The Full Pirates Non-Roster Rundown

With spring training underway, who has a shot to crack the roster?

Thomas Harrington Photo Credit: WTM

About a month ago, I took a look at the players who might be in line to get non-roster invites from the Pirates. Now, spring training is underway; some of those guys got invites, some didn’t, and a bunch have been added since then. Let’s look at all the NRIs and see which might have a shot at making the roster on opening day or in the early going.

The Prospects

Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Jared Jones, Paul Skenes, and Sean Sullivan, RHPs; Anthony Solometo, LHP; Jack Brannigan and Termarr Johnson, IFs.

None of these guys has a shot at making the team or getting called up before mid-season, Skenes due to service time manipulation, and the others because they’re not ready. This front office has been more inclined to bring prospects to major league camp than the previous one.

They’ve tended to bring in top prospects, including Johnson last year at age 18. The intriguing guys, though, are Harrington, Sullivan, and Brannigan. They’re arguably not quite on a level with the others, and Harrington and Brannigan haven’t reached AA. So it’s encouraging that the Pirates thought it worthwhile to give them a look.

Catchers

Carter Bins, Abrahan Gutierrez

There’s always a need for lots of catchers in camp, and the Pirates will probably bring in guys from minor league camp who haven’t technically gotten NRIs. Bins and Gutierrez do have NRIs. They were trade acquisitions who looked like prospects at the time but haven’t quite made a mark in the upper minors. Bins also lost nearly all of 2023 to a meniscus injury. The two still could take a step forward, but the Pirates seem to have more interest in guys like Ali Sanchez.

Infielders

Sergio Alcantara. Alcantara is pretty much identical to Alika Williams. He’s a good defensive infielder, including at shortstop, but he’s not much of a hitter. He got into 192 major league games from 2020-22, with just a 72 OPS+. With Williams on the roster, it’s hard to see a role for Alcantara. It’s hard enough to see one for Williams.

Andres Alvarez. Alvarez drew some attention with a 20/20 season for Altoona in 2022, but he’s hit very little since May of that year. He runs well and plays solid defense all over the field, but he hasn’t played above AA yet.

Jake Lamb. In 2016-17, Lamb seemingly became a fixture at third for Arizona with strong seasons. After that, a series of shoulder injuries, including rotator cuff surgery, derailed his career. Since then, he’s gotten a long series of chances from teams hoping for a bounceback, none of which has worked out. Given the Pirates’ persistent failure to address the first base position, stranger things could happen, but not until well into the season.

Joe Perez. One of the more interesting NRIs in camp, Perez is a former second-round draft pick and is still only 24, and has missed a lot of time with injuries. He’s been a good, not great, hitter in the minors. He put up big numbers at Altoona late in the 2024 season, but he’d already had most of a season in AAA before that, so the numbers could be misleading. Still, any corner infielder in the Pirates’ system with a chance to hit is interesting at worst.

Outfielders

Gilberto Celestino. A speedy center fielder, Celestino didn’t hit much as a semi-regular with the Twins in 2022, putting up a .615 OPS. He quickly moved through the minors, largely skipping High-A and AA, and hit decently in AAA. He pretty much duplicates Ji Hwan Bae and, like Bae, may still have a little upside.

Matt Gorski. Considering the Pirates’ needs in center field, Gorski is something of a fantasy. He runs well, is a legit defender at the position, and has power. He just doesn’t make enough contact. At 25 now, it’s a stretch to think he will, but that’s what NRIs are all about.

Billy McKinney. McKinney was a highly regarded prospect, a corner outfielder with some power who just hasn’t hit enough. The perceived upside has gotten him opportunities in the majors every year since 2018, and he has had some stretches where he hit decently. The Pirates’ inability to develop outfielders and unwillingness to spend any money have kept creating opportunities for guys like McKinney, but he has Joshua Palacios and Edward Olivares ahead of him and on the 40-man roster.

Starting Pitchers

Chase Anderson. Ben Cherington doing almost nothing to address the huge hole in the Pirates’ rotation should open up opportunities for NRI starters. Anderson doesn’t seem like a good candidate. He had a solid run as a fifth starter with Arizona and Milwaukee from 2014-19, but he’s been consistently bad at the major league level since 2020 and not good in AAA either. He relies heavily on a very good change but his fastball is fringy at best. He’s also been injury-prone.

Wily Peralta. Like Anderson, Peralta also had a good stretch with the Brewers, in his case in 2013-16. Since then, he’s struggled to return to form. He’s always had low K rates and, in recent years, has sometimes struggled with his control. He had a bounceback season as a starter with Detroit in 2021. He then had a good ERA for them as a reliever in 2022, albeit with poor peripherals. He spent 2023 as a starter in AAA and had a very bad season.

Michael Plassmeyer. The only lefty among the NRI pitchers, Plassmeyer has only a few innings in the majors. He hasn’t pitched especially well in AA or AAA, either. He had a 5.05 ERA as a starter in AAA in 2023. He’s strictly a finesse guy and has had significant gopher ball problems in the upper minors.

Relievers

Ben Heller. Heller may have as much of a chance at making the team as any of the NRIs despite the crowded bullpen situation. He’s a classic case of a guy who performed very well all the way up through the minors, then had the injuries start when his chance came to get established in the majors. The injuries plagued him from 2018-22, but he was healthy in 2023 and pitched well in AAA. He got some time with the Braves and didn’t do as well. He’s a fastball/slider pitcher, also throwing a cutter and has been tough on right-handed hitters.

Brent Honeywell. A former second-round pick, Honeywell was a top prospect with the Rays until he blew out his elbow and had Tommy John in 2018. More elbow injuries followed, and he missed all of 2018-20, then most of 2022. He pitched for the Padres in relief in 2023 and had a decent ERA, but the pitch tracking data was bad. So he’s a complete lottery ticket.

Ryder Ryan. Ryan got drafted despite pitching exactly one inning in college. He didn’t reach AAA until his age-26 season. He’s a fastball/slider pitcher who puts up good K rates. He’s thrown just one inning in the majors but had good numbers in an extreme hitting environment in the Pacific Coast League in 2023.

Connor Sadzeck. Sadzeck is a big guy who used to throw in the upper 90s. Now he’s more in the mid-90s and throws a lot of sliders. He’s seen a lot of ups and downs and some injuries. He’s thrown 36 innings in the majors, mostly in 2018-19, and had a rough year in AAA in 2023.

Hunter Stratton. As we all know, Stratton has a history in the upper minors with the Pirates of missing tons of bats but also missing the plate an awful lot. Around mid-season 2023, he started throwing more strikes and eventually got a September callup. He pitched pretty well for the Pirates but got non-tendered anyway. He’s back on a minor-league deal and should have a shot.