Five(ish) players to watch this year in the Florida Complex League

Some players to monitor for the Pirates during the 2025 FCL season.

The Florida Complex League gets underway today, with the Pirates team facing the Orioles at Pirate City.

On Friday, we had a more traditional preview, with an in-depth look at the players expected to start the year at the Complex.

I wanted to look closely at some of the players I’ll monitor this year, especially in my up-close look, as I am in town for the start of the Complex season.

Edward Florentino

I’ve talked about Edward Florentino a few times here, especially since I got some live looks on him during spring training at Pirate City and the Spring Breakout.

Florentino is tall, with some projection left in his frame. He’s already putting up some decent excitement velocity numbers, but he could still grow into some power as he ages.

The Pirates put him up against a lot of older/more advanced competition in the spring, and he never looked out of place.

As a 17-year-old in the Dominican last year, Florentino hit .260/.432/.459 with five home runs and eight stolen bases while walking (38) more time than he struck out (36).

He was my breakout pick this year in the system, and there’s a chance he could hit his way out of the complex fairly early.

Wyatt Sanford

The Pirates’ second-round pick last year, once Wyatt Sanford plays his first official pro game, he could immediately rival Jack Brannigan or Javier Rivas as one of the top defensive shortstops in the system.

Regarded as one of the top defensive prep shortstops in the 2024 draft class, Sanford has flashed that in spring, with a smooth operation and strong arm.

We’ve also seen him drive the ball fairly well, and he could have more success as a gap-to-gap hitter than originally thought early on. He also has potentially plus speed on the bases.

Dioris Martinez/Carlos Mateo

I grouped these players together because they share the same prospect profile. They both throw hard but have struggled with control issues.

Dioris Martinez didn’t pitch much last year (14.1 IP), but he’s still young and has an impressive fastball that can reach the upper 90s. Opponents hit just .156 against him, but he also walked more batters than he struck out. He won’t turn 19 until June.

While Martinez has had some control issues, Carlos Mateo is on the extreme side. In two years in rookie-level ball, he has walked 65 batters in 35 innings pitched (a whopping 30% walk rate).

The stuff is good, as he was one of a handful of players to hit triple-digits with his fastball last year in the Pirates’ system, according to Baseball America.

It’s an upper-90s fastball that flashes good characteristics but lacks consistency, which isn’t too much of a surprise considering his walk issues.

Both players will be teenagers for the entire 2025 regular season, and while they are long shots due to the control issues, they are worth watching if things take a drastic turn in the right direction.

Reinold Navarro

The Pirates have a handful of players coming up from the Dominican this year, Florentino included, but Reinold Navarro is the most intriguing pitcher by far.

He was named a Dominican Summer League All-Star and was given ‘best fastball’ in Baseball America’s DSL All-Star game superlative article.

It’s a mid-90s fastball from the left side, and he’ll be 18 the entire season.

Navarro struck out 37 batters in 24 innings last year, but also walked 21. That’ll need to improve, but he is plenty young enough to work things out.

Levi Sterling

It’s all about projection for Levi Sterling. His tall frame still has plenty of room for growth, and his very smooth delivery should help him add more velocity down the road.

I saw a bit of him during spring, and you could certainly see the tools. His fastball topped out around 95 but sat mostly 90-91, and there were some positive characteristics from a lower-than-average arm slot.

He was also one of the youngest players in the draft and won’t turn 19 until September.

Despite his youth, he’s a strike thrower with a plus change-up and a good breaking ball.

It might take a minute to get things going, but once he does, there is plenty of talent.