Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Depth Chart: Starting Pitching

Depth & Late Round Selections

Omar Cruz is described as the typical lefty with pitchability. He spent the 2022 season at Altoona working to a 5.03 ERA, 4.90 FIP, and 1.42 WHIP. Cruz was limited to just 23 appearances/5 starts as he suffered an injury ridden season. Although Cruz has a great change-up and well above-average command, he has a mediocre fastball and below average curveball. His ceiling is probably what you saw from Dillon Peters in 2021-2022.

Sean Sullivan is a guy I could see making some strides next season. Although he had a 4.68 ERA and 5.47 FIP, he also had a 25.8% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate. xFIP painted him in a decent light at 3.88. Sullivan will likely start the year at Altoona next season. The right-hander had a 26.7% HR/FB ratio, so maybe a more pitcher-friendly environment is what he needs.

Luis Peralta is one of the more interesting unranked/depth names. In 60.1 innings, Peralta had a poor 6.01 ERA and 4.88 FIP. But he struck out 34.3% of the batters he faced. The downside is he also had a 15.1% walk rate and 1.92 HR/9. There’s a decent chance Peralta’s home run rate decreases as he had a 20% HR/FB ratio, but the command is a massive issue. This isn’t the first time he’s put up a walk rate above 12%.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of other depth/late-round selections in the minors. This includes Justin Meis, Carlos Lomeli, Aaron Shortridge, Braxton Ashcraft, Adrian Florencio, and Osvaldo Bido.