Pittsburgh Pirates: Prospects Teams Should Be Aggressive With

Although the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't known for their aggressiveness with moving prospects up, they should be more aggressive with these three prospects

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't known for their aggression with moving prospects throughout the minor leagues. But they have moved some prospects through their farm more assertively. Guys like Roansy Contreras and Oneil Cruz debuted after a very short stint at Triple-A (granted, they still played more Triple-A in 2022). But Endy Rodriguez made his Triple-A debut after starting the year at Greensboro, and Luis Ortiz skipped Greensboro last season.

The Pirates should see a few more prospects get moved through the system with a little more force than others. Among their top prospects, the Bucs should move these three minor leaguers more aggressively than most. That could mean a short stint at a single level or skipping a level of the minor leagues altogether.

Thomas Harrington

Thomas Harrington was the organization's competitive balance pick last year. The right-hander may not have the most potential in the system, but he has some attributes that could help him play up and become one of the Pirates' best prospects. This is one of the players the Bucs should be a bit aggressive with.

Harrington's last season at Campbell University went great. The right-hander pitched 92.2 innings, working to a 2.53 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 6.17 K:BB ratio. He had a 30% strikeout rate and a walk rate of just 4.9%. Both his strikeout rate and walk rate were outstanding, but his ability to prevent home runs was his greatest strength, allowing just one dinger for a 0.10 HR/9 rate.

Harrington only hits 90-93 MPH on the radar gun but tops out at 96. There's certainly potential for him to maintain a higher average velocity, something closer to 92-94 MPH. Despite being a college arm, he still has some projection with a 6'2", 185 pound frame. His athleticism will likely play a factor in his development.

Aside from his fastball, Harrington has a slider, curveball, and changeup. All four offerings project as average to above average. But his one plus-plus pitch is his changeup. It's the off-speed pitch he generates most of his swings-and-misses with. Everything comes out of a three-quarters arm slot, and he certainly has plus command.

So how can the Pirates be aggressive with Harrington? They should start him at Greensboro. Harrington is 21 but will be 22 by mid-season (July 12th). It's not as if Harrington is so young he would be out of place at High-A. The average age of pitchers at this level last season was 22.6 years old, while the average age of batters was slightly younger at 22.2 years. By the end of the season, he'd be as old as the average batter.

Starting him at Greensboro rather than Bradenton may also help him boost his prospect stock. Greensboro is a notorious home-run-friendly park. Overall, the South Atlantic League is hitter-friendly, with an average of 5.10 runs scored per-9 innings (earned runs and unearned runs combined). If Harrington can conquer Greensboro and the hitter-friendly league the team is in, he may gain significant prospect stock.

Henry Davis

So far, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been aggressive with Henry Davis. Had it not been for injuries, he probably would have gone from Greensboro to Indianapolis in one season. But I believe that Davis' time at Double-A this season won't last long, and he will make his big league debut in the second half of the season.

When Davis was healthy, he was a highly productive batter, slashing .264/.380/.472 with a .385 wOBA and 136 wRC+. Davis clocked in with an OPS just over .850 at .852. He posted a solid 8.2% walk rate and 20% strikeout rate while hitting for decent power (.208 ISO, 10 home runs/12 doubles in 255 plate appearances). But Davis missed just over half of May and nearly all of July due to wrist injuries.

These injuries were caused by the multitude of HBPs Davis received. The former number-one overall pick was plunked a whopping 20 times. He was hit by a pitch nearly as often as he drew a walk (7.8% hit by pitch rate). In Major League Baseball, only once since Integration has there been a player hit 20+ times in fewer than 300 trips to the plate. If that wasn't enough, Davis was hit seven more times in 69 plate appearances in the Arizona Fall League and twice in 12 plate appearances in Spring Training. From the start of the 2022 season up through Spring Training this year, Davis has been hit 29 times in just 336 plate appearances, which is an 8.6% rate, only slightly less than his 10.1% walk rate in that same stretch.

While Davis will start the year at Double-A in 2023, he did see some time at Altoona last year. However, it was only 136 plate appearances, and he registered just a .703 OPS, .320 wOBA, and 97 wRC+. But as we saw last year, the Pirates were willing to move Davis through the system with some authority. He started the year at Greensboro and was already at Double-A after just 100 plate appearances.

Now granted, Davis was absolutely crushing pitching at the time. He was slashing .341/.450/.585 with a .461 wOBA and 180 wRC+. Sure, he was playing in a hitter-friendly setting, but a wRC+ adjusts for such things, and he was 80% better than the league-average batter during that time. Plus, no favorable settings are going to overshadow an OPS well over 1.000 (1.035, to be exact).

Based on how the Pirates moved Davis through the system in the past, he won't be long for Double-A, especially if he gets off to a great start like he did last season. Sure, if he gets moved to Triple-A while Endy Rodriguez is still there, it might seem difficult for both to get time as catcher. But Rodriguez can move around the diamond, and Triple-A can utilize the designated hitter for Davis and Rodriguez to keep each other fresh until one or both are promoted to the big leagues.