A look at Pirates prospect Matt Gorski's case for a promotion to MLB

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had some minor league prospects get off to great starts to the year. Nobody has had a hotter month of May than outfielder/first baseman Matt Gorski. He’s been unstoppable at the plate recently. But has Gorski done enough to get a promotion to the bigs? 

Gorski is batting .275/.313/.611 through 164 plate appearances this season. He already has 11 home runs and an impressive .336 isolated slugging percentage. That’s the fourth-highest among minor league batters with at least 150 trips to the plate. Gorski does not walk very often and has a 6.1% BB% but strikes out 30.5% of the time. This all comes to a .382 wOBA and 129 wRC+

But Gorski has been next to unbeatable at the dish over the last month. Since the start of May, the outfielder is slashing .292/.337/.730. His isolated slugging is .438. To put this in perspective, Barry Bonds had a .442 ISO from 2000-2004. His walk rate has improved to 7.8%, as has his K%, but it’s still at a worryingly high 28.4%. Still, Gorski has a .428 wOBA and 152 wRC+.

How has Pirates' Matt Gorski changed his approach in 2024?

Gorski has taken a different approach at the plate this season. He’s hitting more fly balls. His flyball rate is 45.5% this year compared to only 41% in 2022-2023. His launch angle is 19 degrees, which is a noticeable uptick from 14 degrees in ‘22-’23.

When looking at a prospect, you’re looking for skills that will translate or develop well in the major leagues. How well he's performing is far from the most important question. Gorski does some things very well in this regard. He consistently hits the ball well and has a 91 MPH exit velocity. More important, however, is his 14.6% barrel rate. His barrel percentage is the 10th best in minor-league baseball among the 232 players with at least 150 plate appearances.

But Gorski has a massive, glowing red flag in his game, and this has probably hindered the likeliness he gets called up. Gorski swings and misses a lot. Gorski has a 38.1% whiff rate. That’s the 13th highest among minor-leaguers with at least 150 plate appearances. Over the last three seasons in the majors, there have only been two instances of a player swinging and missing that often.

Even though Gorski swings and misses to an almost unheard of level, the raw power might still play at the big leagues, even if he can never fully take advantage of it because of how often he whiffs. Gorski could be a solid fourth outfielder. He’s a good defender who can play all three outfield spots and can fit in at first base. He just needs to overcome his most glaring flaw to reach that pedestal.