I was alone on an island when I ranked Reinold Navarro as my fifth-best prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system.
MLB Pipeline had Navarro ranked 21st. Baseball America had him 12th overall. FanGraphs had him 20th overall.
Yet, when you look at Navarro’s stuff, the only pitcher who ranks better across the board is consensus top prospect Seth Hernandez.
The results from Navarro as a 19-year-old in Low-A were phenomenal, matching pace with Hernandez. It’s easy to make the argument that Navarro is the second best pitching prospect in the system, and not far behind Hernandez in value. He’s also one of the best overall in the system.
I have a feeling more people will be waking up to Navarro by the end of the year.
Pittsburgh Pirates Top 30 Prospects v1.0
Reinold Navarro was the fifth best prospect in my top 30 prospect list.
After being promoted to High-A Greensboro this week, Navarro made his debut on Friday night. He allowed one run in five innings of work, with one hit, one walk, and eight strikeouts.
The most encouraging thing from that start was the lone walk. Navarro’s biggest problem in the lower levels was control. He had a 20.1% walk rate this season in Bradenton, and has a career 21% rate in the minors.
I don’t want to make too much of a single start, especially when walks are concerned. I do think Navarro’s stuff is good enough that he could sit in the zone more often and avoid getting hit. Even in the higher levels. He was only in the zone 42.5% of the time in Bradenton, despite having one of the highest whiff rates across the board.
Navarro should get a few more starts in Greensboro with less than a month remaining in the season. They’re in a playoff race, so these starts carry more weight than his time in Bradenton. His first start went exceptionally well.
Sanford Stays Hot
Wyatt Sanford has picked up where he left off before his injury in early June.
The 20-year-old shortstop prospect was having a bit of a breakout season this year. He hit ten home runs in High-A, which doubled his season total from his rookie year in 2025. Sanford went on the injured list for two months, eventually returning to Greensboro earlier this month, after hitting two homers in Bradenton during his rehab work.
Over his last ten games in Greensboro, Sanford is batting .289/.429/.579 with three home runs and two doubles. He hit the third homer since his return on Friday night, while adding a double in a three-hit game.
During his time on the injured list, another Greensboro shortstop stole the spotlight.
Sammy Stafura had a breakout during June and July, and was eventually traded to the New York Mets for Luke Weaver. You could make the argument that the Pirates kept the better shortstop prospect in Sanford.
Prior to the trade, I had Stafura ranked a few spots lower than Sanford in my preliminary top 30. They were in the same talent tier, and my rankings were still fluid at that point, but Sanford was a bit closer to the bottom of Tier 2 and Stafura was a bit closer to the top of Tier 4.
One difference was age, with Sanford a year younger than Stafura. I also think Sanford is a bit more well-rounded than Stafura. He doesn’t have as much raw power as Stafura, but Sanford walks more, has more speed, and plays a better shortstop from my limited views. And, as shown since his return, he does have some pop in his bat.
After the deadline, there’s still a top shortstop prospect to follow in Greensboro. And the Pirates also have Weaver in Pittsburgh through next season at a discounted price.
Jones Has Nothing to Prove
When I expanded my top 30 prospects to a top 50 rundown, I had Jared Jones 32nd overall in the system. He’s in Tier 6, which means you could justify his ranking up to 27th overall.
What holds Jones back in my rankings is that the 23-year-old, drafted out of college in the ninth round last year, has yet to face a significant test of Double-A pitching.
Expanding the Pirates Prospects Rankings and Reports to the Top 50
Jared Jones was the 32nd best prospect in my expanded rankings, released this week.
Jones is doing well in Greensboro this year. Even with missing a little over a month with an injury, he’s hitting .307/.408/.516 with 17 home runs. The most recent home run came on Friday night as a mammoth shot. It was part of his second multi-hit game in a row.
There are things that Jones could be working on. His strikeout rate of 29.9% is high. His walk rate and ability to hit for average have slumped the last few weeks. I don’t think he’s going to get healthy development work at the current level, which is more akin to the best pitching he would have faced at LSU.
I also don’t think Jones will move up this year. Greensboro is in a playoff race, while Altoona’s season is winding down with Altoona in last place. The development experience of a playoff run is more valuable than less than a month of plate appearances in Double-A.
Jones will be a guy to watch in Altoona next season. His first pro season has gone well in Greensboro, and next year will allow him the chance to show how much of his power can carry to the upper-levels, and how much of a concern the strikeouts will be against advanced pitchers.
Plays of the Day
You can check out the home runs from Sanford and Jones in Friday’s Plays of the Day video. You can also get this video daily, along with live updates throughout the system, at Pirates Prospects.
Early Draft Results
There were four top ten picks from the 2026 draft who stood out the last two days.
Ninth rounder Tre Phelps was the system’s Player of the Day on Friday, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Phelps has played in ten games, hitting .133/.400/.233 with a homer and three steals. The third baseman stood out for his power potential, and in his very limited sample he has an 88.9 MPH exit velocity, which is one of the better results on the team.
Second rounder Chris Rembert had a big night on the bases on Thursday night. The 51st overall pick went 2-for-4 and stole three bases, while also hitting his third double of his young career. Rembert has had a good debut, batting .314/.442/.400 with five stolen bases in his first nine games. The second baseman has reached base safely in all but one of those games.
Seventh rounder Bryson Moore made his debut on the mound on Friday night. The right-hander allowed one run in two innings, while striking out four and walking one. In his limited pitch data, he sat 93.2 MPH with his four-seam, topping out at 94.7. He had a 33.3% whiff rate across 16 fastballs. He threw five pitches in total, but didn’t throw any other offering more than four times. He picked up whiffs with his changeup and curveball.
Eighth rounder Alex Overbay made his pitching debut on Thursday night. His outing was a bit more rough, with two runs allowed in 1.2 innings, due to control problems that led to four walks. This was the report on Overbay, who is raw on the mound, but has an electric arm from his limited pitching experience. His fastball sat 92.9 MPH and had a 30% whiff rate across 29 pitches. He topped out at 94.2 MPH, which is below the upper-90s max he showed in college this year. He was in the zone 57.4%, but didn’t get many chase swings, leading to his control issues. One silver lining is he didn’t give up a hit, and struck out two.
Minor Moves
The Pirates made a few transactions this week, with some injury updates, a few exits from the system, and a new player added.
Injury Updates
Carlos Mateo was placed on the 60-day IL, after being out since the end of July. Mateo was one of my favorite sleepers in the lower levels this year. He has a fastball that sits triple-digits and touches above 102 MPH, while generating high whiff rates with the fastball and his slider. His issue was control, but he started throwing in the zone more often after being promoted to Bradenton, and his velocity and whiff rates actually improved with the better control. No word on the injury, but if he’s healthy, Mateo will be a guy to watch in A-ball next season.
Robert Hassell III was placed on the injured list in Indianapolis. The 2020 eighth overall pick was acquired by the Pirates for cash from the Nationals in early July, after being outrighted off the 40-man. Any team could have had him for a waiver claim. The Pirates took a chance after he no longer required a 40-man spot. He played three games in Bradenton and five in Altoona, but didn’t get a chance to return to Triple-A before his injury.
Jhostynxon Garcia was also placed on the Triple-A injured list this week. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on Wednesday, and was placed on the IL on Thursday. This is the second trip to the IL for Garcia this season. It also cuts into the Pirates’ depth down the stretch, as he had 50 plate appearances at the big league level this season filling in for injuries.
Andrew Moore was acquired by the Pirates in a minor trade at the deadline. Moore is a hard thrower with extreme control issues. The fastball sits 97.4, but his walk rate in Triple-A is 24.4% across his career. Moore played two games with Altoona after the trade, with three strikeouts in two shutout innings. He was placed on the IL retroactive 8/19, which was one day after his last outing.
Michael Gibson, drafted in the tenth round, went on Bradenton’s injured list before playing a game. A college senior who is fairly new to pitching, Gibson had a few health concerns in college, including a heart problem in 2024. He began pitching in 2025, and went 53 innings in 2026, showing some potential with 73 strikeouts and a fastball that got up to 94 MPH. He was a two-way player, but was drafted as a pitcher.
New Players
The Pirates acquired Christian Bethancourt for cash from the Yankees in a minor trade this week. The 34-year-old catcher, who played in the Pirates’ system during the 2021 season, was added for emergency depth. He was then placed on the taxi squad for the west coast trip, with injury concerns surrounding Henry Davis.
The Pirates signed undrafted free agent Owen Prince on Friday. The 22-year-old outfielder from the Virginia Military Institute hit .307/.444/.371 this past season, while stealing 29 bases. He then went to the MLB Draft League, hitting .282/.464/.336 with 24 steals in 37 games. He appears to have good plate patience, contact ability, and speed, but has little power, with just four homers in his four-year college career. His speed stands out the most, with 103 steals in 184 games during his college career, and 102 steals in 173 games across four years of summer ball.
Exiting the System
Outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez was claimed off waivers by the Athletics. Rodriguez was designated for assignment when Oneil Cruz returned from the 60-day IL, after hitting well for Triple-A in his brief time with the Pirates as a deeper depth option.
The Pirates released several players from the DSL at the end of the season: RHP Alejandro Rondon, RHP Rubens Romero, OF Limanol Payero, LHP Dariel Miguel, and RHP Fernando Figuera. None of them were big bonus players, and most of this group either struggled in 2026, or barely played, with some not even playing at all. I’ll have my DSL season recap in the upcoming week.
Until my DSL prospects to watch goes live…
-Tim Williams