Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Five Intriguing Players in the FCL & DSL

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St Louis Cardinals v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages
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Samuel Escudero

There’s going to be a lot of attention toward catching prospect Axiel Plaz. However, the other catching prospect that deserves some attention who is also at the Dominican Summer League is Samuel Escudero. The Pirates acquired Escuerdo in 2021 in what is a very forgotten trade, as the Bucs only sent Troy Stokes Jr. and Jandel Gustave to the Milwaukee Brewers for the young backstop.

In just his age-18 season, Escudero batted .284/.419/.351 through 94 plate appearances. This will be his third go-around at the DSL, as he also played there in 2021 and 2022. Escudero walked more often than he struck out, drawing 16 base on balls, and only going down on strike three 14 times. 

The only major downside to his brief season was his power, as Escudero didn’t hit a single home run. His isolated slugging percentage also clocked in below .100 at .068. On the plus side, he did rack up five doubles while going four-for-five in stolen base attempts. Overall, Escudero ended the 2022 season with a .397 wOBA, and 123 wRC+.

There’s not much else to say on Escudero. He’s still extremely young as this is only his age-19 campaign. MILB.com, nor FanGraphs or Baseball Reference even list a height or weight for Escudero. However, given how well he performed last year, he’s a prospect you want to at least keep tabs on.