Bucs on Deck: Pitchers who have improved their stock this season
Pitchers who have taken a step forward in their development in 2025
The Pirates remain one of the deepest systems when it comes to pitchers. Most of their Triple-A rotation is made up of current or former Top 100 prospects, and you can find an intriguing arm at every level beyond that.
Today, we are looking at pitchers who have taken a noticeable step forward in their development and have improved their prospect status in 2025.
John Dreker - Wilber Dotel
I have to go with Wilber Dotel here. It's not easy pitching in Greensboro, like he did during the 2024 season, with mediocre at best results. He had a nice strikeout rate and not much else on the stat sheet. The thing is that he made a lot of noise with his velocity during the season, but it wasn't translating to success. He also did poorly last year on the road, so it wasn't just the tough home ballpark for pitchers. The Pirates still bumped him up to Altoona to start the 2025 season, where he is now getting notice from people who don't follow prospects as closely.
Dotel has not only improved his strikeout rate this year from a solid 9.0 in 2024, up to 11.8 through his first 31.1 innings this year, but he has also done that while lowering his walk rate. His walk rate last year was the best of his first four seasons in pro ball, but it was still a little too high. He's now getting into the acceptable range of 3.4 free passes per nine innings. Dotel has also lowered his hit rate over the last two years, giving him a much improved WHIP this year. At 22 years old, he's a young pitcher for Double-A, who is finally turning his above-average pitching repertoire into results. He got off to a strong start last season as well, so we will see if he can maintain the early success over a full season. If he does, he's a legit top prospect in the system
Murphy - Wilber Dotel
There aren’t as many pitchers standing out in the Pirates system, at least when it comes to taking a noticeable step forward. The addition of the splitter is what makes Wilber Dotel stand out.
He’s always had a strong fastball and slider, but not that key third pitch you want from a starter. Dotel also struggled to put some hitters away because he lacked that third pitch.
Having that pitch has allowed his strikeout rate to jump eight points from last year, and he is doing so in Double-A.
I remember Baseball America made a semi-Luis Ortiz comp with Dotel, as an older signing international free agent with a lively fastball that could be due for a breakout.
We saw Ortiz break out while with Altoona, it looks like we may be seeing a repeat here with Dotel.
Wilbur Miller - Garrett McMillan
Wilber Dotel would be an easy choice, but he drew some good scouting reports last season and was at least on the radar for some people. Garrett McMillan, on the other hand, came out of nowhere. For most of his first season in 2024 (not counting a third of an inning after he signed in 2023), he seemed to be about what you expect from a college senior drafted in round 14: He pitched out of the bullpen in Bradenton and did a workmanlike job. Then, in a late-season promotion to Greensboro, he made seven appearances, including three starts, and allowed 16 hits and four walks in 21 innings, while fanning 28.
Well, maybe he had just a good month, so it didn’t draw much attention. This year, he went back to Greensboro and made eight starts with an ERA of 1.55 and a miniscule WHIP of 0.79. That got him promoted to Altoona, where in two starts so far he’s allowed just six hits and two walks in ten innings.
The big question is how well McMillan’s stuff is going to play at the highest levels. He throws the standard four pitches, but goes very heavily with his fastball, which sits at 91-93 mph. Obviously, his command of it is very good. He’s not giving up much hard contact; so far this year, opponents are slugging just .294 against him. McMillan doesn’t profile as more than a back-of-the-rotation starter, but for a 14th-round draft pick to get that far would be an impressive achievement.
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