Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Outfielders Who Can Build Off a Strong 2023 Season

While the outfield may be the shallowest part of the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system, they do have some outfield prospects who could build off of a quality 2023 campaign

Probably the weakest position in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm system is their outfield prospects. Since Ben Cherington took over in the 2019-2020 off-season, he has only taken two outfielders within the first five picks of his four drafts (three if you count Henry Davis). He has mostly focused on adding pitching via trades and the draft. He has signed a few notable international outfielders, but that’s the extent of adding guys who are primary outfielders.

Granted, some guys could move to the outfield in the future. There are plenty of examples of guys who started out at a middle infield position only to move to the outfield later on in their careers. But even though the outfield may be the shallowest part of the Bucs’ minor leagues, some outfield prospects had good 2023 seasons and could build upon that. Let’s take a look at four of those players.

Lonnie White Jr.

Lonnie White Jr. is arguably the highest touted among the players we will discuss today. He is the highest drafted among those taken from the draft. White Jr. definitely showed the potential of being a future outfielder for the Pirates in 2021 and 2022 but couldn’t stay healthy. Although he opened the ‘23 season on the injured list, he returned strong and had a great end to the year.

Through 276 plate appearances at the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate and A-Ball Bradenton, White Jr. batted .276/.400/.476 with a robust .417 wOBA, and 139 wRC+. White provided both power and speed, hitting nine home runs with a .200 isolated slugging percentage while also swiping 18 bags in 21 attempts. White walked at a 15.6% rate but also had a poor 27.2% strikeout rate.

White hit very well at Bradenton, owing a .883 OPS, .413 wOBA, and 140 wRC+. But his strikeout rate went from an already worrisome 25% to 28%. Granted, while he hit for more power and drew more walks, there have always been some questions regarding White Jr.’s hit tool.

The former second-round competitive balance pick was an over-slot draftee, given he was a high schooler but he was also considered one of the better high school outfielders in the draft. He has a lot of athleticism, is probably the best outfield defender in the system, and has the potential to be a 20/30 candidate. But again, there are still questions about his hit tool. He struck out well over a quarter of the time in 2023, and this was a question when they drafted him.

Still, it’s not as if White Jr. is some 23-year-old who has to get it together now or flame out. He just turned 21 on the very last day of December. I want to believe he has the athleticism and potential to improve his game as he moves up the Pirates’ system. Only time will tell, but he’s just one improvement away from being a five-tool prospect.

Tres Gonzalez

Tres Gonzalez was drafted in 2022 in the 5th round of the draft out of Georgia Tech. Gonzalez batted over .330 with nearly double as many walks (45) as strikeouts (27). He only had five home runs, but it was a good season overall. Gonzalez got a hot start to his pro career in 2022, where he had 26 hits, including nine walks with just a dozen strikeouts in his first 95 pro plate appearances. Gonzalez carried that quality production into 2023.

Through 531 plate appearances with Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, Gonzalez slashed .289/.405/.402 with a .381 wOBA, and 129 wRC+. Gonzalez continued to show off great plate discipline with a strikeout rate of just 17.9% and a walk rate of 15.1%. His BB:K ratio of 0.84 ranked in the top 30 among the 221 minor league players in ‘23 with 500+ plate appearances. He still ranked in the top 10% of players if you expand that to players with 300+ plate appearances in 2023. The only thing negative you can say about his season is his poor .113 isolated slugging percentage.

Gonzalez’s profile is the opposite of White Jr. While White Jr. may hit for plus power with questions about his hit tool, Gonzalez has a great hit tool, but he lacks power. His isolated slugging percentage was the 8th lowest among any of the Pirate prospects with 300+ plate appearances. But as long as his hit tool keeps up and continues to bat .280+ with a good walk rate, he’ll continue to be an above-average batter.

Gonzalez is a great runner as he swiped 28 bases, albeit in 36 attempts. He started the year with 17 straight stolen bases without getting caught. Gonzalez saw time at all three outfield positions and looked good while playing the field. He definitely could be an above-average defensive center fielder in the future. But his arm is on the weaker side.

If Gonzalez ends up as Adam Frazier 2.0 with the stick but with some walks, I don’t think anyone would complain. Gonzalez should be one of Altoona’s starting outfielders. He played nearly 100 games at Greensboro, and nearly 85% of his plate appearances were at High-A while having a 127 wRC+. He also struck out (33) nearly as often as he walked (32) in the second half of the season.

Charles McAdoo

Calling Charles McAdoo an outfield prospect is a little disingenuous. Most of his innings in the field after he got drafted were in left field, but he’s more of a utility prospect. Still, because he has a decent amount of experience, both in his brief look in pro ball in the second half of last year and as an amateur for San Jose State, I think he deserves a look today.

Throughout his final season at San Jose, McAdoo batted .325/.409/.543 in 269 trips to the plate. He hit for good pop, collecting 30 extra-base hits (19 doubles, 10 home runs, 1 triple), coming to an isolated slugging percentage of .218. Along with good pop, McAdoo walked at an 11.9% rate with a strikeout rate a touch over 15% at 15.2%.

One very promising aspect of McAdoo’s amateur career was the time he spent in the Northwoods League in 2022. This is a wood bat league, and he had ten homers in 190 plate appearances. His isolated slugging percentage was .270. He did strikeout 40 times, but his power didn’t dissipate going from a metal bat to wood bat.

After the Pirates drafted McAdoo, he went on to bat .302/.412/.510 with a .431 wOBA and 151 wRC+. McAdoo had a quality 14.9% walk rate and 19.3% strikeout rate. He also went yard five times, had a .208 ISO, and stole five bases. Do keep in mind it was in a small sample size of 114 plate appearances.

McAdoo’s actions in the box may be simple to a fault. There’s not much movement, but his swing is a little stiff. He struck out under 15% of the time throughout his college career, which amounted to 578 plate appearances, and can generate good raw power from his 6’2', 210-pound frame. Defensively, he could end up in left field, second base, or an infield corner. He has an okay arm, but his athleticism is fringy. He was primarily a second baseman throughout college but saw a lot of time in right field, first base, and a few games here and there at shortstop and third base during his amateur career.

I could see McAdoo taking a similar track to Gonzalez next year. 2024 will be his age-22 season (same age as Gonzalez was last season) and could start the year at Low-A once again even though he hit well in the small sample size. But if he keeps hitting well, like Gonzalez did, McAdoo could find himself at Greensboro by May. The Pirates will probably keep using him in a utility role, using him wherever he is needed.