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Ranking each of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league affiliate teams
How do the Pirates' four minor league affiliates compare to each other, and which one is the best?
There are four full-season levels in the minor leagues. This includes A-Ball, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, their minor leagues consist of the Bradenton Marauders (A-Ball), Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A), Altoona Curve (Double-A), and Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A). With as good of a farm system as the Pirates currently have, each of these four minor league affiliate teams has some good talent spread throughout each roster.
But when you compare each of the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league teams to one another, which one is the best? It is a tough question considering the talent the team has accumulated recently, not to mention the talent that has graduated as well. For instance, no one expected Jared Jones to start the year in the Majors with fans assuming he would be in Triple-A. So things have shaken out a little differently than originally expected.
Today, we are going to rank each of the Pirates' affiliates, starting with the worst and working our way up to what I consider their best current minor league team. The criteria are based on the overall strength of the affiliate's roster. This includes how many prospects they have, how good those prospects they have, and their team's overall depth. So let's get started with #4, which some may be disappointed to see which team that is:
Number Four
Indianapolis Indians
Being last doesn't necessarily mean they're bad. The Pirates' Triple-A team, the Indianapolis Indians, still have some talented players. However, compared to the rest of the Pirates' affiliates, Indy definitely has the weakest roster by default. Still, there are some prospects to talk about currently on Triple-A's roster.
Of course, you can't talk about Indy's roster without mentioning Paul Skenes. The first overall pick from last year who set the record the signing bonus record opened the season for Indy by pitching three perfect innings and striking out five. He averaged out at 100 MPH and had a called+swinging strike rate of 39%. His slider, change-up, and curveball also looked great, with both his slider and change inducing a CSW% over 45%. To call his change-up a change-up would be a little disingenuous. It's more of a splinker, akin to that of Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins, as he averaged out at 95 MPH with the pitch with change-up movement.
Not to be outdone the following day, fellow top pitching prospect Quinn Priester followed that up with 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run (which scored after he was pulled from the game), striking out nine batters, and only allowing two to reach base, one via a free pass and another via a base hit. Priester's velocity on everything was up, but his slider and four-seamer had gained nearly two to two-and-a-half MPH from last season.
Skenes and Priester are the two big guns in the pitching staff, but the likes of Jose Hernandez, Brent Honeywell, Kyle Nicolas, Eric Lauer, and Wily Peralta provide depth, both for Indy and the Pirates' Major League club.
Position player-wise, Malcolm Nunez and Nick Gonzales have gotten off to great starts for the year. Nunez has two home runs in his first four games, while Gonzales has seven hits in his first 19 plate appearances. The rest of Indy's position players consist of Joshua Palacios, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Matt Gorski, Billy McKinney, Liover Peguero, Joe Perez, and Jake Lamb. Like with pitching, they provide solid depth to Indy's team and the Pirates' big league club
Number Three
Altoona Curve
Altoona's roster is all about the pitching. They have a strong rotation headed by top prospects Bubba Chandler and Anthony Solometo, two former 2021 early-round high school draft picks who made massive strides in 2023. Both are considered top 100 prospects by multiple sources. Po-Yu Chen is also a solid prospect who gets overlooked. Thomas Harrington will open the year at Altoona, albeit on the injured list, but we should see him sometime early this year. Sean Sullivan is a decent arm who is unranked and has flown under the radar.
Braxton Ashcraft will return to Altoona, where he ended 2023. His role is slightly unclear right now. While Ashcraft is one of the Pirates' better prospects and started 19 games last season, he didn't even pitch 60 innings because he missed so much time between 2020 and 2022. It's likely he'll end up in a bullpen role long-term, but he should still be considered a cog in the Pirates' future.
Position player wise, it's a little less stable. The Pirates' best infield prospect at Double-A is Tsung-Che Cheng. Cheng struggled after getting promoted from Greensboro to Altoona last year. He opened the year slashing .308/.406/.576 with a 163 wRC+ in 254 plate appearances but then fell off after the bump to Double-A, batting a meager .251/.304/.352 with an 80 wRC+. Granted, Cheng is still young, as he's just 22, so hopefully, he'll get more acclimated to Double-A level competition this year.
There are two outfield prospects who will open the year at Double-A. One is Jase Bowen. Bowen is more of a utility prospect than an outfielder, as he's seen time all around the diamond. He spent nearly all of 2023 at Greensboro, where he hit .257/.333/.469 with a .360 wOBA and 117 wRC+. He was a 20/20 threat as well, with 23 dingers and 24 stolen bases. But he did have an unimpressive 24.5% K% and 7.1% BB%. Bowen ended 2023 at Altoona but only appeared in eight games, which he struggled in. Still, Bowen is heading into his age-23 season and had a quality year overall.
The other top outfield prospect is Tres Gonzalez. A 2022 draft pick, Gonzalez did great last season between Bradenton and Greensboro where he hit .289/.405/.402 with a .381 wOBA, and 129 wRC+. Gonzalez had a strong 12.9% walk rate and 17.9% strikeout rate, but rarely hit for power and had an ISO of just .113. Gonzalez is an above-average runner and swiped 28 bags last year.
Altoona has decent depth as well. Justin Meis was throwing a lot harder in Spring, and that could carry over into the regular season if he's left in a reliever role. Nick Dombkowski and Tyler Samaniego are two other left-handed bullpen prospects. Abrahan Gutierrez, Jackson Glenn, Matt Fraizer, and Connor Scott round out the rest of the noteworthy position players on Altoona's roster.
Number Two
Bradenton Marauders
The Pirates' second-best minor league affiliate team is the Bradenton Marauders. However, that's mainly because most of the talent on their roster has yet to get an extended look against professional opponents. Most are recent draft picks or international signings, but this roster definitely has the potential to be very good in 2024.
The top pitching prospect in the Marauders' rotation is Michael Kennedy. The high school draft pick from 2022 pitched 44.2 innings between the Bucs' FCL team and Bradenton, working to a 2.12 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and 1.11 WHIP. Kennedy struck out 33% of the batters he faced while allowing just a single home run. He had some inconsistencies with walks, however, and had a 13.1% walk rate. Kennedy still projects an above-average command with a pitch mix that includes a sinker, slider, and change-up.
The Marauders have some other pitchers that are definitely worth watching, even if they aren't as highly touted as Kennedy. Relief prospects Khristian Curtis, Carlson Reed, and Mike Walsh could make their presence known in the Pirates' system this year. Hung-Leng Chang, Antwone Kelly, and Carlos Jimenez will also likely get regular starts in 2024.
Bradenton also has a handful of interesting position player prospects. Shalin Polanco is arguably the best. He looked like he finally found his footing last year before an injury took him out for the second half of the season. Polanco was hitting .302/.366/.540 with a .411 wOBA, and 140 wRC+ in 142 plate appearances from late May up until around the All-Star break. While his 25.4% strikeout rate wasn't great, he did have a respectable 9.9% walk rate and .238 isolated slugging percentage. Polanco then fell into a slump before landing on the IL in mid-July and did not return to action before the minor league season was over.
Garret Forrester is a 2023 draft pick who did well in his brief pro debut and throughout his college career. Forrester hit .342/.487/.523 with more walks (61) than strikeouts (52) in 311 plate appearances for Oregon State. Other youngsters like Omar Alfonzo, Jesus Castillo, and Eddy Rodriguez (once he is activated from the injured list) will be names to keep an eye on as they're all heading into just their age-20 campaign.
Braylon Bishop might be the most interesting position player prospect in the Pirates' system. The outfielder was considered one of the better outfield prospects in the 2021 draft. The Pirates signed him to a hefty overslot deal, but he's struggled, both with lifting the ball and with strikeouts. This will be his first full minor league season of his career, so hopefully he can reclaim some of his draft stock from a few years ago.
Number One
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Coming in at number one, we have the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Pirates' High-A affiliate. Greensboro has arguably the best position player group among all four minor league Pirates teams. They have multiple top Pirates position player prospects, but what is generally seen as their best. But they also have some pitching that could take steps forward in 2024.
Greensboro's middle infield has to be one of the best double-play combos in the minor leagues. On the right side of second base, you have Termarr Johnson. Johnson had a strong 2023 season with Bradenton and Greensboro, batting .244/.422/.438 with a .410 wOBA and 141 wRC+. Johnson's 26% strikeout rate wasn't good, but he improved it as the season went on. But he also helped off-set it with an astounding 21.6% walk rate and .195 isolated slugging percentage. Johnson was also fantastic in the second half of the year, slashing .270/.451/.487 with a 20% K%, .227 isolated slugging percentage, and 161 wRC+ through his final 205 plate appearances of the season. He also drew a walk nearly a quarter of the time.
On the left side of second base, you're going to see a mix of Jack Brannigan and Mitch Jebb. After a quality start to the year with the Marauders, Brannigan took off with the Grasshoppers, batting .299/.382/.605 with a .427 wOBA, and 159 wRC+. While he struck out in just over a third of his plate appearances (33.5%), he also had a 12.1% walk rate and isolated slugging percentage over .300 at .306. The Pirates drafted Brannigan as a two-way RHP/3B, but he displayed such good skills at the hot corner that he saw more playing time at shortstop than third once he got to the Grasshoppers.
Jebb meanwhile was the Pirates' second round pick last season who batted for a lot of contact and drew a lot of walks while rarely striking out throughout college. This carried over into his brief time at Bradenton where he slashed .297/.382/.398 with an 11.1% walk rate and strikeout rate below 10% at 7.2%. Jebb also displayed outstanding speed and base running prowess, swiping 11 bases in a dozen attempts. Both Jebb and Brannigan should share the two positions on the left side of the infield.
The Pirates' best outfield prospect will also open the year at Greensboro, that being Lonnie White Jr. the former football recruit batted .258/.395/.488 with a .413 wOBA and 140 wRC+ through 200 plate appearances with Bradenton last year. He provided plus power with a .228 isolated slugging percentage and showed off his speed, taking a dozen bases in 13 attempts. White Jr. walked 16% of the time but had a mediocre 28% K%. In White's defense, he did whittle his K% down below 25% from August through the end of the year.
Aside from these players, fans should also see how Charles McAdoo and Josiah Sightler do this year. McAdoo is a bat-first utility prospect who should see time all over the field in 2024. Sightler is a first base prospect who had an unbelievably hot start to his 2023 season but cooled off significantly.
Hunter Barco is the top pitching prospect at GBO. The Southpaw returned from Tommy John surgery halfway through last season and pitched well, albeit in a limited role. He only pitched 18.1 innings but struck out 28 batters, walked just six, and didn't allow a single home run while inducing ground balls over 50% of the time. Barco was sitting 94-95 MPH with his sinker during his Spring Breakout appearance. Hopefully, he can continue to do that as he gets stretched out. He also tosses an above-average slider and change-up.
But Barco isn't the only pitcher worth watching on the Pirates' High-A affiliate's roster.
2023 draft picks Patrick Reilly and Jaden Woods are a pair of pitching prospects that could force themselves into the Pirates' long-term plans. J.P. Massey and Derek Diamond both had a strong start to 2023 but struggled in the second half. Brandan Bidois is a relief pitching prospect who returned to action last year and did well in 22.2 innings out of Bradenton's bullpen.