Pittsburgh Pirates 2023 minor league pitching leaders

Recapping the pitching performances in the Pirates system during the 2023 season

Photo Credit: WTM

The Pittsburgh Pirates have invested heavily in boosting their pitching depth in the m minors, and it shows. Whether it be first overall pick Paul Skenes, or a pair of 20-years-olds making it to Double-A by the end of the season, there is plenty of pitching to go around.

That holds true even more when looking through some of the end of season leaderboards, and after taking a look at the hitting side of things, here’s how the pitching finished the 2023 season.

xFIP

1. Joshua Loeschorn - 3.23

2. Braxton Ashcraft - 3.28

3. Ryan Harbin - 3.76

4. Travis MacGregor - 3.88

5. Anthony Solometo - 3.92

Braxton Ashcraft was our breakout player of the year, and it’s easy to see why. He combined swing and miss with elite control, and posted the second lowest xFIP in the system among pitchers with 50+ innings pitched.

The last pick for the Pirates in 2022, Joshua Loeschorn put in a very solid season out of the bullpen, pitching for both Bradenton and Greensboro. This won’t be the last time we see his name here.

Even though he hit somewhat a wall towards the end of the season, you can see how good a season Solometo, especially considering his age compared to where he played.

Strikeouts

1. Jared Jones - 146

2. Thomas Harrington - 146

3. Bubba Chandler - 128

4. Kyle Nicolas - 127

5. Po-Yu Chen - 124

If you needed a reminder at how dynamic Jared Jones has been since joining the Pirates, this is the second straight season he’s at very least shared the system lead for strikeouts, and has hit triple digits all three years.

Thomas Harrington looked like he was more of a pitch-to-contact type of pitcher in Bradenton, but once he got to Greensboro he really let loose and tied Jones’ mark of 146.

Even with a slow start Bubba Chandler was racking up the strikeouts, and he edges out Kyle Nicolas by one.

Strikeout Rate

1. Joshua Loeschorn - 32.6%

2. Julian Bosnic - 31%

3. Hunter Stratton - 30.6%

4. Braxton Ashcraft - 29.6%

5. Ryan Harbin - 29.2%

Again, maybe the most impressive thing that came with Ashcraft was his incredible control, something you don’t generally see for someone who is up there when it comes to strikeout rate.

Bosnic has one of those old school, big looping curveballs that he throws in the upper 60s-low 70s, pairing it with a fastball he throws in the 88-91 range.

Stratton has been among the leaders in the system over the last two seasons, which is a big part in why he’s made his major league debut this year as well.

You can make an argument that all of these pitchers are relievers, which is why I included the counting total of strikeouts.

Swinging Strike Rate

1. Hunter Stratton - 17.8%

2. Joshua Loeschorn - 15.1%

3. Jared Jones - 14.7%

4. Jack Carey - 14.5%

5. Julian Bosnic - 14.2%

Shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see a few names that put up a high strikeout rate also generate a lot of swing and miss. Again, the majority of the names are relievers, but seeing Jones in there is encouraging considering he was among the leaders when it comes to innings pitched.

This is the third category that Loeschorn has shown up on, and when we start talking about the best singular pitches, there’s a chance his slider at least gets a shoutout.