How Have the Pirates' Recent International Signing Classes Fared?

A still-early summary

David Matoma. Photo Credit: WTM

The Pirates have just changed their international scouting director, replacing Junior Vizcaino with Max Kwan. That makes it a good time to take a look at how their recent signing classes have done at this very early juncture.

Some background first. Until 2020, the annual signing period ran from July 2 each year through the following June. Hence the previous tradition of referring to the signing periods as 2017-18, 2018-19, etc. The dates were important, of course, because each team has an annual bonus pool limit. The top signings almost all took place on July 2 or within a few days afterward.

Ben Cherington became the Pirates’ GM in November 2019, so their top 2019-20 signings had already taken place. In 2020, due to the pandemic, signings were put on hold until January 15, 2021, and that’s the way it’s stayed since then. So, the signing period no longer carries over two years. The Pirates did have a couple of signings in October 2020 — Wilber Dotel and Po-Yu Chen — but as I understand it, they were considered part of the 2019-20 signing class.

A few other caveats:

• Even though they can’t be signed until age 16, the top players typically commit verbally to teams at absurdly early ages, like 14 or maybe even earlier. Of course, changes can happen before the signings take place, as we saw recently, but normally, the prominent signings happen according to these early commitments. For this reason, the first signing class that can be fully associated with Cherington is probably 2022, although Vizcaino was the director for a number of years before that.

• These players become pros much earlier than draftees, age 16-17 for the top players compared to 18-22 for drafted players. So, the development path is much longer, and the first couple of years are often much less informative. And definitely keep in mind the fact that Pirates’ prospects, especially hitters, have a very strong pattern in recent years of falling off a cliff at Greensboro or, especially, Altoona.

• Dominican Summer League stats don’t mean much. I guess it’s better to have a player do well than do badly in his debut, and a 50% strikeout rate probably isn’t a hopeful sign, but getting too excited or discouraged over DSL numbers isn’t advisable.

2021

This class has had a rough time. It starts with the top signing, outfielder Shalin Polanco. He improved gradually through 2023, which he spent at Bradenton, showing the potential to hit for power. He took a big step back in 2024, posting just a .623 OPS, even though he was returning to the same level as in 2023. At this point, he has significant trouble adjusting to breaking and off-speed pitches, and he’s not making progress.

Three other outfielders who were among the team’s more prominent signings had even less success. Ruben Vizcaya, Gustavo Armas, and Rodolfo de la Cruz all struggled to hit in the DSL and were released without reaching the Florida Complex League.

Three more outfielders from this class have done a bit better. The one who looks the most like a prospect at this point, Esmerlyn Valdez, led the Florida State League this year with 22 home runs. That came with a 31% K rate, so it remains to be seen what will happen with him against the pitchers at the next level. Eddy Rodriguez showed some ability, including pretty good plate discipline, through early 2024, when he’d reached Bradenton. He slumped after that, though, and also missed a lot of time with an injury. Both he and Valdez probably belong at first base. Miguel Sosa, originally signed as a catcher but now almost exclusively an outfielder, hit well in the FCL, but the Pirates were slow to promote him. He didn’t do so well after a July promotion to Bradenton in 2024.

The infielders in this group haven’t fared well at all. John Zorrilla was one of the top signings due to his power potential and a chance of staying at shortstop. He’s missed a lot of time with injuries. When he’s played, he’s shown some power and drawn a lot of walks, but he has severe problems making contact, striking out in over half his pro-at-bats. He reached the FCL in 2024 but hardly played, some but not all of that due to injuries.

Of the other two most notable infielders, Rubel Lebron was released after playing only sparingly over two years in the DSL. Wesley Zapata made it to Bradenton for part of 2024 but didn’t hit and was released after the season.

The Pirates seldom spend big bonus money on Latin American pitchers, which is somewhat typical in baseball, given that it’s even more difficult to project a 16-year-old (really, 14-year-old for the top guys) pitcher than a hitter. That was true for this class.

The most prominent pitchers, if you go by Baseball America, were Jose Garces, Darlin Diaz, and Luigi Hernandez. Diaz was released after two years in the DSL. Garces has gotten mired for three years in the FCL due to command problems. Hernandez at least made it to Bradenton for the 2024 season, although he missed part of it due to injury. He’s been plagued by control problems, leading to a 7.11 ERA in 2024, but his stuff is good enough that he has a career K/9 of 11.2.

Some less prominent pitchers have done better, most notably Alessandro Ercolani, who’s now the top prospect in this class. Despite hailing from the micro-nation of San Marino, Ercolani made it to Greensboro in 2024 for his age-20 season. Control had held him back a little at lower levels, but he improved it significantly in 2024 and put up very good numbers across the board. In fact, they would have been spectacular numbers but for a very bad month of May. The Pirates have generally limited Ercolani to 3- or 4-inning outings, both starting and in relief, but that may have more to do with his experience level than anything. BA recently published lists of the top minor league pitchers, ranked by STUFF+, for each age group, and Ercolani ranked third among 20-year-olds.

Two other pitchers have shown some ability, although it’d be premature to call them prospects. The Pirates brought Antwone Kelly along slowly for his first three seasons, but they put him in the Bradenton rotation in 2024. After a tough April, he had strong months in May and June, then missed two months with an injury. Three rough outings after he returned, plus the poor April, left him with mediocre numbers but he was very strong in the two good months. Greiber Mendez spent three years in the DSL, then pitched decently in the FCL in 2024 and well for Bradenton late in the season, all as a reliever.

2022

This class had two key signings: Tony Blanco, Jr., and Yordany De Los Santos. Both have shown some positive signs, but there are significant red flags, too.

De Los Santos has shown the strength and bat speed to put up impressive exit velocities and hit for good power if he gets the ball in the air a bit more. He also looks like he can probably stay at short going forward. The red flag is that, in each of the last two years, he’s hammered the ball in the FCL and then been overmatched after getting promoted to the FSL. The positive sign is that, after massive swing-and-miss problems during his Bradenton stint in 2023, he cut his K rate there in 2024 to 22%, but he still didn’t make much hard contact. He’ll turn 20 shortly before the 2025 season opens.

The 6’7” Blanco is a huge guy with the most raw power in the system. He’s shown elite exit velocity, but he’s also managed to appear in only 79 games in three pro seasons due to a series of nagging injuries. The game power started showing up in the DSL in 2023, but he also had a 38% K rate. In the FCL in 2024, he put up an .891 OPS in 30 games and managed to cut the K rate to 28%, still high but a good improvement for a player who hasn’t been on the field all that much. Ostensibly an outfielder when he signed, Blanco will almost certainly be a 1B/DH type going forward.

One of the other top signings in this class, outfielder Eduardo Oviedo, has had more trouble. He did well in his second DSL season but struggled severely in the FCL in 2024, with a K rate above 50%. That got him sent to the development list, and he finished the season injured.

Several other hitters from this class have made good impressions so far, again with caveats. Axiel Plaz has shown good power; in fact, he finished sixth in the FSL in home runs with 15 despite playing less than two-thirds of the season. That came with a 29% K rate and a .207 average, but Plaz was only 19 until late in the season. The Pirates’ approach with him has been a little odd; he’s had stretches where his playing time was a little sporadic, maybe in part due to injury, and although he’s ostensibly a catcher, he’s only started 72 times behind the plate in three years.

Catcher Richard Ramirez wasn’t a prominent signing, but after hitting well in the DSL in his second season there in 2023, he put up a .837 OPS in the FCL in 2024, including good power. He also has a very strong arm and threw out over half of opposing base stealers. He has a lot of swing-and-miss to his hitting, and his receiving still needs a lot of work.

Infielder Carlos Caro had a good season in the FCL, batting .305 and showing some power despite not being a big guy. He’s a rare sort nowadays, as he tones down his approach with two strikes. The risk with him is limited projection, plus the fact that he’ll probably be limited to second base.

The remaining notable hitters from this class haven’t made an impression. Infielder Roinny Aguiar hit well in his second DSL season in 2023 but didn’t hit much in the FCL in 2024, with a lot of strikeouts and no power. He’s probably limited to second base. First baseman Carlos Tirado had just a .606 OPS in the FCL in 2024, which won’t get him far at that position. Outfielder Angel Rodriguez has spent three seasons in the DSL and hit poorly in 2024.

This class is very light on pitching. The two prominent signings were Pitterson Rosa, who got $700,000, which is a huge bonus for an international pitcher by Pirate standards, and Hung-Leng Chang, who got $500,000 to sign out of Taiwan.

Rosa’s a converted outfielder and potentially a power pitcher, but after a good first season in the DSL, he struggled there in 2023, partly with poor control. He moved up to the FCL in 2024 but spent most of the season hurt.

Chang has a good mix of pitches and fairly advanced command, but his fastball has been hittable. He spent 2024 in the Bradenton rotation and finished with a 4.64 ERA. He had trouble with left-handed hitters.

2023

This was a more mound-oriented class. The Pirates gave out four large bonuses ($700-800K range) and, uncharacteristically, three went to pitchers. The results on the big bonuses at this early stage haven’t been so good.

The most prominent pitcher, although he didn’t get the biggest bonus, was Jun-Seok Shim, from Korea. He wowed everybody with his stuff, but in two years with the Pirates managed to log only eight innings due to injuries. The Pirates then sent him to Miami in the Bryan De La Cruz fiasco. He has pitched in the Arizona Fall League recently, but the results have been awful and reports on his stuff have indicated it’s not nearly what it was.

Carlos Mateo has stuff almost on Shim’s level and has hit triple digits, but he’s had one simple problem: He has no idea where the ball is going. In two seasons — one in the DSL and one in the FCL — his outings mostly have been orgies of walks, hit batsmen and wild pitches.

The third pitcher on the big-bonus list was Bladimir Pichardo. He’s a big guy with good present velocity and a lot of projection. He’s spent two years in the DSL with mixed results, so it’s hard to say much one way or the other.

The most notable pitcher from this class got just $20,000. That’d be David Matoma, who hails from Uganda. He’s not a big guy, but he can hit triple digits and sits at 95-96 mph at age 18. The Pirates are bringing him along slowly, but he’s had very strong numbers in the DSL in 2023 and the FCL in 2024.

A few other less prominent pitchers have shown some promise. Carlos Castillo is a finesse righty who pitched very well in the DSL in 2023 and FCL in 2024. He made it to Bradenton in late 2024 and got hit hard, so there may be questions about his stuff going forward.

Lefty Jose Regalado made it to the FCL as a reliever in 2024. He was an older signing — he’s now 22 — and throws in the mid-90s, but needs to throw more strikes. Righty Dioris Martinez, who only turned 18 in June, reaches 96-97 with his fastball. He had a 1.26 ERA for Bradenton in 2024, but he only threw 14.1 IP due to an injury and his walk and K rates weren’t good.

The position players from this group have had a tougher time. That especially includes the top two, catcher Jonathan Rivero, who got the largest bonus, and outfielder Raymond Mola.

Rivero, who profiles as a potential power hitter, didn’t hit at all in the DSL in 2023. He returned there in 2024 but missed the early part of the season with an injury and didn’t catch at all after returning. He hit better but showed no power, with a slash line of .276/.357/.322.

Mola missed essentially all of 2023 with a wrist injury and didn’t appear in 2024 until mid-July. In 23 games, he hit for some power but had a 32% K rate and didn’t walk much.

Another outfielder, Cristian Jauregui, got a mid-level bonus out of Cuba. He hit decently in the DSL in 2023 with a lot of walks, then returned there in 2024 and batted .274/.407/.393. He’ll be 19 when the 2024 season starts.

Five other hitters got mid-level bonuses and have produced mixed results. Outfielders Andres Villafane and Miguel Rodriguez had decent numbers in their second DSL seasons in 2024. Outfielder Angel Aquino and infielders Antonio Pimentel and Joenelly Van Der Linden haven’t hit much.

2024

With everybody having just one year in the DSL, it’s too early to say much useful about this class. I’ll stick to a few of the top signings.

The two seven-figure signings were outfielder Bralyn Brazoban and shortstop Adbiel Feliz. Brazoban struggled to make contact and didn’t show much power. Feliz, a glove-oriented player, hit .206 with no power.

Two other players with mid-tier bonuses did better. Outfielder Edward Florentino was one of the DSL’s better hitters, putting up a .260/.432/.459 line with more walks than strikeouts. Infielder Kendrick Herrera had a .750 OPS, also walked more than he struck out, and impressed observers with his play at short.

Irwin Ramirez and lefty Reinold Navarro were the two most prominent pitchers in the class. Ramirez, a potential power pitcher, had control issues but overall was solid and got progressively better during the season, especially in the last month. Navarro, who’s reached the mid-90s with his fastball, also had control problems, but he allowed just 13 hits and struck out 37 in 24 innings.

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