Pirates 2023 Minor League Recaps: FCL Pirates
Quite a few upside players.
The Florida Complex League Pirates finished with a 32-23 record. For much of the year, they dominated the league, but they slumped at the end. A lot of that had to do with promotions.
The Pirates’ hitters finished third in the league in runs per game and fourth in OPS. They led the league in walks and steals. Their hitters had a weighted average age of 19.7, a little above the league average of 19.4. One factor that increased their average age was a number of position players getting demoted after struggling at higher levels. That included Juan Jerez, Javier Rivas, Sergio Campana, Braylon Bishop and Jauri Custodio. All of these guys performed about like you’d expect from a more experienced player at this level, so I’m not going to discuss them, with the exception of Bishop.
The Pirates’ pitchers were second in the league in ERA and were also the league’s youngest. It’s really hard to judge what you’re seeing when you watch pitchers in this league these days. The main issue is, hardly anybody can throw strikes. The league walked 5.7 batters per nine innings. If you go back to 2019, the last year when it was called the Gulf Coast League, the BB/9 was 4.2. The wildest team that year walked 5.5 per nine, less than the 2023 league average. Something very fundamental has changed. The current emphasis on breaking balls, and on hitters waiting for pitches to drive, are probably a couple reasons. A lower talent level may be another.
Anyway, along with walking a little more than the average, the Pirates also struck out more than the average, at 9.8 per nine compared to 9.4. They threw a lot of wild pitches, which again probably results from heavy breaking ball use.
HITTERS
The Top Guys
The teams's top hitting prospects, without a doubt, were Lonnie White, Jr., and Yordany De Los Santos, which is why they weren’t around long.
Lonnie White, Jr., OF: After missing essentially all of 2022, White started the season on the 60-day IL after a spring training sliding injury forced him to get thumb surgery. He joined the FCL team in early June and spent two weeks struggling to make contact. In retrospect, that was probably the injury and maybe the layoff, too. White started hitting and, after another two weeks, moved up, which we’ll get to next time. He finished at 318/434/444 in the FCL, even with the slow start.
Yordany De Los Santos, SS: The Pirates’ big international signing in January 2022, De Los Santos got $1.2M from a team that’s not much into top international bonuses. Like White, he played 17 games in the FCL before moving up. De Los Santos only turned 18 in February, so he was a young guy even for this league. He hit 328/397/463, making a lot of hard contact that promises more power as he gets older, if he starts elevating the ball more. He was reasonably patient and didn’t strike out much, and he stole 13 bases in 14 tries. De Los Santos is athletic enough to stay at short, although his throwing motion is a bit odd and results in some loopy-looking throws.
Possible Power Hitters
The FCL team had three very similar players, all of whom profile as potential power hitters who’ll play first or an outfield corner.
Esmerlyn Valdez, 1B/OF: Valdez was the main source of power for the FCL Bucs, putting up a line of 312/377/518, and leading the team in home runs and RBIs. It was his second year at the level after posting a .765 OPS in 2022. His plate discipline was a bit borderline. Valdez moved around between first and the outfield corners and seems passable in the field. He got into eight games for Bradenton near the end of the season. He only be 20 at the start of the 2024 season.
Eddy Rodriguez, 1B/OF: The team’s second-best source of power after Valdez, Rodriguez batted 295/409/442 with good walk and K rates. He split his time between first and left. Like Valdez, he’ll play next season at age 20.
Ewry Espinal, 1B/OF: Unlike Valdez and Rodriguez, Espinal played almost exclusively at first. Also unlike them, he struggled, batting just .227 with almost no power. He drew a lot of walks, but also struck out in a third of his plate appearances. Espinal spent two years in the DSL and he’ll be 21 at the start of 2024.
Speedy Guys
Jhonson Pena, OF: Originally an infielder, Pena moved to the outfield this year, mostly playing center. He had some misadventures — which mostly seemed to happen when Michael Kennedy was pitching — but played well there. Pena batted .321 in the DSL in 2021, but got sent back there last year, so he’s 21 now. He hit 240/357/347 in the FCL. He has very good speed and stole 20 bases in 22 attempts.
Kelvin Diaz, IF: Diaz was very similar to the other players in this section: a patient hitter with a line drive approach, some gap power and a high walk rate. The walks got him a .370 OBP. He runs well and went 11-for-12 as a base stealer. Diaz played short and third in the FCL team’s revolving infield. He’s another guy who spent two years in the DSL. He’ll begin next season at 21.
Jeral Toledo, IF: Toledo was repeating the level after putting up a .599 OPS last year. This year he got blistering hot in July and finished at 306/413/479, which included surprising power for a guy listed at 5’10”, 135 (it’s hard to buy the 135 part). He had just one less walk than strikeouts. Toledo this year was a rarity: a low-level Pirate infielder who played one position, 2B, almost exclusively. He’ll be 21 throughout next season and it’ll be interesting to see whether this was a real breakout.
Wesley Zapata, IF: Another of the team’s squadron of all-purpose infielders, Zapata played second and third. He didn’t hit for any power, but drew a ton of walks, 25 vs. just 19 strikeouts in 114 plate appearances. That left him with a .425 OBP.
If you’re seeing a pattern, yep. This team had a lot of guys who can run (Zapata less so than the others) and play defense, and whose primary offensive skill is patience. They’re good players at this level. The question is how far they’ll go without hitting the ball with more authority.
Braylon Bishop, OF: Bishop, of course, was a 14th round draft pick in 2021 who signed for an above-slot bonus. He has great speed and plays very good defense in center, but he’s had a lot of trouble picking up breaking balls and offspeed stuff. He opened this year at Bradenton, went 3-for-27 with 13 strikeouts, and got sent down. He made modest progress, cutting his K rate a little and showing a little more power, finishing with a 220/363/341 line. But it was his third year at the level.
Lottery Ticket/Trade Acquisitions
Jhonny Severino, IF: The return for Carlos Santana, Severino is an infielder with power potential. Nominally a shorstop with Milwaukee, he played only third with the Pirates. Of course, that was just three games. He went 3-for-10 with a home run and just one strikeout, but then got hurt and didn’t return. So he’s a mystery for now.
Estuar Suero, OF: A raw, toolsy outfielder (he turned 18 just after the season ended), Suero came from the Padres as part of the return for Rich Hill and Ji-Man Choi. He hit 217/379/326 after the trade, with the same number of walks as strikeouts. He has the speed and defensive ability to play in center, as well as a tall (6’5”), wiry frame that could produce power going forward.
Catchers
Rafael Escalante, C: Eight different players caught games for the FCL Pirates, but Escalante caught well over twice as many innings as anybody else. He’s moved up slowly, with two years in the DSL and now two in the FCL, plus the lost pandemic season, so he’s 22 now. He played solid defense and hit 256/409/367, which is just about what he hits every year. He has a good eye, almost always walking more than he strikes out, and only limited power.
Eybert Escalona, C/1B: Escalona split his time between catcher and first, and batted 238/296/365. That was a dropoff from his two DSL years, where he batted 317/467/500.
Miguel Sosa, C/OF: Sosa and Axiel Plaz were two puzzling cases. They both put up big numbers in the DSL last year; both clearly have much higher ceilings than any of the other catchers who played for this team. But neither caught much and both played only about 60% of the team’s games, often playing only part of the game. Sosa caught just 18 innings, spending most of his time in left and as DH. Among players with more than 63 plate appearances, he led the team in OPS at .901, after putting up a .980 OPS in the DSL last year. He’s very patient and doesn’t chase; he had a 29.1% walk rate and 22.3% K rate. He also has some power. And he doesn’t turn 20 until December.
Axiel Plaz, C: After a huge 2022 DSL season (1.206 OPS), Plaz struggled in the FCL. He had a lot of trouble picking up breaking balls and offspeed pitches, and fanned in nearly a third of his plate appearances. He batted just .144 with limited power. He did catch more than Sosa, getting 87 innings behind the plate. Plaz is very young; he spent just one year in the DSL, compared to Sosa’s two, and he didn’t turn 18 until just before the season ended.
John Lopez and Luke Scherrer, C: Lopez was the Pirates’ 15th round draft pick this year out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. Scherrer was a non-drafted free agent who signed out of high school, which you don’t see much. They only appeared in three games each, but it’ll be interesting to see what develops with them next year.
PITCHERS
The FCL Pirates used 31 pitchers in 55 games. A huge percentage of them were guys who’ve shown something to interest scouts, but who are struggling to find enough to advance. The team had a bunch of guys who got promising scouting reports but who just didn’t pitch well, at all. Some examples were Cristopher Cruz, Roelmy Garcia, Jose Garces and Andy Maldonado (who was released). There’s little to say about them except that the Pirates are giving them chances and so far it’s not working out.
The Top Guys
Jun-Seok Shim, RHP: A major signing for the Pirates out of South Korea, Shim was generally expected to spend much of his debut season at Bradenton. Instead, he left his second FCL outing with some sort of pectoral injury. The Pirates, with their usual candor, downplayed it as very minor, but Shim pitched only twice more. When he was on the mound, he showed the electrifying stuff hyped in the scouting reports.
Michael Kennedy, LHP: A 4th round, above-slot prep guy from 2022, Kennedy had a strong debut. He’s a finesse lefty who’s very advanced at this point, with a low-90s fastball, a slider and a change, all of which he commands well and moves around the zone. He occasionally had trouble when he was too fine, but even then he had just a 4.0 BB/9, which for this league was like no walks at all. Kennedy gave up just 25 hits in 42.1 IP and fanned 55, with an ERA of 2.13.
Some Other Starters
There isn’t a huge distinction between starter and reliever at this level, but the FCL team had a few guys who threw innings in bulk and were effective much of the time.
Isaias Uribe, LHP: Uribe is a finesse lefty with a good curve and change. He’s similar to Kennedy, except his command isn’t quite as good and he probably does have some projection. He didn’t miss many bats, but he walked only three per nine innings, which is a really low rate in this league. He finished with a 3.96 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. A lot will depend on whether Uribe ultimately gets his velocity up from its current low-90s.
Antwone Kelly, RHP: Kelly just turned 20 a few weeks ago and the Pirates have brought him along slowly. He was repeating the FCL this year, but made longer appearances. He supposedly threw in the mid-90s at one point, but he’s in the low-90s now. He relies heavily on a slider. He’s another example of how the ability to throw strikes at least occasionally is the big separator at this point; he had a 4.0 BB/9, which isn’t great but it was way better than the league average. Kelly also had a 10.7 K/9 and 2.95 ERA, and finished the season with a couple of good outings for Bradenton. Although he mostly pitched 3-4 inning stints this year, he’s probably a reliever long-term.
Hung-Leng Chang, RHP: A fairly prominent ($500,000) signing out of Taiwan, Chang throws a 91-93 mph fastball, along with a bunch of other pitches — a slider, curve, change and cutter, according to Statcast. He’s 6’3” and thin as a rail, so you have to think he could add velocity. The Pirates sent him back for a second season in the FCL and he mostly pitched in the rotation for half the season there, then moved up to Bradenton. Chang didn’t look as good in his first few FCL outings this year as he did last year, but then allowed just eight hits and two runs over his last 16 innings before moving up. He had a rough time at Bradenton, so he seems to be a work in progress.
Relievers
Kevison Hernandez, RHP: Hernandez is a tall, lanky guy who was already throwing 92 when the Pirates signed him in 2021. He’s in the mid-90s now and his fastball has a lot of movement. He walked just under a batter an inning this year, but the worst of it was in June. In July and August, he walked 12 in 19 innings — still bad but not disastrous — and he fanned 31. Opponents batted just .174 against him.
Joaquin Tejada, RHP: The Pirates acquired Tejada two years ago in the Tyler Anderson trade. This was his second year in the FCL; he just turned 20. Tejada pitched pretty well last year except for control problems. This year he had more control problems — 7.4 BB/9 — but allowed only 13 hits in 26.2 IP, while fanning 30.
Jackson Grounds, RHP: The Pirates signed Grounds out of Australia just over a year ago and made his debut this year. He was throwing in the low-90s then and throws much harder now. He missed the last couple weeks of this season with an unknown injury. Before that, he put up a 3.52 ERA, with 12 walks and 16 strikeouts in 15.1 IP. Grounds turned 19 in July.
The FCL team also got a lot of relief innings out of Eliecer Romero, Keneth Quintanilla and Gilberto Alcala, all right-handers. All three struck out over a batter an inning. Romero and Quintanilla had significant control problems. Alcala walked very few, but benefited from a very low BABIP.
2023 Draftees
Some of the Pirates’ 2023 draftees, all college guys, made brief debuts in the FCL. Carlson Reed (4th round) threw the most innings at seven and gave up two earned runs, although he also gave up five unearned runs. Magdiel Cotto (11), a lefty, threw three scoreless innings and then moved up to Bradenton. Tyler Kennedy (19) had a very bad time in five appearances as he could not find the plate. Garrett McMillan (14) made one appearance, retiring one batter and allowing two runs. And Paul Skenes threw a scoreless inning.
TOP TEN PROSPECTS
Jun-Seok Shim, RHP
Yordany De Los Santos, SS
Lonnie White, Jr., OF
Michael Kennedy, LHP
Jhonny Severino, IF
Estuar Suero, OF
Kevison Hernandez, RHP
Esmerlyn Valdez, 1B/OF
Miguel Sosa, C/OF
Isaias Uribe, LHP
BREAKOUT PROSPECT
Kevison Hernandez, RHP
That was a very long and thorough lists. Now I'm hungry.
Great stuff WTM!