Pirates' Spring NRIs -- Catchers and Infielders

Who might make it?

Abrahan Gutierrez Photo Credit: WTM

The Non-Roster Invites tend to break down into two categories. One is veteran players competing for major league jobs, whether those jobs could come straight out of spring training or later in the season. The other is prospects who mostly are getting some useful experience. Of course, there can be some overlap, as we’ll see when we get to pitching prospects. Possibly a third category would be catchers, because the team simply needs a bunch of them in training camp.

Probably in most years, at least one or two non-roster players make the team out of the spring. This year, though, the odds may be longer than usual. The 40-man roster has four catchers, a legion of utility players, and some relievers who could be on the bubble but don’t have any options left. Today’s look is at catchers and infielders, so this group has especially low odds.

Catchers

Abrahan Gutierrez: The Pirates acquired Gutierrez from the Phillies at the trade deadline in 2021. He has a good base of skills, including solid contact ability and receiving skills, and a roughly average arm. He hasn’t hit for the power scouts hoped to see. Gutierrez has made just gradual progress through the minors. He looked like a solid prospect at the class A levels, but AA has been a problem, partly due to injuries. In most of two years at the level, he’s played in only 77 games. He’s also managed only a .637 OPS. Gutierrez became a minor-league free agent after the 2024 season, but the Pirates signed him to a minor-league deal for 2025. He’s obviously not going to challenge Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis or Jason Delay for the backup catcher job.

Chance of making the team: None.

Omar Alfonzo: Excluding guys on the 40-man roster, Alfonzo is the Pirates’ best catching prospect. Between Bradenton and Greensboro, he showed moderate power with the potential for more if he gets the ball in the air more, as he puts up very good exit velocities. He’s generally hit for decent averages with good patience, although he’ll swing and miss some. His arm is good; he has a 31% caught-stealing rate in the minors. Like probably all the team’s catchers at the lower level, his receiving could improve. Alfonzo was passed over in the Rule 5 draft a couple of months ago, but catchers still in class A aren’t a sought-after commodity in Rule 5. He obviously won’t make the team, but it’s encouraging that they’re bringing him to spring training.

Chance of making the team: None.

Aaron McKeithan: The Pirates took McKeithan from St. Louis in the minor league phase of December’s Rule 5 draft. He’s a defensive-oriented catcher who’s been a backup in the Cards’ system. He’s generally hit for decent averages with good walk rates but has little power. He had a .681 OPS in AA in 2024 at age 24. His receiving is supposedly good, but he hasn’t done well with base stealers. McKeithan will probably more or less replace Dylan Shockley, an organizational catcher whom the Pirates lost in the same minor league Rule 5 draft.

Chance of making the team: None.

Infielders

Darick Hall: A big, left-handed hitting 1B-only player, Hall fits a common mold. He has good power but strikes out a lot and doesn’t hit for average. He got 198 plate appearances in the majors with the Phillies in 2022-23, showing some power, but he struggled to make contact or get on base. He hit 46 home runs in about a season and a half in AAA in 2022-23, but had only a .707 OPS there in 2024 and the Phillies outrighted him. He’s 29 and signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates for 2025. Spencer Horwitz is obviously a major roadblock for Hall.

Chances of making the team: None.

Malcom Nunez: Nunez was one of two Cuban players the Pirates acquired from St. Louis for Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton, the other being Johan Oviedo. Nunez has shown good contact skills but mostly hasn’t hit for the power he needs as a corner player. He seemed to be in the midst of a power breakout in AA when the Pirates acquired him, but that resulted almost entirely from his home park. He spent half the 2023 season at Indianapolis and managed just a .671 OPS, then spent all of 2024 there and was good for just .675. The Pirates have continued to try him much of the time at third base, but he needs to get in much better shape to play anywhere but first in the majors. Nunez has been passed over twice in the Rule 5 draft.

Chance of making the team: None.

Jack Brannigan: A two-way player in college with impressive stuff on the mound, Brannigan has been strictly a position player since the Pirates drafted him in round 3 in 2022. As a hitter, he’s shown good power, but it comes with a lot of swing-and-miss, and he may not hit for average. He finished fourth in the South Atlantic League with 18 home runs in 2024 despite missing nearly half the season with a left shoulder injury. In fact, between 2023 and 2024, he hit 30 home runs in 115 games with Greensboro, although the ballpark may have played a role. Brannigan runs well, and his defense is much less of a question than his bat. He’s split his time between short, where he probably projects as average, and third, where he probably projects as above average. He has more than enough arm for the left side. He’s another guy who obviously won’t make the team, but for whom the NRI is a good sign that the Pirates are optimistic about him. It’d help if he stayed healthy and made it to AAA in 2025, as he was 23 in high A in 2024.

Chance of making the team: None.

Konnor Griffin: The Pirates invited Termarr Johnson to major league spring training the season after he was drafted, and now they’ve done the same with Griffin, whom they took ninth overall in 2024. That’s something prior front offices didn’t do with prep draftees. Unlike Johnson at the same point, Griffin has yet to play in an official game, thanks to the change in the rookie league scheduling. Anyway, he probably won’t see much exhibition action before he heads to minor league camp, but it’ll be fun to see whatever chances he gets. It won’t be shocking if he’s a bit overmatched by the pitching, but he could be fun to watch just in the field, which could be at short or center. He has a very high ceiling defensively, and Baseball America rates him a 70 for speed.

Chance of making the team: None.

Termarr Johnson: This will be the third NRI for Johnson. Hopefully, he’ll get more than token playing time this year. Having made it to AA late in the 2024 season, it’s an opportunity for him to make an impression even though he’s not going to make the team. He’s spent the last couple years looking for the right balance between making contact and driving the ball. Finding that balance could get him to AAA reasonably quickly.

Chance of making the team: None.

Alika Williams: A familiar face, Williams was outrighted recently to clear space for Tim Mayza. A former 37th overall pick of the Rays, Williams got into 83 games with the Pirates between 2023 and 2024. One advantage he’s had with them has been that, much of the time, he’s been the only real shortstop they’ve had. Now, of course, the team has Isaiah Kiner-Falefa as the starter, and will probably have Liover Peguero and Tsung-Che Cheng at Indianapolis. Williams carries the reputation of being an excellent defender and weak hitter, but the evidence doesn’t entirely bear out either part. In the majors he’s been overmatched at bat, with a .529 OPS, and bad walk and K rates, but he’s only had 208 plate appearances. In AAA, he has a surprising 299/376/447 line in 87 games. As for the defense, the metrics all consider him average or below.

Chance of making the team: None.