One underrated prospect at each level of the Pirates’ minor leagues to watch in 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates recently released the rosters for each of their four minor league affiliates. Each of the teams has some very good prospects on their roster. Bradenton has Michael Kennedy and Shalin Polanco, Greensboro's roster houses a strong infield with Termarr Johnson, Jack Brannigan, and Mitch Jebb, Altoona is carrying a strong pitching staff with Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Anthony Solometo, and Indy has the Pirates' best prospect on their team with Paul Skenes, but some other notables like Quinn Priester, Liover Peguero, and Nick Gonzales.

But each roster has its share of more unheralded names. You won't find many of these guys on top Pirates prospect lists. But even if they're not recognized by prospect lists, they definitely are names you should keep an eye on throughout the 2024 season. We are going to go team by team throughout the Pirates' system and talk about one underrated prospect on each minor league roster. With that out of the way, let's look at an underrated prospect on Bradenton's roster.

Some of these players are former draft picks. The team has selected a large number of college pitchers over the last two years. With that being said it would not be out of the realm of possibility for the team to have some of these pitchers move quickly. This is especially true if they convert some of these arms into bullpen arms.

Pirates Low-A affiliate: Bradenton
Carlson Reed

The Pirates' 4th round pick in 2023 was right-handed pitcher Carlos Reed out of West Virginia University. Reed was used solely out of WVU's bullpen and recorded seven saves. But it seems like the Pirates want to try and stretch Reed out and see how he can do starting games, at least more frequently. In a draft where the Pirates took Paul Skenes and Zander Mueth, Reed can get easily overlooked.

Reed pitched 38 innings for WVU in 2023, pitching to a 2.61 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and 2.40 K:BB ratio. He was great at two things: limiting home runs with a 0.47 HR/9 rate, as well as striking batters out with a 34.7% strikeout rate. But Reed struggled with command, and it showed as he allowed 25 free passes, leading to a poor 14.5% walk rate out of the Mountaineer's bullpen.

Carlson made his professional debut last season and pitched seven innings for the Pirates' Florida Complex League affiliate team, allowing only two earned runs, striking out six, and walking three. In Reed's Bradenton debut this year, he pitched four scoreless frames, punched out six batters, and only allowed two walks.

When Reed throws out of the bullpen, he can sit mid-90s with his sinker and four-seamer. But at the start of his first year, he was sitting closer to the lower 90s. Sure, it's only one start in April, but it's not atypical for a pitcher to lose a tick of velocity when getting stretched out for longer outings rather than shorter games out of the bullpen. Reed also throws a slider, change-up, and occasional sweeper to go along with his fastball and sinkerball.

Reed's motion on the mound, along with his lanky 6'4", 200-pound frame, gets in the way of his command. We shall see how he does in an expanded role. The worst-case scenario is that he returns to the bullpen. But if he does well as a starter, it could very well be another pitching prospect in this system that could someday uphold an important role. He definitely has a good enough pitch mix to attempt a starting pitcher role.

Pirates Double-A affiliate Altoona
Justin Meis

In 2021, the Pirates took Justin Meis in the 10th round of the draft. Meis wasn't on any draft prospect lists, unlike Woods or Reed, but the Bethel Park product seemed to put things together late last season. The 24-year-old re-opened the season at Double-A, and it looks like he's picking off right where he ended last year. He started his year off with three scoreless innings, one walk, and three strikeouts.

Overall, in 2023, Meis did not have great numbers. In 83 frames, the right-hander had a 4.55 ERA, 5.34 FIP, and 1.46 WHIP. His peripherals weren't great, either. His K% was an unimpressive 20.9%, while he walked 12.7% of the batters he faced and had a HR/9 rate of 1.41. Meis is a flyball pitcher and it's not like he got wholly unlucky with flyballs like some minor league pitchers do.

So, what specifically makes me think that Meis is going to have a breakout? The first is that his second half was great. Meis pitched much more frequently out of Altoona's pen in the second half of the campaign, only making four starts. In total, he pitched 34.2 innings, posting a 2.08 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 1.04 WHIP. He still struggled to limit walks with a 13.7% BB%, but he struck out a lot more batters with a 28.1% K% and was significantly better at limiting the long ball with a 0.52 HR/9. He did have just a .195 batting average on balls in play, so keep that in mind, but it was an improvement overall nonetheless.

Then, during Spring Training, Meis pitched 4.1, only allowing one earned run. But the most important thing is that he saw a large uptick in velocity. He was sitting at 96.1 MPH and topped out at 97.6 MPH. Meis sat 92-94 MPH last season for Altoona, so sitting 96 is very good. He has always had a decent slurve-like pitch, so hopefully, the uptick in velocity will help his fastball play better off his breaking pitch.

Meis looked better after getting moved to the bullpen more often and his velocity uptick is promising. Hopefully, he can carry this over into the regular season more frequently. If he can do that, maybe he will become a future reliever for the Pirates.

Pirates Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis Indians
Joe Perez

Last season, the Pirates took a flier on corner infielder/outfielder Joe Perez. Perez was originally a second-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 2017. After a good start to his pro career, Perez stalled out in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Before getting let go, he was batting a meager .255/.328/.399 with a .328 wOBA and 75 wRC+ in the super hitter-friendly PCL. This also included an unimpressive .145 isolated slugging percentage, a 9.5% walk rate, and a 27.2% strikeout rate.

However, after the Pirates acquired Perez, he went on to bat .317/.434/.592 with a .451 wOBA and 174 wRC+ between Altoona and Indy.

He still struck out a little more than you'd like to see with a 24.8% K%, but it was an improvement nonetheless. He also walked a lot more frequently, with a 15.9% walk rate. After only hitting ten home runs in 87 games and 357 plate appearances to start the year, Perez then went on to hit ten more in only 34 games and 145 plate appearances.

Perez is a corner player, mostly seeing time at third base but also left field, right field, and occasionally first base. He has a strong arm to play the hot corner and corner outfield, but he's not generally considered a great defender overall. His power potential is the key to any future success.

Perez isn't off to a great start, with two hits and six K's, albeit in only five games. If he can produce even a fraction of what he did in the second half of last year with the Pirates' minor league teams, he could become a solid bench bat in the future, someone who can hit left-handed pitching while playing both corner infield and outfield.