrester displayed a pure hitting approach, hitting for some power but also contact and walking more often than he struck out.

Forrester’s first few games into 2024 did not go very well, but he’s caught fire since then. Over his last 59 plate appearances, Forrester is slashing .340/.475/.489. He has four doubles in this span, as well as a home run. Forrester has walked a ton with a 16.4% BB% but has also struck out a little more frequently than expected. He has a 25.4 percent K% during this stretch.

So far, the raw power is playing well at Bradenton. Forrester has a 92.7 MPH exit velocity. If he were to translate that to the Major Leagues, that would put him around the 90th percentile of hitters. Along with elite exit velo so far, he’s produced a strong 9.8% barrel rate. 

Forrester mostly played first base during college, only playing the hot corner seven times while at Oregon State. But the Pirates drafted Forrester as a third baseman. Another interesting thing is that Forrester is catching too, something he hasn’t done since high school at the latest prior to this year. He has a strong enough arm to play both at third base and behind the plate, but his range is the reason many expected him to land at first base. He has the instincts to play third. There’s not much to say about his skills behind the plate right now as he’s only appeared 70 innings so far, but of the few things to note, he has thrown out 25 percent of would-be base stealers but has also allowed two passed balls. 

Forrester could eventually develop into a bat this system needs. He has raw power and has displayed a good eye at the dish. He needs to cut the strikeouts down from what they currently are, but I wouldn’t worry too much about how his K% looks through less than 100 plate appearances.