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

Charles McAdoo

Both Forrester and Reilly were selected fairly early into the MLB draft last year. They went in the 5th round or earlier. But that isn’t the case for utility prospect Charles McAdoo. McAdoo was selected much later, as the Pirates took him in the 13th round. McAdoo has gotten off to a great start to both his pro career and 2024 and has done so while playing a ton of different positions.

McAdoo is providing Greensboro with a ton of offense right now. He only has 78 plate appearances under his belt but is batting .303/.397/.545. McAdoo is hitting for a ton of pop and already has four home runs and a .242 isolated slugging percentage. He is carrying a respectable 21.8 percent strikeout percentage while drawing walks 11.5 percent of the time. This has all resulted in an outstanding 170 wRC+.

So far, McAdoo has been one of the best hitters in the South Atlantic League. McAdoo ranks sixth in wRC+, OPS, and wOBA among the qualified hitters at this level. He also ranks top ten or higher in each of the three triple-slash stats. McAdoo’s power has also been top tier, ranking 8th in ISO.

McAdoo’s defense can best be defined as “jack of all trades, master of none.” He doesn’t project as a particularly good defender anywhere, maybe aside from first base. However, the only non-catcher/pitcher positions he hasn’t played at least once since getting drafted have been shortstop and center field. Most of his innings have been logged at the hot corner this year, but he was primarily a second baseman throughout college.

McAdoo is a hit first prospect. He has a short leg kick, but is a bit stiff in his swing. He is 6’1”, 180-LBS and can generate decent raw power numbers. So far, there hasn’t been a league or level of baseball he hasn’t excelled at. Greensboro has a hitter friendly park, but the park/league adjusted wRC+ speaks for itself.