Three more international prospects to watch in the Pirates’ system for 2024

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t had a good player they developed from the international market in quite a while. But there’s definitely a chance they could find one in the near future. Some of their top prospects, including Yordany De Los Santos, Shalin Polanco, Tony Blanco Jr., and Jun-Seok Shim, were signed out of the international market, and while all are still fairly young, could make an impact in the future.

Estuar Suero and Jhonny Severino were both acquired via trade but were recent international signees by the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively. Both of those players were among their former team's top signings from recent signing periods. The Pirates clearly are looking to bring in a wave of talent through the International signings over the last 2-3 years. This also shows that these were two players that the team likely wanted to sign, but with universal restrictions on international amateur free-agent signings, it becomes hard to bring in multiple top names.

But these are far from the young international prospects currently in the system. A few months ago, I covered three under-the-radar international prospects that are worth keeping an eye on in 2024 and beyond. But there are more young prospects that you should know about currently in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization.

Hung-Leng Chang

Hung-Leng Chang was one of the Pirates’ top international signings from the 2021-2022 off-season. The Taiwanese right-hander made a strong first impression in 2022 but struggled the following year between the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate and Bradenton. Still stationed at Bradenton, Chang has gotten off to a good start to the 2024 season and could soon be staring down a promotion to Greensboro if he keeps it up over the next month or so.

Chang has a five-pitch mix. He is not a hard-throwing pitcher, only averaging 91-92 MPH, but tops out at 95. The pitch has about average ride through the zone with decent horizontal action. His sinker has about the same velocity as his four-seamer, with 18 inches of vertical drop and 18 inches of break. His primary breaking pitch is a slider, which sits around 83-84 with 34 inches of drop and two inches of break. Chang has still induced a whiff a third of the time with this pitch. Chang’s secondary breaking pitch is a curveball that comes in at 77 MPH with over 50 inches of vertical drop. Finally, there’s his off-speed change-up, an 83-84 MPH pitch with 35 inches of drop and 10.5 inches of break.

Chang is a lanky 6’3”, 160-pound hurler. Given his projectable frame, there’s definitely a chance he adds more muscle and adds a tick of velocity over the next year or two. His arm extension comes out to 6.6 feet, which doesn’t add a ton of velocity out of the hand. Chang’s arm slot also sits around six feet.

Chang is 22, so he could see a move to Greensboro in the near future if he keeps pitching well. Chang is definitely one of the more interesting arms to watch in the minor leagues. He has a wide variety of pitches with good command to go along with it. 

Pirates Prospect: Carlos Jimenez

The Pirates signed Carlos Jimenez back during the summer of 2018. Jimenez has looked good at times, but has yet to piece together a full, healthy season. In 2023, he pitched just 13 frames. But he’s returned healthy this year and is off to a solid start to the year and might receive longer outings as he continues to get stretched out after returning from a shortened 2023 campaign.

So far, he only has tossed 4.2 innings with two earned runs, and seven K’s. Jimenez has struggled with command issues in the past and has walked five through his first few innings of the season. But at just 21 years old, there’s time for him to sharpen up this part of his game. 

Despite being a young gun, Jimenez can run his fastball up into the mid-90s, topping out at 97.5 MPH this year. Along with good velocity, his four-seamer has good ride through the strikezone with only 13.8 inches of drop. But it lacks significant horizontal movement with just four inches of arm-side break. Trent Thorton is one Major League comparison based on velo and movement, but the closest in terms of just movement are Mitchell Parker and Aaron Civale.

Jimenez’s primary breaking pitch is a curveball. This pitch sits around 80 MPH with 52 inches of drop and 11.5 inches of horizontal break. The best Major League comparisons include Carlos Carrasco and Zach Eflin, both of whom have almost identical movement and velocity profiles with their curve compared to Jimenez. 

Arguably, the best pitch in his arsenal is his hard change-up. His change sits in the upper-80s and touches 90 MPH. Batters have an extremely hard time making contact against this pitch. Right now, he’s gotten a swing and miss 50% of the time with his change. 

Jimenez’s control could land him in the bullpen long term. But the Pirates will probably give him every chance possible to remain as a starting pitcher. Jimenez is at A-Ball Bradenton, and could pitch his first full season in an extended role.