Pittsburgh Pirates: Minor Leaguers Who Could Get Promoted Next

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been more aggressive with moving prospects up the system recently, so who could be the next prospect to get moved up?

It’s that time of the year when the Pittsburgh Pirates start making promotions. So far this month, Henry Davis and Carmen Mlodzinski have made their big league debuts. Anthony Solometo, Thomas Harrington, Kyle Nicolas, and Jared Jones have all gotten moved to the next level of the minor leagues.

However, the Pirates still have a handful of other minor leaguers who are pushing for a bump to the next level. They’re likely far from done moving players up the pipeline. Many prospects you see in the lower levels of the minor leagues could end the season at an upper level. Short-season prospects may soon get that call to Bradenton.

Note that I am only looking at minor league promotions, not major league promotions. While Triple-A has some players who deserve a major league promotion, I am just focusing on prospects moving to the next level of the minor leagues.

Matt Gorski

Matt Gorski is one of the Pirates’ more notable outfield prospects. Gorski had an outstanding 2022 season that saw him debut at Triple-A. However, it was only for one game before he was sent back to Altoona to start the 2023 season. He would have likely gotten an extended look at Indy had it not been for an injury.

Gorski’s numbers on the season don’t stand out as a prime candidate for a promotion. He’s slashing .265/.316/.461 through 225 plate appearances. Gorski has nine home runs and a .196 isolated slugging percentage. But he’s only walked in 6.2% of his plate appearances while striking out nearly a quarter of the time (24.8% strikeout rate). Gorski overall has a respectable .343 wOBA and 105 wRC+.

But since the start of May, Gorski has been on a tear. He’s slashing .299/.343/.503 with a .372 wOBA, and 123 wRC+. Gorski’s walk rate is still well below average at just 5.8%, but his strikeout rate of 22.7% is a major improvement from prior seasons. Gorski is also hitting for above-average power with a .204 ISO and seven home runs in 172 plate appearances (a rate of 24 home runs in 600 PAs).

Gorski has played all three outfield positions, with center field being his primary spot. He has also played a handful of games at first base, both this year and throughout his career, and has now taken up a few games at second base. Granted, he only has 23 innings logged at the keystone, so it’s not as if second base is becoming his primary position. But he’s consistently gotten above-average grades for his defense in the grass. Plus, he has a strong enough arm to play any of the three outfield spots.

Gorski’s hot streak warrants a bump to Triple-A Indy. Even though he’s old enough, you could make the argument that he should go straight to the major leagues (he is 25), I’d at least like to see him get moved to the next minor league level. He’s a power/speed threat with a good glove in the outfield and at first base.

Braxton Ashcraft

Braxton Ashcraft’s promotion to Altoona seems overdue now. Ashcraft was a former second-round pick in 2018. However, he pitched sparsely from 2020 through 2022. COVID knocked out his 2020 season, and he only managed to fit 38.2 innings into 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which also knocked him out for 2022. Now that he’s back in action, he looks back to full strength and has already to taken on the next level of the minor leagues.

Ashcraft owns a 3.03 ERA, 3.46 FIP, and 1.16 WHIP through 36.2 innings. He’s demonstrated a strong ability to strike out batters without letting them reach via free pass. Ashcraft’s strikeout rate sits just under 30% at 29.9% while also having a phenomenal 4.5% walk rate. Among all minor leaguers with at least 30 frames, Ashcraft has the 17th-best K:BB ratio at 6.67.

However, home runs have come back to bite Ashcraft on more than one occasion. He has a 1.10 HR/9 rate. But that’s mainly because of his 13.8% HR/FB ratio at Greensboro. Despite having a FIP over 4.00 at High-A, his xFIP, which I think is best used to adjust for extreme conditions (such as a very hitter-friendly park), pins him at 3.64.

Ashcraft throws a four-seamer that could be one of the better fastballs in the system. He was dialing it up into the upper-90s early in the year with a lot of spin (Bradenton has publicly available pitch tracking data, but Greensboro does not). But his fastball isn’t his only offering. He also throws a curveball, slider, and changeup. His slider is his second-best offering, and his curveball also averages out with high-end spin. His change-up is a rarely used pitch, however.

Ashcraft’s strong start to the season has been a fun comeback story to watch. But he is now 23 and pitching well. This is not only a comeback season for him but also a breakout season. Ashcraft deserves to join the starting rotation in Altoona.

Hung-Leng Chang

Hung-Leng Chang is the only short-season player we’ll examine today. The Pirates signed Chang out of Taiwan in the 2021-2022 offseason. Chang was one of their more expensive signings, inking a signing bonus of $750,000.

It’s a surprise he didn’t start 2023 at Bradenton, given his age and how well he performed last season at the Florida Complex League, but now he’s making it hard for the Pirates to keep him there any longer.

Last season, Chang had a 4.76 ERA and 1.32 WHIP but an outstanding 2.50 FIP. Chang was burned by bad batted ball luck, with a .355 batting average on balls in play. Chang struck out 27.8% of his opponents while managing a solid 8.2% walk rate. His 48.3% ground ball rate helped him allow zero home runs in 22.2 innings.

Chang has pitched eight innings, allowing three earned runs. But he’s struck out nine more batters while only allowing one free pass. It’s now been 32.2 straight innings of not allowing a home run for Chang. He’s carrying roughly the same ground ball rate at 47.6%, but once again, bad batted ball luck has hurt him with a .381 BAbip (keep in mind this is less than ten innings).

Chang is 21 and only throws around 90-92 MPH and topping out at 94. However, the Pirates loved his advanced feel for pitching. He also has some room for growth and added velocity. Chang checks in at 6’3”, 160 pounds. Some added muscle could help him gain an extra tick or two of velocity.