Greensboro 2024 break camp roster: Players to watch

Players to watch in Greensboro on their initial roster.

Photo Credit: WTM

High-A Greensboro has gotten a specific reputation over the past couple of years as one of the most offensive-friendly parks in the minors.

It also gives misleading information regarding the hitting and pitching prospects playing there.

We’ve seen players like Matt Gorski and Matt Fraizer excel there before hitting a wall in Double-A or higher.

Pitchers' ERAs get inflated due to the higher number of home runs hit there, but as we saw with Sean Sullivan last year, they come back down closer to average once they leave.

Evaluating prospects can be a little harder at times, especially if you are going to look at the numbers.

The Pirates have a few exciting guys in High-A this year, both on the pitching and hitting side.

Altoona Curve 2024 break camp roster: Which players to watch

While I looked at some under-the-radar guys for Altoona, here are three prospects to watch at Greensboro this year.

Jaden Woods

Drafted in the seventh round out of Georgia, Woods was a pitcher that I was really high on in college. However, he dealt with arm issues last year that caused him to slip.

He pitched well in Bradenton, showing much better control (5.6 BB%) while striking out 38.9% of the batters he faced.

Woods had a whiff rate of over 30% on three of his pitches: the change-up (40%), the four-seam fastball (33.3%), and the slider (36.4%). The fastball (and sinker) only averaged around 90 MPH, but a video by Geoff Pontes of Baseball America showed him pitching on the backfields this Spring.

He was throwing 93-94 in it while showing increased movement (17-19” of IVB, up from 16 in Bradenton).

If the Pirates try him as a starter, and he shows the kind of control he did in Bradenton, there’s some potential there. Even if he doesn’t make it as a starter, the fastball/slider should be able to play out of the bullpen, where he played most of the time in college.

Patrick Reilly

The Pirates certainly had a ‘type’ regarding their 2023 draft - SEC pitchers. Along with first overall pick Paul Skenes, the Pirates took several other SEC pitchers, primarily relievers with good stuff but struggled with control.

Reilly might have been the best example, as he struck out 28% of the hitters he faced but also walked 14%.

In his brief stint in Bradenton last year, he struck out 40% of the batters he faced but had a walk rate of 17%.

He can easily reach the upper 90s and showed above-average/near-elite movement (18.8” IVB) while generating a whiff rate of over 40%.

He may lose some of that in a starting role, but it still looks like a strong pitch. He may end up back in the bullpen by the time all is said and done, but it can’t hurt to try that electric arm in the rotation, at least to start.

Lonnie White Jr.

He may be the player with the potential to take full advantage of First National Bank Field's hitter-friendly confines. If he spends the entire year in Greensboro, he has legit 20/20 potential, with the chance to even crack 30 steals with his speed.

There are some swing-and-miss concerns that he will have to shore up to reach that potential, but few in the system have the potential upside that White has, at least on the hitting side of things.

He did show an elite chase rate in Bradenton (20.1%), so he’s at least making strong swing decisions. The barrel rate would also have been among the major league leaders, so the quality of contact he makes is elite.

There’s a lot here to like, and due to injuries limiting his playing time, he hasn’t touched the surface of his potential.

Sleeper: Charles McAdoo

The former San Jose Spartan had a decorated college career, and he was named a pre-season All-American going into his draft year.

He played very well in Bradenton, posting a 151 wRC+ in 28 games, hitting five home runs and nine extra-base hits.

There are some intriguing traits about him at the plate, but he’s also the type of player that you may not want to buy fully in until he reaches Altoona. He will also need to find a defensive home.

He’ll bounce around, but it will be interesting to see where he receives the bulk of his playing time.