Putting together a Spring Breakout roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates: Hitters

With the dates and times announced, what could the Pirates Spring Breakout roster look like?

Jan 18, 2025

The first Spring Breakout was a complete success, as it paired the top prospects from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles systems against each other.

Among the highlights, the (at the time) best hitting (Jackson Holliday) and pitching (Paul Skenes) prospects in all of baseball faced each other.

While we won’t get that same matchup this year, the Pirates will play the Phillies in Clearwater on March 14 at 1:00 pm ET.

The teams feature two of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball, Bubba Chandler and Andrew Painter, but there is a chance that neither play in the game.

Chandler should enter camp with a shot at winning a major league roster spot and could skip out on the Spring Breakout to focus on that. Jared Jones did the same thing last year before making the team in camp.

So, today, for fun, I put together a potential roster for the Pirates. I took two things into account when putting this together.

I left off any prospect on the 40-man roster to open things up and account for them potentially playing for a major league job. That kind of screws over Tsung-Che Cheng, but he was on the team last year, so it allowed me to look deeper into the organization.
I also left off any player who had a realistic shot at making the major league roster, even if they weren’t on the 40-man roster. In this case, I left off Chandler.

The roster would consist of two of each position, including DH, and then ten pitchers.

Catchers

Omar Alfonzo
Richard Ramirez

I wanted to try to include some new names here, but Omar Alfonzo is one of the better-hitting prospects in the system right now, so I have a hard time believing he won’t make the team again.

Richard Ramirez has some pop that could play well in a game like this and has an easy ‘70’ grade arm, so he could also put on a show if someone tries to steal on him.

He had a game where he ended three straight innings by throwing a runner out that was on base.

Infielders

1B- Nick Cimillo, Esmerlyn Valdez
2B - Termarr Johnson, Carlos Caro
3B - Jack Brannigan, Jhonny Severino
SS - Yordany De Los Santos, Wyatt Sanford

The biggest omission at first glance is Konnor Griffin, the team’s top-hitting prospect and first-round pick in 2024. To get some different names in here, I kicked him to the outfield, allowing Wyatt Sanford to slide in at shortstop.

If I’m being more realistic, I’d imagine Cheng or Kervin Pichardo get an infield spot. First base is interesting, as Esmerlyn Valdez led the Florida State League in home runs, and Nick Cimillo has flashed power while putting up good contact rates.

Termarr Johnson is an obvious pick. He’s paired with Carlos Caro, a first-team All-Star in the FCL last year. Jack Brannigan and Jhonny Severino have both flirted with 20/20 seasons recently. Severino did it as a teenager in the FCL and Bradenton.

Yordany De Los Santos has the speed that, if he gets on base, could go from first to third on steals alone. He’s also one of the smoothest defenders at shortstop.

Outfielders

Sammy Siani
Mitch Jebb
Konnor Griffin
Braylon Bishop
Lonnie White Jr.
Edward Florentino

As mentioned above, I slid Griffin from shortstop to the outfield to get Sanford on the team. He’ll be playing both in 2025, anyway. He was the team’s first-round pick in 2024 and has 30/30 potential. The type of skillset that thrives in these settings.

Sammy Siani started to put things together in 2024 and finished it in the Arizona Fall League. He could make his major league debut in 2025 and has a solid speed/defense combination.

Mitch Jebb was drafted as a shortstop but started to see time in center field at the end of 2024. That seems like a better fit for his skillset, as he told me in Greensboro last year. Braylon Bishop and Lonnie White Jr. are part of that 2021 class, and while they’ve struggled, they have the type of raw tools (speed/power) that showcase well in these types of games.

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An All-Star in the DSL last year, Edward Florentino will be 18 for the entire 2025 regular season. It’s not a guarantee he will move up Stateside this year, but it’s not unheard of for the Pirates to push a player they like in that way (Axiel Plaz).

This will be a good chance to showcase a super young talent in their system who is still new in their pro journey.

Designated Hitters

Tony Blanco Jr.
Axiel Plax

Few people in the minors can hit the ball as hard as Tony Blanco Jr. He played in the Breakout last year and ‘slapped’ a ball the other day that had an exit velocity of over 106 mph.

Plaz hit 15 home runs in 76 games in the Florida State League at 18 years old. His exit velocity numbers are well above average for someone his age. He’s a fine catcher, but we just want to see him swing the bat here.

For fun, here’s a lineup

3B - Jack Brannigan
2B - Termarr Johnson
CF - Konnor Griffin
DH - Tony Blanco Jr.
C - Omar Alfonzo
1B - Nick Cimillo
RF - Sammy Siani
LF - Lonnie White Jr.
SS - Yordany De Los Santos

Griffin was my first instinct to stick in the lead-off spot since the ‘70’ grade speed looks pretty legit, but Brannigan is fast in his own right and has experience batting here with Greensboro.

That outfield will be fun to watch defensively, as they are all capable of playing center. Yordany is a solid option with his speed to turn the lineup back to Brannigan. Griffin/Blanco, as a 3/4, has a crazy amount of raw power potential.

We will focus on the pitchers tomorrow, as this ran a little longer than I expected.

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