Wild, power arms to watch in the Pirates' lower levels
Dioris Martinez and Carlos Mateo have the power stuff, have struggled with control
In the lower levels, we see a lot more pitchers that are still working on their control. Most have the stuff, they are working on harnessing it.
The Pirates have a few players in the lower levels who have good stuff that gets lost behind their lack of control. Most are still young, so there is still time to turn things around, and if they do, they could become legitimate prospects.
Carlos Mateo
Looking back at the 2022 international signing class, Carlos Mateo received a higher bonus than the more well-known Jun-Seok Shim.
He’s struggled to throw strikes in the DSL, walking 30 batters (along with 18 wild pitches) in just 12 innings pitched.
His walk rate remained high when he pitched in the Complex in 2024, but there were slight improvements. He walked 35, hit another 10, and threw eight wild pitches against the 131 batters he faced.
None of that is excellent, but what still makes him worth monitoring is his fastball, which has hit triple-digits before while getting above-average induced vertical break to it (at times).
He’s flashed a change-up that he’s still working on turning over and throwing near the strike zone. When it’s near, he can get up to a 10-12 mph difference compared to the fastball and cut around 3-400 rpm worth of spin.
The breaking ball looks more like a slider but has two plane breaks that sometimes resemble two different pitches.
He pitched the entire 2024 season in the Complex at 18, so there’s still plenty of time for him to solve the control issues.
Dioris Martinez
One of the youngest players on the 2024 FCL squad, Dioris Martinez, didn’t turn 18 until after the season started. That also means he will be 18 on Minor League Opening Day 2025.
The stuff is there for Martinez, who has reached the upper 90s with the fastball, and when he’s near the zone, he is almost unhittable. Opponents hit just .156 against him in the FCL.
That was in just 14.1 innings, however, and the downside is that he walked more batters than he struck out (11:9).
The fastball is a high-spin pitch that averages in the mid-90s (it topped out at 97 mph from the games available). It also has an iVB of anywhere between 10” and 18”. He was able to catch the arm-side corner for a called strike with the slider on multiple occasions.
Like Mateo, a lot of Martinez’s value comes from his youth. They both have power fastballs that make them look like they are heading on a reliever’s path, but with some time to figure things out as a starter.
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Mateo is frustrating to watch. For a couple batters he’ll look fine, like he’s not just throwing but locating. Then the next couple pitches will go off into outer space and everything will become a struggle.
Nuke LaLoosh. I kinda feel bad for anyone that has to stand in the box against these wild power arms. I'd be bailing during the wind-up.