Similar Theme With Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Making Debut In 2023

One thing sticks out immediately when taking a look at the prospect who have made their debut this year, is it a coincidence or something to be concerned about?

Photo Credit: Ryan Palencer

As a part of the next stage of their rebuild, the Pirates have seen several prospects not only make their debut, but attempt to carve out a full-time role on the major league roster.

It’s been a wave of some of the team’s top hitting prospects, including Endy Rodriguez and former first overall pick Henry Davis.

While they’ve certainly had their moments, there has also been plenty of struggles, which can be expected with rookies as they adjust to major league pitching.

There has been a noticeable trend when it comes to the performance of the rookies, and it’s something that has impacted nearly each one of them that have come up.

While it isn’t uncommon for rookies to have problems with breaking pitches when they come up, the collective issues they’ve had is something to monitor, especially if you can make an argument that it’s a trend.

Struggles Vs Breaking Pitches

A lot of times with prospects, the thing that will make or break them as a major league player, is the ability to hit breaking pitches. Most players will always hit fastballs better than they hit breaking balls, but they are going to have to do it at a consistent enough rate to keep opposing teams honest.

That just hasn’t been the case for the Pirates’ rookies this year, as collective they’ve gone 43-for-273 (according to Baseball Savant) against breaking pitches, good for just a .157 average.

Nick Gonzales’ struggles against breaking pitches has been well documented throughout his pro career, but players like Henry Davis, Liover Peguero and Jared Triolo were all putting up strong contact numbers this year int he minors.

Peguero’s stat line seems the most concerning, as his only three hits against breaking balls have all been home runs (3-for-24), literally an all or nothing approach - with it most being the latter.

Any Better Against Off-Speed?

The same group of Pirates rookies did fare a tad better against off-speed pitches, and it could be something they could work with. In 116 at-bats, they’ve collected 26 hits, with Ji-Hwan Bae (9-for-32), Endy Rodriguez (5-for-16) and Henry Davis (5-for-21) all leading the way.

Gonzales and Canaan Smith-Njigba have yet to pick up a hit in 20-combined at-bats, and Peguero against isn’t faring too much better, going just 2-for-12.

Sitting on The Fastball

As a unit, they’ve picked up 141 hits against fastballs in 512 at-bats (.275), with Bae at the top of the list with 39 hits. Jared Triolo has picked up 23 hits in 70 at-bats against fastballs, but is a combined 10-for-51 against every other pitch, and hasn’t hit for much power.

Alika Williams has actually trended the opposite direction, struggling against fastballs (8-for-43) but hitting well against the rest (6-for-18).

Room For Growth?

While it’s certainly worth noting that so many are struggling with the same thing, it isn’t uncommon for them to work through it, if it wasn’t something that they’ve dealt with before.

Someone like Nick Gonzales, who has a history not being able to adjust to minor league pitching, is likely to make the jump as opposed to Endy Rodriguez or Henry Davis, who had less of a hit tool concern.

Every player at some point goes through an adjustment period once they make the majors. The rest of the league eventually pushes them down, and it’s up to them to adjust and push back.

The ones who can will find a consistent job in the majors, while the rest will bounce around looking for work.

There will be an interesting debate that could be had if they all continue to struggle, especially if it’s for the same thing, which until then, they’ve shown there are certainly going to be growing pains, but have also shown flashes of good.

Vs Breaking Pitches (according to Baseball Savant)

Endy Rodriguez: 6-30

Liover Peguero: 3-24

Alika Williams: 5-15

Canaan Smith-Njigba: 1-14

Henry Davis: 10-59

Jared Triolo: 6-39

Nick Gonzales: 5-33

Ji-Hwan Bae: 7-59