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

We are in the final month of the Florida Complex League. Playoffs start at the end of July, and then their season comes to a close. For some context, the FCL is the second-lowest level of affiliated professional baseball. It is a tier below A-Ball but above the Dominican Summer League. They do not play through September, and their season started in May. Most rosters are made up of recent international prospects and high school draft picks.

Most of the Pittsburgh Pirates' best position players are currently stationed with their FCL team. But with their season coming to a close, they could soon make the jump to a full-season level. So, who are some Pirates prospects we could potentially anticipate getting sent to Bradenton within the coming weeks?

Jhonny Severino

The Pirates acquired Jhonny Severino in the one-for-one deadline swap for Carlos Santana. Severino was one of the Milwaukee Brewers' top international prospects, and he's shown why for the Pirates' FCL team. He's been one of their best hitters and has displayed his best tool: power.

Severino has been hitting extremely well. The infielder is batting .277/.370/.562 with a .424 wOBA and 139 wRC+ through his first 154 plate appearances. Power has easily been the best part of Severino's game. He's hit eight home runs, the most by any FCL batter in 2024. His isolated slugging percentage is shy of approaching .300 at .285.

Severino has done very well keeping his strikeouts under control. He has just a 17.5% K% on the year, but has just a 10% strikeout rate dating back to the start of June. He's also drawn walks at 13% of the time. But Severino's approach last year left his hit tool in question. Last year, he drew just three walks in 64 plate appearances, resulting in the third-lowest walk rate among any FCL batter with at least 60 trips to the plate. Although he was able to maintain a sub-20% K%, both last year and this year, as well as up his walk rate in 2024, he can get overly aggressive. 

Severino has split his time between shortstop and the hot corner. Severino has the arm to play on the left side of the infield, but his range is already limited. He's a fringe runner at just 19. At 6'2", 185 pounds, some added muscle could slow him down. Third base seems like the potential future home for Severino, but his strong arm could play in an outfield corner as long as he doesn't slow down too much.

Regardless of what position he ends up in, the power is intriguing, and him striking out about 10% of the time over the last month should raise some eyebrows. Even though it is only the FCL, it is something worth bringing up. Swing decisions have been his biggest downfall early in his pro career, and if he can improve those, his power will play up.

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.

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.