Pittsburgh Pirates: Prospects Who Could Force Themselves Into Long Term Plans

The Pittsburgh Pirates have some prospects who could make their case to be involved in the organization's long-term plans, even if they might not be prime contenders to do so now.

The Pittsburgh Pirates already have a decent core of players in the Major Leagues, most of which are likely part of the team's long-term plans. The upper levels of the minor leagues (Altoona and Indianapolis) also have a handful of players who could contribute as soon as early 2024. Even then, Greensboro and Bradenton have names that are in the outlines of the Pirates' future plans.

But sometimes, players can force their way into the Pirates' long-term or even short-term roster construction. There have been plenty of instances of a minor leaguer, who may not have been considered a prospect or a high-ranking one, in his team's system, forcing his team to give him a semi-regular or even regular MLB role because he performed so well in the upper-minors, and into the bigs.

Even while these guys might not be considered the best minor leaguers the Pirates have to offer, these prospects might force their way into the Pirates' long-term plans.

Tres Gonzalez

Tres Gonzalez was far from the flashiest player in the 2022 draft. Taken out of Georgia Tech, Gonzalez was the Bucs' 5th-round pick. He's a hit-over-power kind of batter, but he's shown off a solid glove in the grass. The Pirates don't have very many top outfield prospects in their system, and while the outfield looks to be set for the time being with Bryan Reynolds, Henry Davis, Jack Suwinski, and Connor Joe, things could obviously change, and at the very worst, Gonzalez could make his presence known as a 4th outfielder.

In his first full minor league season, Gonzalez is batting .288/.402/.405 with a .380 wOBA and 128 wRC+. Gonzalez has only struck out 18.4% of the time, and he's combated that with an outstanding 14.8% walk rate. Gonzalez has an elite OBP and is one of 80 players in the minor leagues with 300+ plate appearances and an OBP of .400 or greater. He's also used that ability to get on base to its fullest, swiping 28 bases.

Gonzalez hits for a high average and draws a ton of walks, but there are some weak areas in his games. Gonzalez has little raw power, and while he has 22 doubles, he also only has five homers and a .117 isolated slugging percentage. Along with the lack of raw power, he hits more ground balls than you'd like to see. His GB% is over 50%, which is slightly concerning. Plus, he doesn't have a strong outfield arm.

But Gonzalez is a good defensive outfielder. He can play center field, as well as left and right field. The fringy arm will be something to keep in mind, but his good speed helps him track down flyballs and line drives, and he's displayed good instincts for the outfield grass.

Gonzalez projects like an Adam Frazier-type batter, but potentially with more walks. If he bats .270/.350/.400, Gonzalez will hit more than good enough to make up for the flaws in his game. Gonzalez could find himself in PNC Park's outfield by the end of 2024. He could very well be a long-term platoon outfielder for the Pirates, if not a regular, depending on how his bat develops.

Jase Bowen

Jase Bowen might seem like an odd choice. An 11th-round pick from 2019 who has never even been considered as one of the Pirates' better unranked prospects, what does Bowen do that could force his way onto the Pirates' Major League roster and potentially carve out a future role? Aside from having logged at least 200 innings at first base, second base, and all three outfield positions, Bowen also has the potential to be a utility man with power.

Bowen has had a very solid year in 2023. Through 493 plate appearances, the utility prospect is batting .259/.335/.472. Bowen is a 20/20 threat who's hit 23 homers and has swiped 24 bags. Overall, he has a .802 OPS, .361 wOBA, and 118 wRC+ (18% better than the league average after factoring in park and league factors). But there are some concerns about his long-term ability.

The first is his strikeouts. While Bowen has never been nearly as bad as Mason Martin, for example, he's yet to post a K% below 25% in any minor league season. However, 24.5% is the best rate he's put up since 2019, in which he had just 147 PAs at rookie ball. His 7.1% walk rate is lower than you might like as well.

But the fact of the matter is, very few players can play as many positions as Bowen and have the potential to be a 20/20 threat. Even if he only hits .220-.230 in the future with a fringe OBP, you'll still get double-digit homers/steals and average defense at first base, second base, third base, and all three OF positions.

Ryan Harbin

Ryan Harbin is the latest draft pick we'll look at today. He was the Bucs' 17th-round pick in 2019 as a high schooler. Harbin opened the year with Bradenton, and while his numbers at Greensboro have not been nearly as pretty, there's still potential here for a guy who could force himself into a long-term higher leverage relief role.

Harbin opened the year, reeling off 32.2 innings of 0.83 ERA, 3.07 FIP, and 1.04 WHIP ball. The hard-throwing right-hander succeeded in two areas. The first was strikeouts, in which he had a 33.6% rate. The second was home run prevention and ground ball induction. He allowed just a single home run while getting opponents to hit a grounder at an insanely high 70% rate. The major downside to his season was his 11.5% walk rate, though with so many positives, it was easy to overlook.

Since moving to Greensboro, Harbin has allowed 14 earned runs in 19.2 innings. His walk rate has gone up to 14.1%, while his striekout rate has dipped to 23.9%. He's also given up two home runs despite pitching less than 20 frames. In Harbin's defense, he is still young, as this is his age-21 campaign. Plus, he was on the injured list a couple of times this season and has only pitched eight innings dating back to mid-August.

Harbin throws a three-pitch mix. That includes a cutter that he tosses in the upper-80s and a sinker and four-seamer that sits in the mid-to-upper-90s. The right-hander has an arsenal he could use to get a lot of ground balls, as well as some strikeouts. Harbin showed he could handle late and close games at Bradenton, and while High-A has given him some issues, it's a little too early to consider his numbers at A-Ball a complete fluke.

If Harbin can replicate his Bradenton numbers next season, he could make a name for himself as one of the Pirates' best relief pitching prospects. Harbin has the ceiling of a closing pitcher. Even if there is another arm blocking that position, such as David Bednar, he could settle into a set-up man role and still be effective.

Owen Kellington

This prospect is likely the highest profile of any of the names we'll look at today. Owen Kellington is the only prospect to appear on either FanGraphs or MLB Pipeline's list. Even then, Pipeline does not include him on the Pirates' top 30, and FanGraphs only puts him as their 45th-best prospect. The Pirates drafted the right-hander out of U-32 High School in Vermont after posting some eye-popping numbers. Kellington missed a large portion of 2022 due to injuries, but his first full season hasn't been too bad.

In 76 innings, all with Bradenton, Kellington has a 3.67 ERA, 4.77 FIP, and 1.39 WHIP. He has both a quality 26.7% strikeout rate as well as a decent 0.95 HR/9. But walks have come back to bite him on more than one occasion. Kellington currently has a 14.4% walk rate, which is the 6th highest rate of any A-Ball arm with at least 70 innings pitched this season. He has been slightly better recently at 12.4% over his last 34.2 innings, though control will be something he needs to work on.

Kellington is a soft-tossing arm. On good days, he averages 90 MPH on his four-seamer. But because of the carry it has through the zone, it plays up. Kellington's best pitches are his curveball and change-up, both of which have the potential to be plus offerings. Again, however, it's going to come down to his command and if he can improve it.

Kellington has three average or better offerings in his arsenal. When we talk about the amount of pitching talent in the Pirates' system, Kellington's name is far from the first name that comes to mind. Kellington could possibly be a future starting pitching option. He's still at Bradenton and is just 20 years old. There's definitely a chance in a few years, he is one of the more noteworthy pitching prospects the Pirates have.