Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects in the Low Minors With A Lot to Gain This Season

Po-Yu Chen

The second Taiwanese player we’ll look at today is Po-Yu Chen. Signed in 2020-2021, Chen was considered one of the top high school prospects in Taiwan. He reeled off 26 walkless innings allowing just one earned run in his first look against professional batters back in 2021. While he wasn’t nearly as dominant the following season at Bradenton, he still put up solid numbers there.

Chen worked to a 4.58 ERA but 3.76 FIP and 1.26 WHIP. Chen’s ERA was a tad high, but his FIP shows that he was better than his surface numbers suggest. Chen had a 3.81 xFIP also suggests that his FIP is an accurate reflection of his ability to control the three-true outcomes. Chen struck out 24.4% of his opponents with a solid 8.6% walk rate. He also had an above-average 0.86 HR/9.

Like Kellington and Solometo, Chen is not a hard-throwing pitcher. He’s only hitting 90-93 MPH, but his slider and curveball are average offerings. His best pitch is his splitter, which is a well-above-average pitch. Again, similar to Anthony, Chen’s stuff plays up because of his ability to hit his spots. He has outstanding command, which should help him in the long run.

There is some hope he can add another tick of velocity before he reaches the major leagues. He’s only 21 and stands at 6’2”, 187 pounds. That extra tick of velocity may happen this year at Greensboro. Not only could some added velocity help Chen rise prospect rankings, but he also needs to conquer Greensboro. If he does that, you might be seeing one of the Pirates’ better pitching prospects.