Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Three Super Sleepers to Watch in 2024

Let's look at three super sleeper prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system who could be worth watching in 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of high-profile prospects. Paul Skenes and Termarr Johnson are two of the best prospects in baseball. But Jared Jones and Anthony Solometo have become top 100 prospects, and both Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington are trending in the right direction. They also have a handful of under-20 prospects who deserve recognition.

But there are plenty of under-the-radar prospects that the Pirates have. But the guys we’re about to talk about are not going to show up on most Pirates prospect lists, even on the back end. Most fans may not even recognize them, and only the ones who follow the Pirates’ system religiously may know who they are.

Brandan Bidois

The Pirates signed Brandan Bidois out of Australia in late 2019. Bidois did not pitch in 2020, albeit no minor leaguer did. In 2021, the right-hander pitched just six innings before landing on the IL, causing him to miss most of the 2021 campaign and all of 2022. However, he returned in 2023 and pitched relatively well.

Bidois pitched 22.2 innings this year, working to a 1.99 ERA, 3.19 FIP, and 1.28 WHIP. He struck out over 40% of the batters he faced with a 41.6% strikeout rate, the 10th highest strikeout rate among minor leaguers with 20+ frames. Bidois allowed just one home run, and batters hit .171 against him. But while batters didn’t get hits off of him, they did draw a ton of walks, as Bidois dished out a free pass 14.9% of the time.

Bidois throws relatively hard, as his fastball sits around the mid-90s. He doesn’t spin the ball like Walsh does, but he does have above-average RPM on his three offerings. His secondary offerings include a cutter and a slider. Both average out around 2500+ RPM. Bidois struggles with command, and that could affect his long-term outlook.

There are a lot of prospects with great stuff, but mediocre command that don’t pan out, but Bidois is still young and will only be 22 until late June next year. He should join Walsh at Greensboro next season and definitely has the potential to be a top relief prospect in the system.

Joe Perez

Joe Perez is probably the most highly touted of any player we will talk about today, but that isn’t saying much. He only appears on one top Pirates prospect list, that being FanGraphs’ as the Pirates’ 39th-best prospect. A former second-round pick by the Houston Astros in 2017, Perez was released by the Stros in early August and signed on with the Pirates.

Perez came to the dish 145 times with Altoona and Indianapolis down the stretch but was an extremely productive batter. The slugger batted .317/.434/.592 with a .451 wOBA, and 174 wRC+. Perez’s 24.8% strikeout rate wasn’t anything too impressive, but it was an improvement from the 27.2% rate he posted for the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. However, he also had a strong 15.9% walk rate.

Perez’s best tool is his power potential. Last year, he slugged ten home runs down the stretch with the Pirates’ minor league affiliates. Perez started to lift the ball a lot more frequently after signing with the Pirates. He had just a 30.1% fly ball rate with the Astros before getting let go. Then, once the Pirates scooped him up, he saw that shot up to 48.2%.

Perez is a power utility man. He can play all four infield and outfield corners and can even play some second base. He’s not a particularly good defender at any position. But he is useful, given he can play pretty much wherever needed.

Perez could make his Major League debut next year. He reached Triple-A and is now entering his age-24 campaign. Is that to say that Perez will hit 30 home runs in the bigs next year and solidify himself as the Pirates’ long-term first baseman? No, but there’s a chance he could be a solid platoon utility man who hits for power against left-handed pitching.