Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: All Underrated 2023 Lineup

Catcher - Samuel Escudero

The Pittsburgh Pirates have added a handful of notable young catchers during this rebuild. Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis are the big ones, but you also have Abrahan Gutierrez and Carter Bins as other mid-tier backstop prospects in the system. Even someone like Axiel Plaz stands out over Samuel Escudero.

Escudero was part of a mostly unheard of trade that sent Troy Stokes Jr. to the Milwaukee Brewers. After a poor showing in 2022, Escuerdo turned in a nice 2022 campaign at the Pirates' Dominican Summer League affiliate. It was a small 94 plate appearance sample size, but he hit .284/.419/.351 with a .397 wOBA, and 128 wRC+. Escudero walked 16 times and struck out in just 14 of his plate appearances.

The downside is he hasn't hit for much power, at least not yet. He did have five doubles in 2022 but has yet to hit a home run as a professional. But he has shown decent bat speed in the little video there is of the young backstop. Plus, at just 18 years old (he will turn 19 in February), he has plenty of time to add some strength. It's worth noting that there's very little information on the web about Escudero, at least using resources any reasonable fan would have access to (maybe that makes him all the more under the radar).

Escudero will likely be a member of the Pirates' Florida Complex League affiliate next season, though he could debut at Bradenton. He's still extremely young and made his professional debut at just 17. He's certainly yet to be talked about among the Pirates' better teenage prospects, like many of their recent international signees have been.

First Base - Josiah Sightler

A fifteenth-round pick, Josiah Sightler was a power hitter for the University of South Carolina. Sightler showed off good pop but also some improvement in his final season in college. First base typically has a handful of overlooked names, but Sightler is arguably the best among the Pirates' un-ranked 1B prospects.

Sightler batted .300/.408/.629 through 201 plate appearances. Sightler is known for his power output, lifting off 15 times. This put him on pace for nearly 45 home runs through 600 plate appearances. He drew walks at a 9.5% rate, and while his 20.9% strikeout rate wasn't all that impressive, was a slight improvement from 2021.

Sightler is a first baseman by trade, but he has played a handful of games in the outfield and has even pitched. Because he's pitched, he certainly has a strong enough arm to play a corner outfield spot. But first base is his long-term home.

At this point, I would rank Sightler over Mason Martin. Sure, Sightler isn't a raw power beast like Martin, but Martin's strikeout rate has trended in the wrong direction since the outset of 2021. Last year, he was terrible outside of a hot April-May. Sure, Sightler isn't free of swing-and-miss concern, but at this point, it's far less than Martin.

Second Base - Nick Gonzales

It's hard to think that Nick Gonzales could be considered underrated. He was an early first-round selection who has done well throughout the minor leagues. But some prospect publications are not placing him in their top 100 lists, with one of the main reasons having a good explanation of why the issue is not as bad as it seems.

Last year, Gonzales batted .264/.382/.435 on the season. The second base prospect walked at an outstanding 13.5% rate, and while he saw a dip in ISO compared to last year, he still had an above-average .171 mark. Where Gonzales struggled was his 28.4% strikeout rate, but overall, he was still a well-above-average hitter. Gonzales registered a .367 wOBA and 121 wRC+.

Every detractor of Gonzales first points to that strikeout rate, and while it is poor, let's give it some context. After starting a hot streak in May that lasted through the end of the year, Gonzales had a much more manageable 24.2% strikeout rate. Overall, he hit .306/.411/.506 with a .403 wOBA, and 150 wRC+. 24.2% still isn't anything to boast about, but Gonzales missed about two months. After returning in early August, the second baseman cut his strikeout rate down even further to 22.7%. Gonzales struck out at a 20.7% clip in his final month of the season.

Gonzales has hit for power at both Altoona and Greensboro and each year has gotten off to an ice-cold start before hitting his stride. He's considered a quality runner but has made noticeable strides to improve his second-base defense. He did play a few games at shortstop, but the keystone is his home. He probably won't play much short, unless it's in emergency duty, or a short-notice start. He also saw some games at the hot corner in the Arizona Fall League, but again, likely isn't going to see much, if any time at the position outside of a potential emergency start.

If Gonzales keeps hitting like he was in May-through-September at Triple-A next year, he might be one of the first big prospects the Pirates promote to the big leagues. The Pirates don't need to rush him with Rodolfo Castro, Tucupita Marcano, and Ji-Hwan Bae (although he'll likely get a decent amount of playing time in left field), but keep an eye on Gonzales. He might just be one of the most underrated potential National League Rookie of the Year candidates if he gets the chance to play enough.

Third Base - Dariel Lopez

Jared Triolo has gained more traction and attention from the broader baseball world. With his inclusion on the 40-man roster, I don't think he's as underrated as Dariel Lopez anymore. Lopez was an international signee by the Bucs out of Puerto Rico. After two middling seasons in 2019 and 2021, Lopez seemed to turn a corner as he had a breakout 2022 campaign.

Lopez batted .286/.329/.476 through 420 plate appearances. Lopez is considered a power-hitting prospect, as he had a .189 isolated slugging percentage and projects to have 60-grade raw power. But the most worrying part of his season was his 5% walk rate and 25.5% strikeout rate. But he still ended the year with a well above-average .359 wOBA and 116 wRC+.

Lopez's season was decent, but he had a strong June-through-September. The infield prospect hit .314/.351/.508 with a .382 wOBA, and 131 wRC+. Now Lopez still had unimpressive plate discipline numbers, as he had a 3.9% walk rate and a 23.8% strikeout rate. But his isolated slugging percentage clocked in at .193.

Lopez mainly played third base last season but also saw a handful of games at shortstop. He also has experience at second base and first base. With mediocre speed and range, he's a corner infielder in the long haul. He's mostly played third base, but he might end up at first base as he still doesn't grade out as a great defender overall.

It will be fun to see what Lopez can do at Altoona next year. Though it will also be a real test for him as well. Lopez has some worrying underlying numbers, specifically relating to his plate discipline. However, he has received average to above-average reviews for his power. Even if he ends up at first base long-term, he could be a strong option at the corner infield position.

Shortstop - Tsung-Che Cheng

The Pirates signed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng in 2019 as one of their international signees. After a strong debut at the Pirates' Florida Complex League in 2021, Cheng brought his talents over to A-Ball Bradenton where he played his first full season of pro ball. While he didn't reproduce the numbers he had at the FCL, he certainly did exceptionally well.

In 458 plate appearances, Cheng batted .270/.376/.418 with a .372 wOBA and 129 wRC+. Cheng had a solid 20.7% strikeout rate and a fantastic 13.8% walk rate. Cheng is known for his ability to run, receiving a 60-speed grade by FanGraphs, and swiping 33 bags in 39 attempts. But Cheng also got off to a slow start before hitting his stride in mid-May.

From May 15th onward, he batted .287/.405/.444. Cheng cut his K% down just below 20% at 19.6% but saw his walk rate go up to 15.3%. With an OBP over .400 and a semi-respectable .157 ISO, Cheng amounted to a 145 wRC+ hitter during this stretch with a wOBA of nearly .400 (.397).

Cheng has played both middle infield positions, as well as third base. He's generally considered a solid defender up the middle, and his speed gives him the range to cover both shortstop and second base. He also has a strong enough arm that he can play on the left side of the infield regularly.

Cheng is still young, but at just 5'7", how much power he can add is questionable at best. But depending on if he can properly develop and adapt to his way of hitting, he could be a sneakily good player to watch. With his speed, if he hits for a respectable average and puts up a decent walk rate, he'll be a perfect leadoff hitter. But being ranked as just the Pirates' 62nd-best prospect on FanGraphs list at the end of the 2022 season and unranked by MLB Pipeline makes him reasonably underrated in my book.

Left Field - Braylon Bishop

The Pirates' 2021 draft could end up being one of the most important drafts in this franchise's history. One of the many over slot players the team took was Braylon Bishop, who was considered a top-100 draft prospect. However, because of his commitment to Arkansas, the talented outfielder fell to the 14th round, where the Pirates snagged him.

Bishop has the potential to be a plus power-hitting center fielder. He has high-end bat speed and generates good power with it when he makes contact. He's also a 60-grade runner. There's a real possibility of a 20/30 hitter within Bishop. But he does have some strikeout issues. Last year at the FCL, Bishop drew 22 walks but also struck out 36 times in 134 plate appearances.

Bishop projects as a plus defender as well. He's split his time between left and center field but has a strong enough arm to play right field as well. He makes good routes and gets good jumps. Plus, given his speed, he can cover a fair amount of ground. Center field is where you'd get the best value out of Bishop.

He's a bit of a risk, given he can be prone to the strikeout, but if he can figure that out, he'll be a fun outfield prospect to watch. Next year will be his age-20 season. Despite being considered a top 100 draft prospect by MLB Pipeline, he is unranked by both Pipeline and FanGraphs. If he cuts down on the K's slightly at Bradenton, he'll make major improvements to his overall game.

Center Field - Tres Gonzalez

The Pirates' fifth-round pick last season, Tres Gonzalez, was arguably their second-best position player from the draft and the best non-first-round position player pick. Granted, they picked only five total position players in last year's draft, so the bar wasn't set too high. But he's arguably better than Jack Brannigan, who was selected two rounds before Tres, given that Brannigan has a lot more risk as a position player.

The now former Georgia Tech outfielder pieced together his best college season in 2022, slashing .337/.458/.474 through 290 plate appearances. Gonzalez is a high-walk/low-strikeout batter. He had a phenomenal 15.5% walk rate but struck out in less than 10% of his plate appearances (9.3%, to be exact).

Gonzalez draws praise for his hit tool, given he batted over .330 last year and over .300 throughout his college career while keeping a low strikeout rate. But he does have a good enough eye at the plate to post a healthy OBP. He's also a pretty decent runner, even if he doesn't swipe many bases. Defensively, Gonzalez grades out as a decent defender, though with not the best arm strength.

Tres debuted last year and stepped to the plate 95 times for the Pirates' affiliate in the Florida Complex League, and ALow-A Bradenton. Gonzalez continued to show this contact/plate discipline combo with a total of 26 hits, nine walks, and just 12 Ks. He did have four doubles but no home runs. He also went seven-for-eight in stolen base attempts, so he was being more aggressive than anticipated on the base paths.

Even if Gonzalez's ceiling as a hitter is Adam Frazier with a slightly higher on-base percentage, you'll take that from a guy who can play above-average defense in center field. Gonzalez will likely be part of Bradenton's regular outfield next season but could debut at Greensboro before the end of the year. He'll only be 22 for the whole season, and could be moved up with a little more aggression.

Right Field - Rodolfo Nolasco

Last but certainly not least, we have outfield prospect, Rodolfo Nolasco. Nolasco may have one of the highest offensive ceilings among the Pirates' prospects. He's consistently done well throughout the minor leagues, and while last year showed some red flags, Double-A Altoona, the affiliate he will start the 2023 season at, will be the real test for him.

In 321 plate appearances, Nolasco batted .239/.330/.425 with a .351 wOBA, and 116 wRC+. Nolasco did not get off to a great start to the 2022 campaign. At the mid-way point of May, he registered just a 55 wRC+. However, from that point forward, he had a .262/.367/.492 line, and 143 wRC+. At one point in the year, he was scorching hot and nearly 100% better than the league-average hitter. During a stretch from mid-June through the end of the season, he had a 1.068 OPS, .477 wOBA, and 196 wRC+.

Nolasco was injured for a good portion of the season. He missed about two weeks in late July through early August, then a month from August 6th up until September 6th. The second half certainly didn't treat Nolasco great, health-wise, even if he was hitting well through it.

The major concern with Nolasco is his 34% strikeout rate. He did cut that down to just 30% after the start of his mid-June streak, but that's still a tad worrying. But he draws a ton of walks, and it shouldn't be a major issue unless he can't cut that down at Altoona next year. He does project to have a 50-grade hit tool, so there's a possibility he can strike out less.

If Nolasco reaches his ceiling, he could be a .270-.280 hitter who consistently has 30+ home run seasons. Defensively, he might have to move to left field, but he does project to be an average defender with a strong arm. His range isn't great, but the fielding/speed isn't his calling card; it's his offensive upside.