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 High-A affiliate Greensboro
Jaden Woods

Carlson Reed isn't the only pitching prospect from the 2023 draft to make an appearance on today's list. Three rounds after the Bucs took Reed, they would then take left-handed pitcher Jaden Woods in the 7th round of the same draft. The left-hander did not pitch well at the University of Georgia but is definitely a name to watch this season.

Woods pitched 48.1 innings in his final college season, working to a 5.77 ERA but 1.34 WHIP. He struggled to limit home runs with a 1.68 HR/9 rate, as well as walks with an 11.9% BB%. On the plus side, he still got a ton of batters to strike out with a 29.5% K% and started off his pro career on the right foot last year.

The southpaw got things kicked off at Bradenton in the second half of last season, pitching 14.1 innings out of the bullpen, working to a 3.14 ERA, 1.50 FIP, and 0.91 WHIP. Woods saw his walk rate plummet to 5.6% while his K% rose to 38.9%. He had a 7.00 K:BB ratio, the highest among any Bradenton pitcher with ten or more innings pitched. Plus, he didn't allow a home run in the small sample size. Woods has since pitched 2.1 innings this year, allowing one earned run on a home run, no walks, and two K's for Greensboro.

Woods' sinker sat in the low 90s during his time with Bradenton, but according to Baseball America, he has been able to hit the mid-90s. His slider is an upper-70s pitch, and that pretty much makes up his pitch arsenal. He does have a change-up, but it's a rarely used offering. Woods' arm action is simple with a quick arm. The lefty stands at 6'2", 205-LBS, with some decent athleticism that could help improve his command in the future.

Woods was ranked as the 152nd-best draft prospect by Baseball America and signed for over-slot value. Hopefully, his command issues are trending in the right direction. He's only handed out three free passes in just over 16 innings as a pro pitcher. It's obviously a small sample size, so maybe he's figured it out. Woods could definitely become a left-handed relief prospect on more radars if he continues to develop the way he has thus far.

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.