Pirates 2024 Minor League Recaps: Bradenton Part 1, Hitters
Despite some talent, Marauders have a rough season
The Bradenton Marauders had some difficult stretches in 2024 and finished with an overall record of 54-77. They started 4-17, then seemingly turned things around with a stretch that included an 11-game winning streak. But they won only 19 of their last 58 games.
To a large extent, the Marauders were a close reflection of the Pirates. They struggled to score runs, sometimes very badly. The starting pitching was good a lot of the time, but the bullpen got some extremely uneven performances.
The Bradenton offense resembled the Pirates’ very closely, with one exception: they led the ten-team Florida State League in home runs. They were 8th in runs, last in batting average and OBP, and first by a wide margin in strikeouts. The struggles with swing decisions were severe, just like on the major league team.
Here’s a rundown of the position players, with the pitchers coming next time.
Catchers
This was arguably the most promising position in Bradenton, thanks to Omar Alfonzo and Axiel Plaz. Garret Forrester also got a lot of time behind the plate early, but he got hurt and was traded. (He didn’t hit much after the trade, so it’s doubtful the Pirates will miss him.) Late in the year, the Pirates gave a lot of playing time to Justin Miknis, a 2023 16th-round pick, and to this year’s 10th-rounder, Derek Berg. Miknis appears to be an organizational player. Berg struggled severely, batting .122 with a 36% strikeout rate and no power in 55 plate appearances. (His one extra-base hit was an inside-the-park grand slam where the right fielder slipped on a routine single).
Alfonzo was probably the best position prospect on this team. Before an early August promotion to Greensboro (where his hitting improved), he put up a .253/.353/.388 line for an OPS that was 62 points above the league average. Unusually for this team, Alfonzo showed solid plate discipline, with a 13% walk rate and 26% strikeout rate. All of his numbers suffered from one puzzling 3-for-29, 20-strikeout stretch when for some reason he seemed to be chasing everything. Alfonzo’s receiving needs work, but his throwing is fine; he caught 27% of base stealers at Bradenton and 53% at Greensboro. He’s now eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
Plaz got a mid-May promotion from the FCL when Forrester got hurt and became one of the Florida State League’s better power hitters. He finished with 15 home runs, which was good for sixth in the league, even though he played only 76 games there. He had an all-or-nothing approach, though, that led to a low average and a lot of whiffs. He finished with a .207/.303/.438 line (the slugging pct. was nearly 100 points above league average) and a 29% K rate. He had a huge platoon split, as RHPs victimized him with breaking balls. Like Alfonzo, Plaz has a good arm but needs work on receiving. For some reason, though, the Pirates seem reluctant to commit to him catching, instead using him often at first or occasionally as DH. He caught only 41 games for Bradenton and has started just 72 games behind the plate in his career. Plaz only recently turned 19.
Infielders
It’s hard to characterize the Marauders’ infielders by position due to the Pirates’ insistence on playing everybody everywhere. It’s an especially strong tendency at Bradenton.
The everybody-is-a-UT-guy approach extends to first base, which the Pirates use to get plate appearances for players who are otherwise trying to catch or play the outfield. All of the catchers played there, especially Plaz and Alfonzo. The closest Bradenton had to actual first basemen were Esmerlyn Valdez and Eddy Rodriguez. The latter got off to a fast start but then slumped badly, batting .102 in June and then going down with a season-ending injury.
Valdez led the FSL with 22 home runs. The power picked up after the early season; Valdez was slugging just .371 with five homers at the end of May, but he slugged .526 with 17 the rest of the way. The power came with the usual warning signs for this team, as Valdez struck out in 31% of his plate appearances. Still, his OPS was 136 points better than the league average, and he was several months younger than the average hitter.
The rest of the infield changed a good bit during the season, but the constants most of the time were Javier Rivas and Keiner Delgado. Rivas is an often spectacular defender at short, but he struggles severely to make contact. That led to some wild ups and downs, as he hit .090 in April and then put up a 1.046 OPS in June. It all oddly averaged out to an OPS just 30 points below league average and a dozen home runs, good for ninth in the league. But it came with an ugly 16:118 BB:K ratio.
Delgado came in exchange for J.T. Brubaker and turned out to be very different from the scouting reports. Instead of a patient, contact-oriented hitter, he took a huge cut, swung and missed a good deal, and had a below-average OBP. His walk and K rates went from 15% and 13%, respectively, with the Yankees in 2023, to 9% and 22% with Bradenton. He did steal 25 bases in 31 tries. Delgado divided shortstop with Rivas, but may be better suited to second.
Initially, the rest of the infield time went mainly to Jesus Castillo and Jeral Toledo, with Toledo mainly playing second and Castillo playing everywhere. Castillo got hurt, though, after 25 games and Toledo around mid-season, with neither returning. Some scouts seem to like both players, but neither hit much.
Late in the season, the Pirates promoted Yordany De Los Santos and Jhonny Severino from the Florida Complex League. As he did in a longer stint at Bradenton in 2023, De Los Santos struggled, posting just a .564 OPS after a big showing in the FCL. He made progress in one area, cutting the strikeouts from half his at-bats in 2023 to a quarter in 2024. Severino got very different results in his first shot at the level, slugging an even .500. That came with the usual warning signs, though, as he had a 30% strikeout rate and just a 7% walk rate. Both players are still just 19. A third 19-year-old, second baseman Carlos Caro, got into seven games after an impressive season in the FCL.
The Marauders also got late-season appearances from two draftees: ninth-rounder Duce Gourson, who played mainly second, and 15th-rounder Ethan Lege, who played both corners. Gourson did well enough to move up to Greensboro after 11 games, while Lege didn’t hit much.
Outfielders
The Marauders’ outfield had a strong last-chance vibe. Nearly all the outfield time went to players on their second or even third try at the level. Two outfielders, Jack Herman and Jauri Custodio, were released early in the season. (Herman stayed on as a coach in the FCL.)
The most prominent outfielder was Shalin Polanco, who signed for an astronomical (by Pirate standards) $2.3M in 2021. He hit 11 home runs but continued to struggle with swing decisions, posting just a .623 OPS and striking out in 31% of his plate appearances.
Along with Valdez and Rodriguez seeing a lot of outfield time, the Pirates also went a good deal with Braylon Bishop, Solomon Maguire, Sergio Campana, and Enmanuel Terrero, all of whom have been well-regarded at one time or another. All three struggled to make contact, with K rates somewhere around 30%. Bishop probably did the best, posting a .663 OPS and stealing 17 bases in 19 tries. Campana did get promoted to fill a vacancy at Greensboro.
Two draft picks, fifth-rounder Will Taylor and 17th-rounder Andrew Patrick, joined the Marauders late in the season. Taylor took a lot of pitches, maybe too many, but managed an OPS almost exactly league average, with two home runs in 17 games. Patrick struggled to make contact with a 35% K rate.
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There are a few high quality prospects who will be a part of this group going from A to A+, but by no means will this be a group going to A+ as promotions. The group left at A which I hope includes 19 year olds Severino, YDLS, Caro, and Blanco, Valdez 20, and others, should push the group going to A+ to the curb sometime next year, and move ahead of them. Just too many flaws to think they will develop skills at a much more intense level of baseball.
🤢🤮