These 2 Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers are Statcast standouts

In recent years, Statcast has given fans, players, and teams alike a very in-depth way of looking at the game we all love. Every pitch, swing, batted ball, and play made has been tracked since 2015. It has given birth to a whole new bevy of stats, many of which are available to the public to view, sort, and analyze on their own.

Some minor-league levels now helpfully have Statcast data, and sometimes this new information is the best way to evaluate prospects. The Pittsburgh Pirates' system definitely has some prospects who stand out based on this data and have shown a lot of promise. These Bucco minor leaguers who have some interesting numbers that you’re not going to find based on their surface numbers, and evaluations of these players have benefitted from the additional info.

Note that only A-Ball (Bradenton) and Triple-A (Indianapolis) have publicly available Statcast data. High-A (Greensboro), Double-A (Altoona), as well as both the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League do not have Statcast available at this time. Luckily, it is more than likely we will see parks at these levels get the same treatment in the near future.

Pirates prospects who stand out on Statcast

Axiel Plaz

One of the Pirates’ top international signings in the 2021-2022 offseason was catcher Axiel Plaz. Plaz made a huge first impression, posting a wRC+ of over 200 during his first sample size of playing time at the Dominican Summer League. Plaz made it to A-Ball this season in his age-18 campaign, where he displayed a ton of raw pop.

Plaz hit .207/.302/.438 with a .345 wOBA, and 108 wRC+ through 281 plate appearances. He went yard a total of 15 times with an isolated slugging percentage of .231. Plaz was also hindered by a low .235 batting average on balls in play. The young catcher walked in 11.4% of his plate appearances, but also struck out at a 29.2% pace.

Plaz is known for his power potential. He had the best barrel rate of any Pirates prospect at 13%. His exit velocity clocked in at 89.5 MPH as well. At just 18, that’s elite, but he will need to cut back on the swings and misses; he also had a 32% whiff rate. Plaz has plenty of time to adjust, and certainly has the raw power to make an impact if he can make contact just slightly more often.

Bubba Chandler

Bubba Chandler has taken some huge strides forward in the last year and is now one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. The right-hander was taken in the third round of the 2021 draft and is now on the verge of making his big league debut. He already has Major League-caliber stuff and is inducing a ton of great results with it.

Chandler opened the year at Altoona, but was promoted to Triple-A Indy at the start of August. Since getting to the highest level of the minor leagues, Chandler has mowed down batter after batter. He is rocking a 1.83 ERA, 2.78 FIP, and 1.04 WHIP. The right-hander has a solid 9.4% walk rate, but has struck out over a third of opponents with a 34% K% and has allowed a pair of home runs through 39.1 innings pitched.

Opponents cannot touch Chandler. He has a 33% whiff rate at Triple-A. When opponents do make contact, it has rarely ever been good contact. Chandler has induced an 85.3 MPH exit velocity and 3.4% barrel rate. Chandler’s four-seamer is also the best in the Pirates’ system. He sits 97.5 MPH, which is the hardest-thrown fastball of any Pirates minor league starting pitcher. He also throws it with a ton of ride through the zone with just 12.5 inches of drop.

On top of that, each of Chandler’s pitches induces a whiff rate over 30%. The lowest number comes attached to his four-seamer, which still has a swing-and-miss rate of 30.5%. The highest whiff rate belongs to his off-speed changeup. The pitch sits in the upper 80s with 28.4 inches of drop and 16.5 inches of break. Batters have swung and missed at the offering a whopping 41.4% of the time.