Pittsburgh Pirates First Half Minor League Statcast Leaders
With the 2026 minor league season at the half way mark, here's a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league Statcast leaders.
The 2026 minor league season hit the half way mark this past week.
Greensboro just missed clinching the first half division title, falling short by a game. None of the other full-season affiliates were close.
After some updates to the Statcast database on Pirates Prospects last week, I wanted to use the half-season mark to get an update on the Statcast leaders throughout the system.
You can find the sortable Statcast data at the bottom of the Stats page on PiratesProspects.com. There is no data available for Double-A Altoona or High-A Greensboro, which means the system is split when it comes to these advanced metrics.
Players give their first impressions in the FCL and Low-A Bradenton. Then, those who have reached Triple-A show how they’ve developed during the climb to the top level of the minor league system.
Below, I broke down each Statcast level with the standouts in Power, Swing Decisions, Contact, and Pitching Whiffs. I’ll have additional statistical breakdowns of the system this week. This felt like a great place to start.
AAA: Indianapolis Indians
The Triple-A level includes a lot of minor league veterans who provide the MLB team with depth candidates. I tried to limit this list to players who were more along the lines of true prospects, aiming my focus at those who were 25 and under. Despite that filtering, all four players highlighted below genuinely stood out at the level, even above the veterans in most cases.
Power: Esmerlyn Valdez, OF
Valdez is currently with the big league club, and for good reason. He hit .255/.388/.526 across 237 plate appearances in Triple-A. That included 13 home runs.
He recorded the highest average exit velocity at 90.4 MPH. His max exit velocity of 114 MPH was second only to Endy Rodriguez. A 46.8% hard hit rate led the team, as did his 14.9% barrel rate.
In his short time at the Major League level, Valdez has maintained his power. Across 29 plate appearances, his average exit velocity is 92 MPH, with a max of 110.7. He also has a 57.1% hard hit rate and a 28.6% barrel rate.
The Pirates haven’t had great results on the international development side. Valdez, signed in 2021, could either be the rare exception, or the start of an improved development pipeline.
Swing Decisions: Nick Cimillo, 1B/DH
Across 182 plate appearances, Cimillo has a 21.9% chase rate, which ranks first on the team among all players with 100+ plate appearances. What stands out the most is his selectivity.
Valdez, for example, has a 24.1% chase rate, which is good. However, Valdez also has a 60.5% swing rate in the zone, showing an overall selective approach. By comparison, Cimillo’s swing rate in the zone is 68.9%, which is top five on the team.
Cimillo has struggled with contact. His 63.6% overall rate ranks last on the team among qualified players, and is hurt by a 41.9% rate on chase swings. The fact that he lays off those at a higher rate than most is a good sign.
There’s power to Cimillo’s game, which has been dormant most of this season. Last week saw his bat start to wake up with two home runs. Despite the reduced power by his normal standards, he has a .341 OBP this season, fueled by a 15.9% walk rate. If he adds the power more consistently, he could emerge as a three-outcomes option.
Contact: Ronny Simon, 2B
The Pirates signed Simon as a minor league free agent over the offseason, adding depth to their middle infield. The 25-year-old second baseman sits at the top of the contact leaderboards, which has led to a .303 average and a 17.9% strikeout rate.
Simon makes contact 78% of the time. Inside the zone, he makes contact 85.2% of the time. He makes contact on chase swings 63.1%, while only chasing 26.8% of the time.
He sits about middle of the pack in terms of swing rate, so he’s got some selectivity to his swing decisions. There’s also some pop in his bat, with a 90.4 MPH average exit velocity and a 44.7% hard hit rate.
With Brandon Lowe on the MLB roster, the Pirates don’t need a second base option. Simon could be useful as a depth option throughout the year, filling in off the bench with the potential for contact, some pop, and the base running that has led to 16 stolen bases this year.
Pitching Whiffs: Khristian Curtis, RHP
He only has two starts at the Triple-A level, but I want to use this section to highlight Curtis, as it has been two years since his last Statcast data. He’s got a 34.5% whiff rate through those first two outings, which leads all Indianapolis starters.
Two years ago, Curtis was pitching in Bradenton, where he had a 30.6% whiff rate. It’s still early, so his current swing and miss levels in Triple-A could drop down a bit to the Low-A results. There’s also reason to believe in the small sample evidence of improvement.
For one, Curtis saw his strikeout rate rise in Altoona this season. He was in the 25% range in both levels of A-ball, before taking a jump to 29.1% this year in Double-A. Normally, players don’t get better when they move up to the harder level, unless something has changed. Curtis has maintained a 30.2% strikeout rate in his small sample at Triple-A. He’s also seeing less contact this season in the zone, which shows he’s winning when challenging hitters.
Curtis might be a sleeper as the second best pitching prospect in the organization. He’s definitely a sleeper to help the MLB bullpen at some point this season if he maintains his success at Triple-A.
A: Bradenton Marauders
The Florida State League is the first full-season stop for younger prospects. It’s also a very pitching friendly league, especially in the summer time. The Statcast metrics can be valuable here, as they give the first look behind the pitching-friendly stats at the underlying metrics, within a league that is comparable to college ball.
Power: Edward Florentino, OF
Florentino stood out the last time I looked at the minor league metrics, and nothing has really changed. He’s been in High-A Greensboro for most of this season, only getting 41 plate appearances with Bradenton.
His time at the lower level produced some loud results. He leads all Marauders hitters with a 94.5 MPH average exit velocity and a 13.9% barrel rate. It’s a small sample, but only one other hitter with a larger sample has a better average EV. I’ll get to that hitter in a bit.
Florentino has seen a bit of a slump with his power numbers in High-A, which isn’t common in Greensboro. He does have seven homers, with two of those in his last six games. He’s yet to show the in-game power that would make him a top 50 prospect in the game, or which reflects on his limited Statcast data.
There is some concern with the small sample. Last season, Florentino had an 88.6 MPH average EV in a larger sample in Bradenton, along with a 7% barrel rate. Both are lower than this year’s sample. The truth might be in the middle, with an improvement that isn’t as elite as his small sample suggests.
Swing Decisions: Eddie King Jr., OF
King has been a fascinating player to follow. He’s got significant power, which has led to nine home runs this season. Four of those have come in his last eight games, with his power approach starting to hear up. He also has a low average, which has carried over to his recent power surge.
Where he excels is laying off pitches out of the zone. King only chases 18% of the time across 249 plate appearances. That’s not only the best in Bradenton, but it’s the best of any player with more than 100 plate appearances. He swings 67.7% in the zone, which is middle of the pack.
King’s patience has led to a 17.5% walk rate. That leads all qualified hitters in Bradenton, and ranks second in the entire system to Duce Gourson in Altoona.
The disclaimer is that King was drafted out of Louisville last year in the 16th round, and is playing at a level that isn’t much different than a talent level he’s already faced. His plate patience might not convert to the upper levels, but his power swing adds some intrigue when paired with the zone awareness.
Contact: Dylan Palmer, 2B
Palmer leads the Marauders in contact, both inside and outside of the zone. That’s a good thing, because he has some of the best base running skills in the organization. He leads the system with 29 stolen bases in 56 games.
The Pirates have already promoted Palmer to Greensboro, after a .272/.362/.344 line in 215 plate appearances with the Marauders this season. He doesn’t have power, but the elite running and the high contact skills stand out.
Palmer has a bit of the same disclaimer as King. He was drafted out of Hofstra last season, so the A-ball level isn’t considerably different from the talent level he’s played in the past.
The most encouraging thing here is the fact Palmerhas carried over his contact skills and speed to the next level. It’s only 29 plate appearances, but he’s batting .391 and already has two steals in seven games, with a 7.7% strikeout rate.
Pitching Whiffs: Seth Hernandez, RHP
There’s a reason he’s the top prospect in the system, and one of the top in the game. Hernandez had a 52.1% whiff rate in his time with Bradenton. That came during his age 19 season, and led to a 48.1% strikeout rate in 28 innings.
Hernandez was quickly moved up to High-A, where he’s carried over the strikeouts at a 36.4% rate. His last start was six shutout innings with eight strikeouts and only one walk, displaying his special arm.
Even though he’s only 19, it might not be long for Hernandez to reach the next Statcast zone in Triple-A. That’s unlikely to happen this year, but it could be a possibility by the end of next season if he can handle the jump to the higher levels.
I also want to point out Reinold Navarro, a 19-year-old lefty who has a 46.3% whiff rate. Navarro ranks second to Hernandez in whiffs among starters in the minor league system, and would be the biggest competition to Curtis as the second best pitching prospect in the system.
RK: FCL Pirates
The FCL has more limited Statcast data than the full-season leagues, but still enough to get a first impression of some of the youngest players in the system. These metrics can’t easily be extrapolated to higher levels, as elite contact rates and power numbers will drop against better competition. Think of this like the prep ranks, with the jump to Bradenton being the jump to a college talent level.
Power: Bralyn Brazoban, OF
Brazoban has stood out to me as one of the better lower level stories this season. He was the top international signing by the Pirates in 2024, inking a $2 million deal. His power has been non-existent his first two seasons of pro ball, and the overall results haven’t been much better.
After no home runs and season OPS results under .600 his first two seasons, Brazoban has hit two homers, six triples, and is batting .302/.380/.500 between the FCL and Bradenton. In his time in the FCL, he had a 95.4 MPH average EV, maxing at 110.9 MPH. He also had a 60% hard hit rate and a 10% barrel rate.
He’s currently with the Marauders, where he has an active six-game hitting streak entering the week, with two doubles. The power has yet to carry over, with an 84.3 MPH average EV and a 20.8% hard hit rate. What’s encouraging is the hitting has remained.
Part of the improved hitting is due to a BABIP of .458, which will come down to earth without power behind the swing. The flashes of positive development are a good sign for the 19-year old, after a rough start to his career.
Swing Decisions: Hyun Seung Lee, SS
The Pirates just sent Lee back to the FCL after his latest stint with the Marauders. In his time in the FCL, Lee had a 19.4% chase rate in 68 plate appearances.
There are players with a lower rate in the FCL. The difference is that Lee’s rate isn’t the result of an overall passive approach. He ranks second on the team in swing rate, behind Brazoban.
The selectivity led to a 13.2% walk rate in the FCL and a 25% strikeout rate. Lee had a 15% walk rate in his time with Bradenton, with an elevated 25.9% chase rate at the higher level. He also had a 38.3% strikeout rate, which explains why he was returned to the FCL.
Lee is only 18 years old, signing out of Korea in 2025. The Low-A level might be a bit of a challenge for him at this stage in his career. He has maintained a .321/.426/.625 line in the FCL this season, and if he continues doing that the rest of the season, it will keep him on the radar as a lower level sleeper to watch.
Contact: Fredderick Ovalle, 2B / Johan De Los Santos, SS
There are two players who stood out here, and I wanted to highlight them both. Ovalle and De Los Santos have both spent time in Bradenton this year, after succeeding in the FCL. Ovalle is currently with the Marauders, while De Los Santos is back in the FCL.
Ovalle has the better splits at both levels. He made contact 92.3% in the FCL, with 91.7% chase and 92.6% in the zone. De Los Santos was at 87.3% overall, and an 89.7% chase/85.9% in zone split.
At the higher level, Ovalle still has the edge. His contact rate in Bradenton is 76.4%, with a 59.3% chase rate leading to the drop. De Los Santos has a 72.7% contact rate, and it’s somewhat of a concern that he has a 75% in-zone rate.
Both hitters are young. De Los Santos was the top international signing by the Pirates in 2025, while Ovalle was more of a deep sleeper in the same season. The difference is that De Los Santos has more pop in his bat, leading to better overall results. Ovalle relies a bit more on BABIP, which might not be as sustainable. He does have speed, with 26 steals last season, and 12 in 29 games this year. De Los Santos is the legit prospect, but Ovalle is a rookie-level sleeper.
Pitching Whiffs: Carlos Mateo, RHP
The Pirates gave Mateo an $800,000 signing bonus in 2023, making him the highest paid pitcher and one of their biggest signings of that period. He also has the highest bonus of any pitcher over the last six international signing periods.
Mateo was hit around hard his first three seasons, with horrible control that has remained this year. He does excell in two areas. First, he has a fastball that frequently hits above 100 MPH, touching 102.7 this season. That’s a 3.5 MPH improvement over his maximum velocity two years ago. He also has one of the best whiff rates at 45.7%, which is an improvement over his 22% rate two years ago, and 39.8% last year.
The control is a serious concern. Mateo is a raw arm who is probably benefitting from overpowering the weaker competition in rookie ball. He also has a lot to work with at the age of 20, featuring one of the best velocities in the system, and improved swing and miss results.
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Until the next time I go live…
-Tim Williams