NolaJeffy: Three Intriguing Prospects Outside the Pirates' Top 25
NolaJeffy takes a look at three players he's watching outside of the Bucs on Deck top 25 rankings
In thinking of three prospects that fans should get to know, I wanted to go against the grain with more outlier prospects that you wouldn’t find on most lists.
Cy Nielson
To kick things off, we’ll talk about a prospect that is everyone’s favorite pool to draw from, and that’s relief prospect Cy Nielson.
Nielson was drafted out of Brigham Young University in the 8th round of the 2022 draft. His profile read similar to many of the recent draft picks and acquisitions of the Pittsburgh Pirates: low 90’s fastball with a promising slider. In an abbreviated first taste of professional baseball in 2022, things didn’t go well, pitching 8.2 innings, with 7.2 of those innings coming in Bradenton striking out seven hitters while walking eight.
2023 would have the young left-hander begin the year in Greensboro, where he had a bit of an up-and-down year but showed some promise if he could harness his command.
Nielson excelled against like-handed hitters, holding them to a .606 OPS that was heavily weighted by a .367 OBP due to walking 13 against 24 strikeouts. They batted only .197 against him, with a .236 SLG. On the flip side, right-handed hitters had an OPS of .754 with an identical .377 OBP and SLG. They batted .293 with eight walks to 29 strikeouts. He gave up 31 hits to righties but only six total extra-base hits: four doubles, a triple, and a home run.
The pitch mix mostly includes the aforementioned low 90’s fastball, and slider. Nielson utilizes a lower arm slot that allows the fastball to get onto hitters much quicker than its registered velocity, and the slider has more of a sweep or wipeout shape to it that generates a lot of swings and misses.
On the year, he had a 13.9% swinging strike rate that was just south of Jared Jones’ 14.0% while with Altoona, or identical to Kyle Nicolas’ while with Indianapolis.
Relief prospects aren't the sexy pick, but I think there’s some potential for Nielson if he finds the zone more going forward.
Jaden Woods
My second pick is going to be 2023 seventh-rounder, Jaden Woods
Now, I know what you’re saying, “But, Nola. That’s another relief prospect!” I’d say, “Nay. I think there’s starter upside”. Not to give anything away, but you’ll be able to read more about my feelings in the near future.
During his time in college, Woods was as high as 92-96 MPH, but as a starter, he sat more at 90-92 MPH and averaged 90.6 MPH during his short stint with the Bradenton Marauders. One thing that stood out was how much he pounded the strike zone with 67% of his pitches, leading to a 38.9% strikeout rate and only a 5.6% walk rate.
Baseball America listed him in their “10 Standout Debuts From Pitchers In The 2023 Draft Class” (sub. required) back in October, after showing off a changeup he threw 25% of the time. It found the zone 50% of the time and came with a swinging strike rate of 18.4% and a whiff rate of 40.9%. This was in addition to a fastball and slider combination that were both rated anywhere from above average to plus, depending on the outlet.
It’s a very small sample size of 14.1 IP, but the possibility of adding a third above-average offering in a changeup paired with hopefully a sign of improved command leaves open the door of pushing his upside to that of a backend starter. I’d imagine to open the 2024 season, Woods could begin in the Bradenton rotation but would at least be used as a long reliever, seeing anywhere from 2-4 IP an appearance.
Eddy Rodriguez
Finally, we’ll step off the mound and into the batter’s box for my final — and spiciest — pick outside the top 25 in prospect Eddy Rodriguez.
Part of the reason I want him to work out is that I hope the Pirates would acquire an Ed Rodriguez, completing the eventual big league trio of Ed, Endy, and Eddy.
Jokes aside, the 6’-0” 212 lbs (as listed by Pirates 2023 Media Guide) outfielder/first baseman was an International signing in January of 2021 out of the Dominican Republic and has so far progressed well, even seeing success upon moving stateside into the Complex League.
He had a .786 OPS and 120 wRC+ in his first DSL season in 2021, a .839 OPS and 133 wRC+ in his second DSL season in 2022, and then in 2023, he moved to the Florida Complex League with a .851 OPS and 126 wRC+ at 19 years old.
His OPS is mainly carried by a quality walk rate that he has maintained around 10% each season while also having a modest 16.4% strikeout rate in the FCL. As noted by Wilbur when speaking to him about Rodriguez, he is more of a contact-over power hitter at the moment with very little swing-and-miss to his game (as also noted by Wilbur in Eddy’s player page).
The key for Eddy moving forward will be adding more power after only collecting 11 extra-base hits in 2023: seven doubles and four home runs. Having spent most of his playing time in left field and first base, the bat will be his carrying tool, and 2024 should give us a good idea if he can tap into the power more while not turning 21 until November.
Pirates signed Brent Honeywell. AAA relief depth. BC making the big moves. According to the PG, the Pirates are expected to sign a new bat boy by the end of the week.
Finally! A pitching prospect that has excellent control. Good call, let's keep following him. (Woods).