Pittsburgh Pirates 2025 Minor League Previews: Greensboro

The Hoppers will have a lot of prospects still trying to get established

Apr 02, 2025

Greensboro this year will lack the top prospects we’ll see at the two higher-level teams unless somebody unexpectedly gets assigned to the Hoppers. Instead, the roster will have many players who are still trying to take that step forward into undeniable prospect status.

Pitchers

So many of the Pirates’ lower level pitchers are still at the “guys with good arms” stage that, without rosters yet, it’s hard to be sure who’s likely to be at Greensboro and who may be at Bradenton. What follows are some (hopefully) educated guesses about who could be on the Hoppers’ staff.

The most prominent likely possibilities may be Khristian Curtis, J.P. Massey, and Garrett McMillan. Curtis probably has the best stuff of any possible member of the staff. He throws in the mid-90s some of the time and has a good slider. He had an up-and-down season for Bradenton in 2024 that was almost entirely related to his tendency to pitch very well for two innings and then struggle. Curtis has an extensive injury history that he may still need time to overcome fully.

McMillan pitched in relief for Bradenton much of last year and improved steadily. He then went to Greensboro and dominated there in seven games, including three starts. McMillan isn’t overpowering, but his command is good and he mixes four pitches effectively. The Pirates like Massey’s stuff, especially his slider and curve, but so far he hasn’t put things together consistently. He was a starter for Greensboro last year and didn’t have a good season.

Some other pitchers who could move up from Bradenton are Antwone Kelly, Carlos Castillo, and lefty Connor Wietgrefe. Of the three, Wietgrefe is the most certain to move up. A seventh-round pick last year out of the University of Minnesota, he was one of the few mound draftees who got meaningful playing time after signing. He threw ten very good innings for Bradenton, mostly in abbreviated starts. He seemed a likely candidate for the Hoppers’ rotation, but I saw him in one late-spring game at Pirate City, and he threw only one inning, so it’s hard to be sure what his role will be.

Kelly is a 5’10” righty who gets his fastball up to 97 mph and has a good change. The Pirates have managed his workload carefully, but went with him as a starter last year. He was very effective in May and June, then missed two months with an unknown injury. He returned at the end of the season. He’s still only 21, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him return to Bradenton for a bit.

Castillo is still only 19 and had a good season in the FCL last year. He got hit hard after a late promotion to Bradenton, but he pitched very well in spring training and seems at least a possibility to move up to Greensboro. He throws mainly in the low-90s but is young enough to have some projection. He has advanced command of four pitches. He mixes those well and moves the ball around the strike zone.

There’s a slew of relievers who spent varying amounts of time with the Hoppers last year and who are not opening the season with Altoona. It’s possible one or more could end up back in Bradenton, but in the end, there’s likely to be lots of movement back and forth in any event.

The most noteworthy reliever, probably by far, is Brandan Bidois. He’s put up very high K rates and his numbers are generally very good overall, except his ERA last year, which seemed to result from a lot of bad luck. He spent the season at Greensboro but missed a couple of months with an injury.

There are a couple of lefties: Julian Bosnic and Magdiel Cotto. Bosnic was with the Hoppers all last year, except for missing a couple of months with injury. He had a good ERA, but his other numbers were shaky. Cotto has pretty good velocity for a lefty. He pitched well for Bradenton last year, allowing only 28 hits in 48 innings. He got into seven innings for the Hoppers at the end of the year and had a rougher time.

One other lefty who’ll open with the Hoppers is Blake Townsend. I thought he’d be with Altoona. It’s been seven years since he first signed and he’s shown some ability, but has been hurt a lot.

Some righties who finished the 2024 season with Greensboro after spending time at Bradenton are Mike Walsh, Landon Tomkins, Ryan Harbin, and Carlos Jimenez. Walsh was drafted in the ninth round in 2022 but missed most of 2023 with an injury. He had very impressive numbers in two-thirds of a season with the Marauders, then saw his walk and K rates fall off badly after a promotion, although he kept his ERA down. Tomkins, a tenth-rounder from 2023, pitched mostly well for Bradenton but had a rough last six weeks at Greensboro.

Harbin and Jimenez are roughly similar, both being pitchers who miss a lot of bats but struggle to get the ball over the plate. Harbin was a prep draftee way back in 2019 but has been hurt a lot since then. He sits around 96 now with a cutter and slider. Harbin spent most of last year with the Hoppers and struck out a lot of hitters, but was undone by walks. Jimenez was a starter until early in 2024. He has good velocity and a very good change, but was limited by control problems and injuries. He started to make a lot of progress in relief with the Marauders and got into three late-season games with the Hoppers. Whether he could go back to starting remains to be seen, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Jaycob Deese finished 2024 at Altoona after spending most of it with the Hoppers. A 2022 draftee, he got hit hard at both locations. Jack Carey opened 2024 with Greensboro but spent most of the season with Altoona. His ERA there was OK, but his other numbers weren’t very good, and he’s not returning to the Curve.

Several new guys who apparently will be with Greensboro in 2025 are Jarod Bayless, Franck De La Rosa, and Yulian Quintana. Bayless came via free agency, De La Rosa through the minor league Rule 5 draft, and Quintana from Cuba. Bayless is a sidearm/three-quarters thrower who’s had big platoon splits. He was in AA last year, but didn’t do well there. De La Rosa is 6’8” and throws in the mid-90s or a little higher. He misses a lot of bats but struggles to throw strikes. Quintana last pitched in Cuba in their 2022-23 season. He’s reached 97 mph, and his out pitch is a slider. He’ll be something of a mystery until we see him pitch somewhere. Greensboro is just a guess at this point.

A variety of pitchers could move up from Bradenton, depending on whether they impressed the Pirates in spring training. The most prominent would be Hung-Leng Chang, who was a fairly prominent signing out of Taiwan. He’s spent a year and a half with the Marauders, mainly as a starter, but a too-hittable fastball has prevented him from having much success despite good command. Another possibility is reliever Greiber Mendez. He’s had success so far with a good change and a fastball that has a lot of run.

Lefty Connor Oliver came in a trade for Colin Selby. He’s a finesse guy who worked as a swing man in 2024 and led Bradenton in innings. He wasn’t very effective until a good month in August. Another lefty, Inmer Lobo, came in exchange for Hoy Park. He throws in the mid-80s, but actually had good numbers pitching in long relief for the Marauders.

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Catchers

Omar Alfonzo could be the best prospect opening the season with Greensboro. He still needs some work defensively, but he has a strong arm and puts up excellent exit velocities. He also generally has solid plate discipline, unlike most of the team’s hitting prospects. The main thing missing from his offense so far has been getting the ball in the air more often. He did hit five home runs in 24 games at the end of the 2024 season with Greensboro, although all of them came at home.

The rest of the catching situation at Greensboro could be pretty crowded, even if Axiel Plaz doesn’t move up from Bradenton. Plaz, who’s still only 19, hit for a lot of power for Bradenton in 2024, with 15 home runs in a little over half a season. He had significant contact issues, though, and there’s also a position question. Although he still seems ostensibly to be a catcher, the Pirates haven’t played him behind the plate a great deal, partly due to injuries. This spring, he was playing third some, so the question of where he’ll play applies both to the team and the position.

The other interesting catcher who’ll open with the Hoppers is Shawn Ross. He signed out of independent ball and moved from the infield to catcher during 2023, then caught most of the time in 2024. He’s been surprisingly good defensively, with a strong arm. He’s also the most extreme three-true-outcomes hitter in the system. He led the South Atlantic League with 23 home runs and also in ISO, but he batted .193 with a 35% K rate and 15% walk rate. He’ll return to Greensboro for a third season at age 25 and could see some time in the infield.

The Pirates always have a lot of defense-oriented catchers in the low minors, many of them college draftees, and several could see time with the Hoppers in 2025. Justin Miknis was a late-round pick in 2023 and has hit very little so far. Geovanny Planchart spent most of last year backing up Ross. He’s patient at the plate but hasn’t hit much. Derek Berg was the team’s 10th-round pick in 2024, out of West Point. He saw some time with Bradenton late in the year and went just 6-for-49 at the plate, with 20 strikeouts. He was catching a lot in games with higher-level pitchers this spring.

Infielders

Things really start to get iffy here. Most of Greensboro’s principal infielders from last year — Termarr Johnson, Jack Brannigan, and Mitch Jebb — will be with Altoona, but arguably none of the position players at Bradenton last year, except Alfonzo, unequivocally earned a promotion. But somebody has to play the infield for the Hoppers.

Four infielders who finished the 2024 season in Greensboro will be back: Duce Gourley, Javier Rivas, Kalae Harrison, and Maikol Escotto. The latter two figure to be in utility roles. Harrison was an 18th-round pick out of NC State in 2023 and hasn’t hit much so far. Escotto was supposedly the most promising player the Pirates received in return for Jameson Taillon, but he just hasn’t been able to get the bat going. He’s already struggled through two virtually identical seasons with the Hoppers.

Gourson and Rivas appeared briefly with the Hoppers late in 2024. Gourson was last year’s 9th round pick out of UCLA, as a bat-oriented infielder. He hit decently in a brief time with the Marauders after signing and not much in another brief stint with the Hoppers. Rivas has been one of the more frustrating players in the system for several years. He’s a remarkably graceful 6’6”, capable of frequent highlight-reel defensive plays at short. He also has some power, but he’s been undone by very poor swing decisions. Even then, he’s had stretches in which he’s hit well, even extremely well. The defense makes it awfully hard to give up on him.

A bunch of infielders could potentially move up from Bradenton, or not. The likeliest, and the most promising, is Jhonny Severino. He has significant power potential and, naturally, contact issues. He led the FCL in 2024 with ten home runs and had a .918 OPS. He hit six more home runs in 28 games with the Marauders, but the contact issues showed up, exhibited in his 237/285/500 slash line. Severino has been splitting his time between short and third, but really needs to stick with the latter.

Other infielders from Bradenton last year who could move up are Yordany De Los Santos, Jesus Castillo, Jeral Toledo, Keiner Delgado, and Eddy Rodriguez. Easily the most promising is De Los Santos, who signed for one of the biggest bonuses the Pirates have given out on the international front. He’s dominated the FCL in two seasons now, but in both years was overmatched after a promotion to Bradenton due to difficulties with breaking and offspeed stuff. Scouts are split on whether he should stay at short, but he’s always looked good there to me.

Delgado was the return for J.T. Brubaker. He had a disappointing season with the Marauders, putting up a .666 OPS and showing little of the strong plate discipline he’d had in rookie ball with the Yankees. He played well defensively at second and short.

Scouts seem to like both Castillo and Toledo. Castillo plays solid defense all over the infield and will draw walks, but he has no power at all. He didn’t hit much for Bradenton in 2023 and then was hurt nearly all of 2024. Toledo is good defensively, although he needs to stay at second. He didn’t hit much in 2024. Rodriguez is primarily a first baseman. He hit well early last year for the Marauders, but then slumped and ended up missing about half the season.

Depending on how he looked in spring training, it’s possible the Pirates could move Ethan Lege up to Greensboro. He’s a corner infielder who was drafted last year in the 15th round out of UMiss. He got into 15 games with Bradenton and didn’t hit much.

Outfielders

The returning outfielders for Greensboro will be Lonnie White, Jr., and P.J. Hilson. White is very familiar at this point. An above-slot prep signing in 2021, he initially had a lot of trouble staying on the field, then had a great deal of trouble making contact with the Hoppers in 2024. He has significant power and is a plus defender in center, but he’s done more than his share to make the phrase “hit tool” give Pirate fans nightmares.

Hilson was a minor league Rule 5 pick for 2024 who’s now re-signed for 2025. He’s a speedy outfielder who surprisingly hit 13 home runs in 85 games for the Hoppers last year, although most of them came at home.

Esmerlyn Valdez should be moving up from Bradenton, although he could, probably should, play more at first than in the outfield. He led the Florida State League last year with 22 home runs, although the power came with — surprise! — contact issues. He did walk a lot. Valdez is 21, which is a pretty good age for the SAL.

Last year’s fifth-round pick, Will Taylor, will be with the Hoppers. He hit passably late in the season for Bradenton. He’s a patient hitter and seems to have some power. He also still runs well, although not as well as he reportedly did before a knee injury ended his football career.

The Hoppers also could have Shalin Polanco and Andrew Patrick, at least judging by the games they were playing in during spring training. Polanco was a prominent international signing and showed some promise with Bradenton in 2023, including good power, but returned there in 2024 and took a big step backward due to poor swing decisions. Patrick was a 17th-round pick out of Wright State last year. He had a big power year as a junior in 2023, but was hampered by a broken thumb last year. He runs well and appears to be a legitimate center fielder.

Other possibilities are Braylon Bishop and Enmanuel Terrero. Bishop was an above-slot prep signing from the same draft as White, but he just hasn’t hit. He runs well and is a plus center fielder. Terrero had a solid season for Bradenton in 2023, but missed most of 2024 and didn’t hit when he played, again for the Marauders. He can play all three outfield positions.

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