10 Observations: New guys making an impact, hitting issues in the lower levels

Some new faces quickly making an impact

Photo Credit: WTM

Murphy 8/6—This seems to be a completely different Yordany De Los Santos than we saw in Bradenton a year ago. The biggest issue in 2023 was that he seemed overmatched by every pitch type.

It doesn’t seem that way anymore. He’s letting his speed take over and put the ball in play. He’s become an opposite-field hitting machine, hitting plenty of bloop shots to right field in Bradenton and the complex.

I still have some chase concerns, but it’s been mostly night and day from 2023 to this year.

Murphy 8/6—After his second game in Bradenton, Zander Mueth has nine walks in 4.2 innings pitched. I’m not overly concerned because it’s a noticeable trend of some pitchers coming up and suddenly struggling with their control.

With the ABS in the FSL, it’s an entirely different strike zone they have to get used to, and you can see him struggling with it. There is much to like about his repertoire, including the fastball, where the metrics pop.

I have a fun comparison regarding the fastball, which I’ll eventually explain in a video.

Murphy 8/7—Depending on how much you believe in coincidences, Mitch Jebb recently had a rough week at second base and then played his first-ever game professionally in center field.

It’s a switch that makes sense with his speed. If he can become a solid center fielder, that’ll add a little value to his profile, and it could certainly use a boost.

Murphy 8/7—It’s at a point where it doesn’t matter what Lonnie White Jr. does, good or bad, the focus should be building to next year.

Whether that be building here at the end and finding some success, or it’s just getting every bad swing out of his system, so be it. The swings have been so ugly lately, but the payoff now and again has been tremendous (big home run on Wednesday).

In my books, 2025 will be the big year for White. If he had gone the college route, it would have been his first full season in the pro ranks. I’m willing to wait a little longer, but he must take a considerable step. Whatever he has to do to build towards that this year needs to be done.

Murphy 8/7—Axiel Plaz hit another home run, and this one was a reminder of his pure raw power. He turned on a breaking ball on the outer half of the plate, probably a ball, and drove it out of the park. So effortless. So easy.

NolaJeffy 8/7 — Including Sunday, Nick Yorke played his first two career games in CF. It's interesting more than anything at this point. He saw some chances and seemed to handle the position rather well. At this juncture, it's more curious that the Pirates acquired a 2B with some corner outfield exposure and intend to try him at CF. Billy Cook has seen one game himself there. Nick Gonzales will return at some point, and second base would seemingly be his, but CF and at least one corner OF spot will be up for grabs in the very near future.

WTM 8/11—Through his first 17 games at Indianapolis, Jack Suwinski is hitting 175/232/302 with a 30% K rate. In case it wasn’t long ago obvious, Suwinski hasn’t just been in a slump, he’s a broken hitter. The Pirates did both him and themselves a severe disservice by letting him founder in the majors for so long.

WTM 8/11 — You can’t look at Bradenton’s overall hitting stats and not suspect something is seriously wrong with how the Pirates are developing hitters. The Marauders lead the Florida State League in home runs. There has to be some talent in the lineup, right? But then you look at the rest. Easily last in BA. Easily last in OBP. By far the most strikeouts. Eighth of ten in runs, even with the long balls.

Personally, I think the Pirates have an iPad problem. They’re too obsessed with data, like EVs and launch angle, and missing the more subtle aspects of baseball skills, like swing decisions. I’ve frequently seen Marauders hitters not just struggle with breaking balls but swing at three straight breaking balls well off the plate in the same location in the same AB. They’re not picking up the most obvious patterns in how they’re being pitched. And it’s a team-wide problem.

NolaJeffy 8/11—Jhonny Severino has been on fire and capped off his week with his first career Low-A homerun. One of the main things to generally keep an eye on with complex kids moving up a level, is their swing and miss. There have been some ugly whiffs mixed in, but overall Severino has only struck out 24.4% of the time so far, while slashing .297/.366/.514 in his first taste of the Florida State League.

Murphy 8/11—One of the more confusing players in the system is Wilber Dotel. The stuff is undeniable, but the results still hasn’t translated yet. That’s not talking about the ERA, which is still high, even factoring in playing in Greensboro.

The strikeout and even whiff numbers aren’t quite where you’d want for someone who has the stuff he has. That was the same thing for him last year in Bradenton. The hope was with more experience, he’d start to learn how to use his stuff to get more strikeouts or even miss more bats.

There’s still time, but after another year like this, I’d say there is becoming even more reliever risk than last year.

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