Pittsburgh Pirates: One Underrated Prospect At Each Position

Catcher - Miguel Sosa

Which Pirates' minor league batter has the highest wRC+ in at least 200 plate appearances in 2022-2023? It's not Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Nick Gonzales, or Termarr Johnson. It's Miguel Sosa. Sosa has been the Pirates' best minor league hitter for the last two seasons. Now, do keep in mind that he has yet to play a full season, as he's spent the previous two years in the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League. But Sosa certainly isn't the first name you think of when you see the Pirates' best minor league hitters.

Last season, Sosa batted .275/.406/.406 with a .459 wOBA, and 154 wRC+. While he had a solid 22.3% strikeout rate, he also drew walks in 29.1% of his plate appearances. Sosa did not hit for much power and only had two home runs in his 103 plate appearances. However, he had an isolated slugging percentage above .200 last year at the DSL.

This is the second year in a row Sosa has drawn walks in more than 20% of his plate appearances. Granted, in neither season did he even surpass 110 plate appearances, but Sosa has drawn 55 walks over his last 212 plate appearances. Of the 133 batters who had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, 72 MLB players drew fewer walks than Sosa has the last two seasons. The fewest number of qualifying plate appearances came from Lars Nootbaar with 503.

Sosa was signed for his bat, and with a 160 wRC+, he's thus far delivered on that part of his game. But his defense behind the dish may mean he moves to another position in the long run. He has a decent arm, so a corner outfield spot is an option. He's almost split his time evenly between catcher and LF/RF.

Where he ends up, long-term, has yet to be seen, but a guy who has drawn 20 more walks than strikeouts over the last two years is definitely one to keep your eyes on. Yes, it is only the FCL/DSL, but his walk rate in the last two years is the second-best in minor league baseball (min. 200 PA).

First Base - Josiah Sightler

Josiah Sightler was a 15th-round pick. After a strong career at the University of South Carolina, the power-hitting 1B/RHP/COF signed with the Pirates after his senior season. While you typically don't see too many success stories from the 15th round of the draft, Sightler's first impression definitely turned heads.

Sighter missed nearly the entirety of the first half of the season, but once he returned, he caught fire. In 80 plate appearances for Bradenton, Sightler hit .516/.563/.891 with a .622 wOBA and 266 wRC+. He racked up six home runs and six doubles while drawing the same amount of walks and strikeouts, with nine apiece.

Doing that well at Low-A earned Sightler a quick bump to High-A with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. While it was pretty obvious Sightler wasn't going to maintain a batting average over .500, or wRC+ that wouldn't have looked out of place for a peak Barry Bonds, Sightler fell back to Earth, hard. His final 157 plate appearances saw him bat .232/.292/.387 with a .309 wOBA and 85 wRC+. He still hit seven home runs but struck out in 28.7% of his plate appearances, with a walk rate of 7.6%.

Sightler has the potential to be a good power hitter. He's a strongly built guy at 6'3", 235 pounds. He also went yard 15 times in his final college season with an ISO of .329. But he struggled with strikeouts, both at Greensboro and in college. Sightler split his time at both DH and first base. He played corner outfield in college and even pitched a few times. He has a strong arm, evident by his 13 IP for South Carolina, but his range definitely limits him.

Yes, I know he was a senior college draftee out of the 15th round and struggled once he was challenged at Greensboro. But that strong of a small sample size at Bradenton is hard just to ignore. Sure, you shouldn't bet on a sample size of less than 100 plate appearances, but I also don't think you should give up on a prospect after just 157 more trips to the plate. However, we will see how he handles 2024.

Second Base - Jackson Glenn

Jackson Glenn was the Pirates' 5th-round pick in 2021. He was selected as a low-cost senior to help them save money after going overslot on their prior four picks. Although he is an older minor leaguer at 26, Glenn was one of the better minor league performers for the Pirates and their system last season.

Glenn's season was the definition of solid. He hit .284/.349/.445 with a .363 wOBA, and 120 wRC+. Glenn hit for some pop, as he went yard 12 times with a .171 isolated slugging percentage. His plate discipline was also solid, posting a 7.8% walk rate and a strikeout rate of just 17.9%. He split the year between Greensboro and Altoona.

The infielder's best tool is his hit tool. Glenn walked nearly as often as he struck out in his college career and went down on strike three less than 20% of the time this past year. Glenn isn't a big power threat, and may only top out at average power. He's a below-average runner and is an okay fielder at both second base and third base.

Glenn can potentially be a solid infield utility man for the Pirates. He was able to hit decently at Double-A last year, and while he is older, he is certainly a name to watch next year. If he can show it's not just the age that helped him produce, maybe we'll see him in the Majors for a few games.

Third Base - Garret Forrester

Garret Forrester was one of the Pirates' most recent draft picks. The corner infielder was taken in the third round of the '23 draft out of Oregon State. Forrester has the potential to have a very good hit tool, as well as average power. He mostly played first base for Oregon before getting drafted, but the Pirates took him as a third baseman, and that's where he played the first few games of his pro career.

In 304 plate appearances, Forrester hit .341/.482/.522. While Forrester only had a .181 isolated slugging percentage, he reached double-digit home runs with a dozen doubles. However, he drew 59 walks and struck out just 51 times. It was the second college season in a row Forrester collected more walks than strikeouts.

Forrester continued that trend to A-Ball. He only appeared in six games with 29 plate appearances but struck out seven times to oppose ten walks. Forrester didn't have a single extra-base hit, with all five of his hits only getting one base. But at the very least, Forrester didn't have trouble getting the ball in the air. He hit more fly balls and line drives than grounders.

There's a chance for a 60-grade hit tool here. Forrester draws walks at a high rate, and strikeouts infrequently. He has not trouble with pitch recognition, and is one of his strengths. Forrester may not be a physical monster, but he's 6'1"/205 with both good raw strength and bat speed. He could be a 55-grade power hitter.

Forrester could also stick at third base. He has a good enough arm and solid instincts. But his range is definitely on the poor side. He's a below-average runner, and while he may be able to make the easy plays at third base, he may have trouble with making the more difficult plays that require a more rangy defender.

Even if Forrester moves to first base in the long run, his bat is definitely intriguing. He makes contact, and is strong enough to have 15-18 home run power. His ability to recognize pitchers helps him draw walks, and his swing decisions help him keep his K% low. He's somewhat of a Nolan Schanuel-lite.

Shortstop - Jhonny Severino

Jhonny Severino is one of the newest additions to the farm system. Acquired in the one-for-one Carlos Santana swap with the Milwaukee Brewers, Severino is one of the Pirates' more underrated teenage prospects in the system. He's still a raw talent project, but one with an extremely high offensive ceiling.

Severino had only appeared 52 times at the dish for the Brewers' DSL affiliate, and while he had four home runs and just ten strikeouts, he only drew a single walk. After getting traded, Severino would step to the plate 11 more times, collect three hits (two singles and a homer), only strike out once, and draw another walk.

FanGraphs states that for a hitter Severino's age, his measurable raw power was in elite territory. Severino stands at 6'2", 185 pounds. His swing is built to get under the baseball and hit it a long way. The sample size was small, but he had nearly a 50% fly ball rate for the Brewers' affiliate before the trade. One thing that Severino will need to improve upon is his swing decisions. He tries to expand the strike zone and often chases at pitches. This led to him drawing two walks all season. Of course, it is a small sample size for a kid in just his age-18 season, so there are still some things he'll need to work on.

Defensively, Severino looks like a solid shortstop, and could even be an above average glove at the position. He has a strong arm that will easily play on the left side of the infield. However, Severino is already considered an average-ish runner. Once he fills out, his speed may impede his range at shortstop. Severino already has experience at both second base and third base. Moving Severino to the keystone is a bit of a waste of his powerful arm, however the long term of third base is already solved with Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. That may mean he moves to an outfield corner.

Of course, the Pirates will give Severino every chance to stick at shortstop, and only move him off there if and or when he proves he isn't able to handle it. Severino is only going into his age-19 season and will likely start the year out at the Florida Complex League. Hopefully, we could start to see him improve his hit tool by making better decisions in the box. But the ceiling here is one of the higher ones in the Pirate system.

Left Field - Charles McAdoo

The Pirates took Charles McAdoo in the 13th round of the 2023 draft. McAdoo is a bat first utility prospect, and he's played a little bit of everywhere throughout college. He was primarily a second baseman in his final season, but he also saw time at both corner outfield positions, third base, and first base.

During his final season at San Jose State, McAdoo slashed .325/.409/.543. He cranked out ten home runs while having an 11.9% walk rate and a 15.2% strikeout rate. He also hustled out 19 doubles, and hit 20+ two-baggers in 2022. However, what was more promising was his season at the Northwoods Summer League. He hit ten dingers, but in 190 plate appearances. The thing is, the NWSL is a wood bat league, so going from a metal bat to wood stick did not affect him much.

McAdoo got his first taste of playing time at Bradenton this season, appearing in 28 games and stepping to the plate 114 times. He collected 29 hits, including nine extra-base hits (three doubles, a triple, and five round-trippers). He also walked (17) nearly as many times as he struck out (22). It was a small sample size, but resulted in a 151 wRC+.

While McAdoo's lower half is a bit stiff, and he takes a short toe-tap behind him before making his swing. His follow-through has some traces of Miguel Andujar in it as well. McAdoo has an average arm, but his range and athleticism is below average. While McAdoo mostly played left field for the Marauders, he also lined up at second base and first base.

McAdoo has the chance to be a quality bat first utility man. He's shown off good plate discipline, both in college and as a pro batter, as well as above average raw power. We will see how his bat develops, but his versatility will keep him around.

Center Field - Tres Gonzalez

Tres Gonzalez may be the most underrated player the Pirates took in the 2022 draft. An outfielder from Georgia Tech, Gonzalez had a strong first full minor league season. Given that he spent most of the season at Greensboro, he'll likely get his 2024 campaign kicked off at Double-A Altoona.

Gonzalez stepped to the plate 531 times, batting .289/.405/.406 with a .381 wOBA, and 129 wRC+. The outfielder struck out well below 20% of the time with a 17.9% strikeout rate, but walked nearly as often with a 15.1% walk rate. He had the 33rd highest walk rate among the 221 minor leaguers with at least 500 plate appearances. His 0.84 BB:K ratio ranked top 30, and sat just behind one of the best prospects in baseball, Jackson Holliday.

While Gonzalez hit for a great batting average and drew walks at an elite rate, leading to an OBP over .400, he did not hit for much power. He had 22 doubles, but just nine home runs and an isolated slugging percentage clocking in at a poor .113. That was the 32nd lowest rate among batters with 500+ PAs last season throughout the minor leagues..

Gonzalez is a plus runner who started his 2023 season off with 17 straight stolen bases without getting caught once. In total, he took 28 bags with eight caught stealing. But that speed helps translate to a rangy outfielder. He definitely has the potential to stick in center field, but he also played a handful of games in left and right field.

Gonzalez's lack of power keeps his ceiling relatively low, but he definitely could develop into an Adam Frazier-type hitter, just with a few more strikeouts, but also an average to above average walk rate. Though his defense gives him the floor of a 4th outfield type, at the very least.

Right Field - Jase Bowen

Considering Jase Bowen a right fielder only would be greatly underestimating his utility, and even though he's garnering more attention, he's a player I feel deserves a spot somewhere on today's list. The utility man definitely has a chance to make his debut in 2024 and be a potential long-term super utility man for the Pirates.

Bowen hit .257/.333/.469 at Greensboro. The utility man went yard 23 times, and swiped 24 bags. But Bowen had just a 24.5% strikeout rate, with an unimpressive 7.1% walk rate. Regardless of his so-so BB% and strikeout rate, Bowen still turned in overall good production. He clocked in with a .336 wOBA, and 117 wRC+.

The Pirates promoted Bowen to Double-A late into the season, and he only appeared in eight games. Bowen collected 33 plate appearances, but was only able to manage seven hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts. However, he also had five extra base hits, that being three doubles and two triples, but none left the ballpark.

Bowen has shown off good exit velocities and the ability to hit for at least average power. He is more of a power-over-hit kind of batter, and he's struggled at times with his swing decisions. MLB Pipeline states he has improved, though he needs to keep making strides. Bowen can swipe a base with his above-average speed, making him a power/speed threat.

Since the start of the Arizona Fall League, Bowen has gone off, racking up 11 extra-base hits, going to the Arizona Fall LeagueAll-Star game, and earning a spot in the home run derby, where he smacked 18 dingers. The AZFL is a hitter-friendly league, but it's still nice to see Bowen doing so well thus far.

Bowen has displayed solid fielding prowess all over the field with a strong arm. He only played outfield and first base this past season, but he has experience at both second base and third base as a pro player. Bowen's lacking tool is his hit tool. He makes below-average swing decisions, which is something MLB Pipeline knocks him for.

Starting Pitcher - Sean Sullivan

The Pirates took right-handed pitcher Sean Sullivan in the 8th round of the 2021 draft. While the right-hander had a poor ERA at Greensboro in 2022, he struck out a decent amount of batters with a quality walk rate. Home runs gave him some trouble, but with an unsustainable HR/FB ratio, Sullivan was surely in for a better season in 2023.

Sullivan pitched 113.2 innings at Altoona, working to a 3.88 ERA, 4.16 FIP, and 1.27 WHIP. While Sullivan's strikeout rate dropped from a hair over 25% to just 20.4%, his walk rate remained at 8%, while his HR/9 rate fell to 1.03. Sullivan is a fly ball pitcher who had a fly ball rate over 50%. However, he induced enough soft contact to post a quality HR/9. The right-hander was much better at limiting home runs in the second half of the year, as his HR/9 went from 1.44 prior to the All-Star Break to just 0.53 afterward.

Sullivan has an interesting motion. He starts his arms low in his wind-up and looks almost like a side-arm hurler but then goes back to a three-quarters arm slot. However, he brings it back up to a more traditional three-quarters arm-slot. Sullivan sits 92-94 MPH, and he does have a solid slider. His change-up also looked quite decent. Sullivan has good command over his stuff as well.

The right-hander is going into just his age-23 campaign but will have made it to Triple-A Indianapolis. Sullivan is unranked by both FanGraphs and MLB Pipeline and excluded from each Pirates' top prospect list. However, he definitely could get a couple of starts next season.

Relief Pitcher - Jaden Woods

For our third 2023 draftee of the day, we have left-handed pitcher Jaden Woods. Baseball America really liked Jaden Woods, even saying he had day one draft upside. However, he wasn't able to impress enough during the 2023 college season and fell to the 7th round, where the Pirates snagged him.

Woods' final season at the University of Georgia saw him pitch to a 5.77 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 2.48 WHIP. While Woods struck out nearly 30% of the batters who faced him (29.5%), he also had an unimpressive 11.9% walk rate and 1.86 HR/9 rate. While Woods struggled in college, he looked great for the Bradenton Marauders after the Pirates drafted him.

The lefty pitched 14.1 innings at Low-A and only allowed five earned runs. He struck out 21 opponents and walked three. Impressively, Woods did not allow a single home run. It was a high note for Woods to end on after his mediocre season for Georgia.

Woods was only sitting 90-92 MPH and topping out around 93-94 with Bradenton but has previously been able to crank it up to 93-95 on average. While the pitch lacks elite velocity, especially for a reliever, he was able to get a decent amount of swings and misses with the pitch. He also throws a slider in the upper-70s/low-80s, but he can really sell his changeup well because of his arm action.

Woods is athletic and has a lot more promise than you'd typically see from a 7th-round draft pick. If Woods can get his velocity back up to the 93-94 MPH range, he could make some significant strides in 2024.