Pittsburgh Pirates prospects who could get promoted to A-Ball at the end of the month

Yordany De Los Santos

Yordany De Los Santos returned to the FCL to start 2024 after a rough go of things at Bradenton last year, but he's looked even better this season. He'll definitely get another shot this year to prove himself at A-Ball and establish why he's one of the Pirates' better prospects in their system.

De Los Santos has 158 plate appearances at the FCL, hitting to the tune of a .338/.401/.514 triple-slash. While his 8.2% walk rate isn't great, he's only struck out 20.3% of the time. De Los Santos is known for his power potential, and he's shown off some of that. He has four homers and a .176 isolated slugging percentage.

We'll see how he fares at Bradenton this time around. Last year, he stepped to the plate 153 times for the Marauders, but posted only a 72 wRC+ while striking out nearly 40% of the time. Granted, he also didn't do nearly this well at the FCL last year and was the seventh-youngest batter with 150+ plate appearances at A-Ball last season. 

De Los Santos has spent most of his time on the left side of the infield at shortstop and third base. However, he also has some innings at the keystone. He projects to be a solid defender with a strong enough arm to play on the left side, though he might top out as an average runner, which could push him over to the hot corner if his range starts to decline as he fills out.

Still, De Los Santos is a guy who might stick at shortstop with above-average to plus power. If he can cut down on the swing and miss, which he's seemingly shown this year, he could make big strides moving forward. We'll see how he does at Bradenton, and, hopefully, he's better than he was last time.

Tony Blanco Jr.

Along with De Los Santos, the Pirates also nabbed Tony Blanco Jr. in the 2021-2022 offseason international class. If Blanco figures his hit tool out, he's a potential 40-homer threat. There's obviously some work to be done, but he just turned 19 in mid-May. There's time, and Blanco's ceiling is extremely high.

Blanco has 98 plate appearances at the FCL, where he has hit .326/.398/.535 with a .436 wOBA and 146 wRC+. Blanco has struck out 28.6% of the time, which, to his credit, is almost a 10% improvement from last year. But he is also walking at a healthy 10.2% rate. He's also hit four homers with a .209 isolated slugging percentage. 

Blanco is huge and uses that size to his advantage. He is listed at 6'7", 245 pounds. That's the same weight as Giancarlo Stanton with an extra inch of height. He can generate huge raw power numbers with that large frame. He needs to lift the ball more frequently, however. While he's done so in 2024, his flyball rate is still below 40%. His massive frame has also led to questions about how his hit tool will develop. 

The Pirates originally signed Blanco Jr. as a corner outfielder, but he's spent almost all of his playing time at first base and designated hitter. Blanco has a decent arm that plays in left or right field, but given his size, it's probably for the best that he moves to first base in the long haul.

Getting some good footage and Statcast data on Blanco Jr. if and when he gets promoted to A-Ball Bradenton will be fun to watch. There aren't very many teenagers who are bigger than Giancarlo Stanton. Sure, he's a huge risk, but if he even improves his hit tool to a 40-45 grade level, he'll be a consistent power threat.

Zander Mueth

Aside from Paul Skenes, the next best pitching prospect the Pirates took in the 2023 draft was Zander Mueth. Mueth was a high school pick, but he has an extremely high ceiling and has already displayed some of his potential with some good outings in the FCL thus far in 2024. It will be fun to see him get tested at A-Ball if the Pirates choose to promote him.

Mueth has a 1.98 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP through 32.2 innings. He's struck out 24.8% of batters faced, but has avoided giving up the longball entirely. Mueth has a 55.7% ground ball rate, the third-highest among FCL pitchers with 30+ frames. His 30.4% FB% is also one of the lowest, but his command has been a little all over the place; he has a 12.4% walk rate. 

Mueth is young, as he just turned 19 on June 22. Despite his youth, Mueth sits 92-95 MPH and tops out at 97. His sweeping slider has a ton of movement, so much so that he has trouble keeping it in the zone, but he gets a ton of whiffs with it. His changeup has some good vertical action, giving Mueth a chance for two-plus offerings and a third average-to-above-average pitch. Mueth does all of this while throwing sidearm. 

His delivery can get out of sync, which has led to some command issues early on in his pro career. But, given he turned 19 less than a month ago, his command doesn't seem like a huge issue right now. Both Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones also suffered from similar command issues around the same age as Mueth, but look at where they are now.

It's one thing to throw sidearm. It's another thing to throw sidearm and top out at 97. Mueth is an imposing 6'6", 205-pound presence on the mound. There's definitely a chance he throws harder as he matures, learns better mechanics, and adds on some muscle. Mueth is a potential top-100 prospect in the coming years.

David Matoma

I'll take any excuse I can get to talk about David Matoma. To me, he's one of the most unique but also one of the most enticing prospects in the Pirates' system. I can't wait to watch him get tested at Bradenton. On top of that, I'm also excited to finally get some Statcast data on what could be the hardest throwing prospect in the Pirates' minor leagues.

Matoma has pitched 18.1 innings as a reliever at the FCL, working to an 0.98 ERA, 3.06 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP. Matoma has only allowed one homer while walking 9.1% of opponents, but his best accomplishment thus far has been his 31.2% strikeout rate. Batters not only strike out against him quite frequently, but they've only managed a .186 batting average against Matoma.

The Ugandan right-hander can dial it up to 100 MPH and typically sits in the upper-90s. So far into his young pro career, Matoma has been used almost solely as a reliever. His bread and butter are his fastball and above-average slider, though he'll occasionally throw in a changeup and gyro curve. His command is at a fringe-average level, according to Baseball America, which is good enough when you throw upper-90s and top 100. At just 18, there's plenty of time for him to sharpen up his location to an average or better level.

Even if Matoma never improves his changeup or curveball to a reliable level, he has the potential to be a shutdown future reliever. Throwing 100 MPH with a good slider and okay command will go a long way. I, for one, can't wait to see when he throws his first 100 MPH Statcast-tracked fastball.