Early Results From the Pirates Prospects
The top performers at the start of the 2025 season
This has been a good weekend in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league system.
Konnor Griffin, last year’s first round pick, hit his first professional home run on Friday for the Bradenton Marauders. Griffin also added a triple in the same game.
Nick Yorke returned from the injured list, and immediately hit his first homer of the year.
Anthony Solometo pitched five innings with one run allowed for Altoona on Saturday night. He allowed just one hit and one walk.
Termarr Johnson picked up two hits in the same game, and has an .819 OPS early in the Double-A season.
Saturday’s home runs included Omar Alfonzo (3rd homer of the year in Greensboro), Esmerlyn Valdez (2, Greensboro), Jase Bowen (1, Altoona), Jhonny Severino (1, Bradenton), and Malcom Nunez (2, Indianapolis).
Perhaps the best immediate sign was that Henry Davis picked up two doubles on Friday, giving him multiple hits for the third game in a row.
Joey Bart left Friday’s Pirates game against the Reds early with a back injury. They called up Davis on Saturday, adding a third catcher to the roster. This also adds the bat of Davis as he’s heating up.
My last article looked at the depth the Pirates have at the Triple-A level. Aside from Davis, the recently returned Yorke is the best available option.
Today, I’m looking beyond immediate Major League depth to see which Pirates prospects are standing out in the lower levels of the minors.
ALTOONA CURVE
One of the best early signs is that Termarr Johnson is hitting in Double-A. It’s very early, with a sample size of 25 at-bats, but Johnson has a .280/.379/.440 line with a double and a homer this year.
Jase Bowen is also hitting early in the season, going .273/.414/.455 with a double and a homer in 22 at-bats.
The pitching has stood out on this team, led by a pair of lefties.
Hunter Barco, the second round pick in 2022, has combined for eight shutout innings in two starts, along with a team-leading eight strikeouts.
Anthony Solometo, who was a second round pick in 2021, has allowed one run in ten innings, with a 7:4 K/BB.
The Curve are also seeing good early results from Wilber Dotel, a right-hander who can hit triple-digits and who has allowed one run in 8.2 innings.
GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
Stats at this level always need to be taken with a grain of salt, considering the hitting-friendly home park effects.
Omar Alfonzo leads the team with three homers and a 1.082 OPS. What’s encouraging is that two of those homers have come on the road, and Alfonzo has been hitting at home and on the road. He’s got the catching skills necessary to one day play behind the plate in the Majors, which makes his hitting a great story in the lower levels.
Maikol Escotto, Javier Rivas, and Esmerlyn Valdez each have two homers on the season.
Valdez was one of the more promising hitters in Bradenton last year, hitting 22 homers on the season.
Rivas is a tall shortstop who has power, but has struggled to hit. More encouraging than his two homers is his .345 average and .375 OBP early in the season.
Escotto has been at the High-A level since the second-half of the 2022 season. He’s hovered around a low .600 OPS each year, so the hot start at the plate is a positive sign.
The negative sign came this week, when Escotto punched an opponent who was on first base, leading to a suspension.
On the pitching side, the Grasshoppers have a few pitchers who are recording punchouts early in the season.
Antwone Kelly has allowed one run in seven innings, with 12 strikeouts. The 21-year-old right-hander from Aruba is one of the hardest throwers at the level.
Garrett McMillan, drafted in the 14th round in 2023, has allowed one run in 11 innings, with an 11:1 K/BB. McMillan had success last year at both levels of A-ball in relief, and has now moved to the starting rotation.
BRADENTON MARAUDERS
The start to Konnor Griffin’s career has been slow, but is starting to heat up with Friday’s big game. He also has four stolen bases in five attempts. Griffin is a toolsy player who can find success in many ways.
Braylon Bishop is off to a great start this year, going 5-for-16 with a homer and a 7:3 BB/K ratio.
2024 draft picks Will Taylor (outfielder, 5th round) and Derek Berg (catcher, 10th round) are both putting up an OPS over .900 in their start to the season.
Axiel Plaz hit for power at this level last year. He’s just hitting this year, going 11-for-28 to start the season.
Carlos Castillo is a standout on the pitching side. He has a 2.45 ERA in 7.1 innings across his first two starts, after pitching well in the Florida Complex League last year.
SUNDAY’S ACTION
The action in the minor leagues on Sunday is highlighted by top prospect Bubba Chandler on the mound in Indianapolis. Khristian Curtis is a hard-throwing sleeper who is starting for Greensboro.
At the Major League level, the Pirates will look to avoid a sweep against the Cincinnati Reds.
Until the next time I go live…
-Tim Williams
I've been working on an idea for a few years. I've yet to speak it out loud to anyone, and I refused to give any details to the other guys, which led them to start competing against me.
What's holding me back is the investment. I'm honestly tired of investing my own money, time, and energy into this market, only to deal with the type of chicanery that I've been calling out. And that's business, especially when you're number one. I just don't have the same incentive I once had to be the best in this industry.
Who am I spending the money for? The group of commenters who are under assignment to prop up my "competition"? Do I create the best local resource for a media that works hard to shadow ban me due to my refusal to take a lesser role beneath them? Why build up visibility for a game that would never give me the time of day, less I opt to be a sycophant follower and not a leader?
That's where I'm at right now. I don't even care about the game of baseball, outside of work habits. I know baseball better than most people in the game, but I also know this game needs to move closer to my level than my need to lower myself to the depths of their sinking ship.
So, for now I'm selling truth, and forcing the Pittsburgh media to match this bar I'm setting. Their choice is to reach for that higher bar, or watch me take over this market again.
Have not got to the park yet on account'a it's raining so much here in Toon-Town.
Probably not going to for a little bit yet because I'm heading down to D.C. tomorrow to protest the visit of the El Salvadorian president. So, if I get disappeared, someone out there needs to know they usually fly you to Louisiana before they put you in that crazy death camp in El Salvador.
So... you know.... If I'm not posting here tomorrow, it's because they didn't like my sign, I guess.
AND I don't wanna miss my mini-sunshine break at a down south beach either.... Anyhow, I really want to see Solo, Barco & Termo! but me-n-the Curve are taking some time off. If I make it back on a home week, you'll be able to find me out in the Rail Kings section with a hot sausage (or two) in my hand.
Until I return alive.....
________________________________
“Do you happen to know what the penalty is for shooting a fricasseeing rabbit without a fricasseeing rabbit license?”
-Wabbit