Where's the hitting coming from in the Pirates' system?
Where's the hitting coming from in the Pirates' system?
It's been a rough start to the season for a lot of the Pirates minor league hitters, but who have been some of the stand outs so far?
It’s hard to argue that there is an organization with a better group of pitching prospects than the Pittsburgh Pirates.
They not only have the best pitching prospect in the game, but they also have another top 100 prospect among the major league leaders in strikeouts.
They also have three other prospects who have appeared on a top 100 list somewhere, with a few more getting recognition as a possibility down the road.
That being said, it has been tough sledding on the hitting side of things. The Pirates had some of their bigger hitting prospects graduate over the past two years (2022, 2023) - Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Oneil Cruz among them - which has left a little bit of a hole within the organization.
In addition, some of the more prominent names on the hitting side of things have struggled, including Termarr Johnson.
Looking through the four affiliates so far, there haven’t been too many standouts regarding hitters, but here is one at each level who has at least had somewhat of a solid start to the season.
Nick Gonzales, Triple-A Indianapolis
Few hitters in the minors are off to as good a start as Gonzales for Indianapolis.
Gonzales is second in the International League in batting average and is among the leaders in hits (T1st), doubles (1st), total bases (6th), and extra-base hits (T2nd).
He’s cut down the strikeouts, with a 17.3% clip currently, and the issues against spin have improved.
Breaking pitches has been his kryptonite so far in his career, as he had a near 50% whiff rate against them in the majors last year. We haven’t seen how he could do against major-league spin, but he has hit .296 with a 31.6% whiff rate against Triple-A breaking pitches so far, a big step forward for him.
Off-speed has still been an issue, but there has also been a smaller sample size seen so far.
Abrahan Gutierrez, Double-A Altoona
Known more for his defensive ability, Gutierrez has always been a solid hitter, albeit without much power.
He’s been the best hitter on the Altoona squad this season, leading the team in total bases and hits while off to another great start when it comes to making contact, posting an 8.7% swinging strike rate.
In 11 games this year, Gutierrez has slashed .364/.391/.455 with four doubles and seven RBI. His 16 hits are six more than the next Curve hitter.
If there is any critique of his game so far, it’s that his walk rate has plummeted. He’s consistently been someone who walks at 10% or better but has just one in 46 plate appearances.
Jack Brannigan, High-A Greensboro
The easy would be Lonnie White Jr., who is hitting for an insane amount of power right now and someone I featured on Saturday for that very reason.
Instead, it’s worth mentioning the strides that Brannigan made in the early parts of the 2024 season. It was a rough stretch in the Arizona Fall League, as Brannigan struggled with swing-and-miss issues, something he also had in Greensboro in 2023.
That’s been far from the case for him this year, as he is currently making some of the best contact in the system. Slashing .263/.440/.395, mainly as the Grasshopper lead-off hitter, Brannigan has scored 11 runs while stealing a pair of bases and collecting three extra-base hits.
The power hasn’t quite gotten there yet, but he has walked more than he has struck out and is among the leaders in the South Atlantic League in strikeout rate (6th lowest among qualified hitters) and walk rate (10th).
With his speed, which was graded as double-plus at one point, Brannigan is starting to morph into a legit-looking lead-off hitter.
Esmerlyn Valdez, Low-A Bradenton
There hasn’t been too much to talk about when it comes to Bradenton, as they have just two wins in the first 14 games played.
Bradenton has quite a few players repeating from last year, and while Esmerlyn Valdez was technically one of them - it was just a 12-game cameo at the end of the season.
The 20-year-old has been one of the few bright spots in the Marauders’ lineup so far, leading the team in hits, average, and total bases. In fact, he ranks in the top 20 among qualified Florida State League hitters in hits and total bases.
He’s one of five Bradenton hitters to hit a home run this year and has picked up a pair of doubles. When looking at the system in general, he’s in the top 10 among all Pirates minor leaguers regarding wRC+.
Valdez has some swing-and-miss concerns, and combined with his low exit velocity numbers, there is a chance these numbers don’t last, but he has shown a penchant for barreling up the baseball, so if the power does start to show, he could take off.
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Send Cruz and Davis back down to learn how to play baseball. Promote Grandal and Gonzalez. Make Williams the shortstop, Grandal the catcher, with Gonzalez at 2nd. Triolo becomes the utility infielder.
those are uhh...not very inspiring options there