Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Where Newly Acquired Players Rank in the System

Pitcher Jackson Wolf

The primary source for prospects many fans go to is MLB Pipeline, which has Jackson Wolf as the best new trade deadline addition. Wolf owns a 4.08 ERA, 3.86 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP through 88.1 innings for the Padres’ Double-A affiliate. He’s struck out a ton of batters with a 29.8% strikeout rate, and has an equally strong 6.3% walk rate. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched at Double-A this year, Wolf’s 4.77 K:BB ratio is the 7th best rate. The only poor mark on his season thus far has been his 1.22 HR/9.

MLB Pipeline places Wolf as the Bucs’ 16th best prospect. They praise his breaking pitches, that being his slider, and curveball, as well as his ability to keep left-handed batters quiet. FanGraphs, meanwhile, agrees that Wolf is a good prospect, ranking him as their 20th best minor leaguer. In their write-up on the southpaw, they also report that he’s a nightmare for lefty batters. They also like his athleticism and fluid motion on the mound. 

Outfielder Estuar Suero

While FanGraphs agrees that Wolf is a noteworthy prospect and top 20 in the system, they don’t agree that he’s the best prospect the Pirates added. That would be young outfielder Estuar Suero. Suero came via the Hill/Choi swap, alongside Wolf. Suero is only 17 and is hitting .216/.206/.345 through 160 plate appearances for the Padre Arizona Complex League affiliate. He’s struck out 30.6% of the time with a solid 10% walk rate.

Suero is all about projectability and future power. He’s a tall, 6’5” teenager, and he’s only 180 pounds. That gives him some room to add some muscle, and fully grow into his body. FanGraphs loves his potential plus power/speed combo, giving him 60-future grades for both his raw power and speed. He’s also a switch hitter who has a good feel for center field. They state that he has “enormous upside”, though could be a slow-burner because he is a high-variance prospect.

Infielder Jhonny Severino

MLB Pipeline does not have Suero on their top 30 Pirates prospect list, despite FanGraphs ranking him so high. The second prospect that is included on FanGraphs' list, but not Pipeline’s is Jhonny Severino, who was the prospect that was sent to the Bucs for Santana and comes in at number 24 on FG's list. Severino’s 52 plate appearances for the Brewers’ ACL affiliate were pretty insane. He had 12 hits, with seven going for extra bases (four homers, two doubles, one triple), He also only struck out ten times, but walked just once. Since getting to the Pirates’ Florida Complex League team, he’s had 11 plate appearances, and three hits, including another home run, a walk, and a strikeout.

Like Suero, FanGraphs thinks that Severino has the potential to be a plus power hitter. FanGraphs states he put up some insane raw power numbers and could hit to all fields. But there’s less potential for speed here. He has a strong arm and has primarily been a shortstop in his young pro career. However, he’s not considered a fast runner, and projects to slow down as he ages. He’s also played second base and third base and has only played the hot corner since the Pirates acquired him. It’s likely that’s his long-term position given there are already questions about his ability to stick at shortstop long-term. However, there’s a pretty high offensive ceiling.

It’s a pretty interesting trio of prospects the Pirates acquired at the deadline, as it shows two opposite sides of the prospect spectrum. Wolf is a low-variance, soft tossing left-handed pitcher who is arguably Major League ready. Both Suero and Severino are still years away from the big leagues, but have a high-variance outlook, mainly because their tools and talent are so raw it’s hard to tell what they’ll be. Either way, it’s nice to see the Pirates at least get some generally well regarded prospects at the moment for rental veterans.