Pittsburgh Pirates: Three More Super Sleeper Prospects to Watch in 2024

Braylon Bishop

The Pirates took Braylon Bishop in 2021 as one of their multiple overslot draftees. He was drafted in the 14th round and was signed to an over-slot deal. Bishop was considered a top-100 draft prospect with a ton of potential. So far, that potential hasn’t turned into on-field results, but it would be too early to give up on him at his age.

Bishop has 308 plate appearances as a pro ball player. Let’s first start with the positives. Bishop owns a .341 on-base percentage and has drawn a walk in over 15% of his plate appearances (15.6%, to be exact). He’s used his ability to reach base to its fullest potential as he’s gone 23/26 in stolen base attempts, a success rate of 88.5%.

But that’s where the good ends. He has struggled to make contact consistently and has struck out 27.9% of the time with a batting average of just .206. While he has shown good bat speed, he’s not been able to take advantage of it. He hammers the ball into the ground and has a GB% of 56%. His line drive rate is just 15.7%, and he has a 28.3% fly ball rate. Bishop has a career wRC+ of just 82 and clocked in at just 80 last season.

For what it’s worth, Bishop did end his 2023 season on a high note. In his final ten games, Bishop collected ten hits in 27 plate appearances, including a home run, while only striking out six times and drawing five walks. It’s obviously a microscopic sample size, and anyone can do good in ten games, but at least it was a good way to end his 2023 campaign.

There’s no question about the raw talent. Bishop runs extremely well, has good bat speed, and is a great athlete. But he has always had questions about his hit tool. Obviously, it’s been a problem thus far. The biggest issue for Bishop has been getting the ball in the air. I’d love to see what he could do if he could have even a 35% fly ball rate.

I think it’s a little too early to give up on Bishop. He is only going into his age-21 season next year. If he can show he can hit full-season level pitching, he may turn into one of the Pirates’ better outfield prospects. He needs to adjust to the point he’s not beating the ball into the ground. That’s easier said than done, but that’s where he needs to start.

Joshua Loeschorn

The Pirates drafted Joshua Loeschorn in the 20th round of the 2022 draft. Loeschorn was spending his time in the Frontier League after the college season had ended at Long Island University, where he had some decent numbers in his final year. Loeschorn’s first pro season went relatively well. He was mostly used as a long reliever with four starts mixed in, but overall, he was solid.

In 68 innings between A-Ball Bradenton and High-A Greensboro, Loeschorn had a 3.97 ERA but a 3.70 FIP and 1.04 WHIP. He kept batters to an average right around the Mendoza line at .204, as well as striking out nearly a third of them with a 32.6% strikeout rate. Walks were a non-issue as he dished out a free pass at a 7.3% rate. Home runs did give him a little bit of trouble. Loeschorn had a 1.06 HR/9 and only had an average ground ball rate.

But his numbers weren’t bad once you remove his four starts. These four outings inflated his numbers to a degree, and he was a better pitcher out of the bullpen. His ERA drops to 3.74 out of the bullpen, while his HR/9 goes from above 1.0 to just 0.81. Half of Loeschorn’s starts saw him allow three or more earned runs, while only three of his games out of the bullpen saw him allow three or more ERs.

Loeschorn throws a wide variety of pitches with good command. His arm-side run sinker is his primary fast pitch, which only sits around 90-91 MPH and about 2350 RPM. The right-hander’s primary breaking ball is a 79-80 MPH slider with around 2300 RPM. Loeschorn also throws a curveball, which is an upper-70s pitch with the most spin of any of his offerings, which is around 2500 RPM. He throws a pretty hard changeup, which sits mid-80s. His fifth pitch, a cutter, is his least used offering.

Loeschorn displayed decent control throughout his first pro season and also had a sub-7% walk rate in his final college campaign. He has a repeatable delivery that comes out to a side arm arm slot, which adds some deception to his pitches.

So far, Loeschorn has pitched well as a pro. Since next year is his age-24 season, and he already pitched at Greensboro, we may see him start the year at Altoona. That will obviously be the real test. The jump from High-A and Double-A is the most difficult move in the minor leagues. Hopefully, Loeschorn can make the transition successfully, as he could find himself as a multi-inning reliever for the Pirates in the near future.

Eddy Rodriguez

Not to be confused with Endy Rodriguez, Eddy Rodriguez was one of the Pirates’ international signings during the 2020-2021 off-season. He appeared in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons for the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League affiliate teams. In both seasons, he showed some hitting ability, but 2023 was his breakout campaign at the Florida Complex League.

Through 159 plate appearances, Rodriguez batted .295/.409/.442 with a .410 wOBA and 126 wRC+. Rodriguez struck out in just 16.4% of his plate appearances, a 4.4% drop from 2022. But his 11.5% walk rate is a single-season low for him. Rodriguez hit for more flyballs and line-drives as he posted a sub-40% ground ball rate (compared to 44.9% in 2022). But he hit two fewer home runs compared to the year prior and saw his isolated slugging percentage fall to .147.

Now, some of this could rebound next year. His HR/FB ratio was just 9.8% when it was at 17% between 2021 and 2022. Even a rebound to 12.5% would have led to another home run. It is
this possible this is a small sample size caveat as he’s never had 200 plate appearances in any single season yet.

Rodriguez is a first baseman/corner outfielder. Given his quality campaign at the FCL last season, he should be one of the starters for Low-A Bradenton this season. Rodriguez will be 20 for all of the 2024 season, and it should be the first year he plays at a full-season level. He could definitely get more attention if he continues to perform well over a larger sample size.