Pirates Prospects Players of the Week 7/5
Sammy Stafura homered in four straight games and Reinold Navarro keeps shutting down opposing hitters.
Sammy Stafura and Reinold Navarro were the Pirates Prospects Players of the Week for the week ending July 5th.
Stafura, the batter of the week, went 13-for-24 with four home runs. Those home runs came on four consecutive days, and continued last week’s emergence of power by giving the shortstop five homers in a six-game stretch. Stafura also has an active eight-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in six straight games.
The Pirates added Stafura last year in the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade. The young infielder was batting .261/.392/.410 in A-ball at the time, standing out most for his 28 stolen bases. He has struggled in High-A to this point, but the recent explosion with his bat has taken his season totals to .306/.376/.562 in 141 plate appearances for Greensboro.
Navarro pitched five shutout innings, striking out eight batters. He allowed two hits and walked three, with the walk rate being somewhat encouraging. He has a 21.9% walk rate this season, with 30 walks in 35.1 innings over his last ten games. Walking three in five innings isn’t great, but it’s an improvement over his nearly one walk per inning rate over the last month.
What stands out the most for Navarro is he has some of the best stuff in the entire minor league system. His fastball averages 96 MPH with one of the best whiff rates in the system. He has a 40% strikeout rate this season, with 64 strikeouts in his last ten games, or nearly two per inning. The stuff, combined with his 1.82 ERA in 49.1 innings this year, makes Navarro one of the top prospects in the system.
Individual Level Standouts
Here are the players of the week at each individual level.
Indianapolis Pitcher: Antwone Kelly
Stats: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Indianapolis had their game on July 3rd suspended after three innings, while leading 1-0. Kelly took over when the game resumed the next day and pitched six shutout innings, while the Indians added five more runs to win the game 6-0. This was the best outing for Kelly since returning from his MLB debut on June 12th.
Indianapolis Batter: Enmanuel Valdez,
Stats: 10-for-25, 6 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, BB
Valdez had a big day on the 4th of July, hitting three home runs across two games. He had a hit in all six games this past week, and went 7-for-13 to end the week. Aside from the home runs, which took his total to ten on the season, he added two doubles and knocked in 11 runs.
Altoona Pitcher: Matt Ager
Stats: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR
Ager had a 2.08 ERA for Altoona heading into the month of June. He saw that blow up to 4.95 after making five starts and giving up 18 runs in 22 innings. His first start of July got back on track to what he was doing all season before this month came along. He allowed one run in seven innings, striking out five. This was the longest career outing for the 2024 sixth rounder.
Altoona Batter: Duce Gourson
Stats: 6-for-21, 5 R, HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB, 6 BB
Gourson had a huge game on Thursday, which propelled him to the top of the Altoona hitters group for the week. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, also drawing a walk. In the same game, he stole three bases. In total for the week, Gourson did what he does best, and that was draw walks and advance on the bases. He has a 17% walk rate for Altoona this season and 26 stolen bases.
Greensboro Pitcher: Owen Kellington
Stats: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Kellington stepped up with a big relief appearance for Greensboro on Friday night, in a week where runs were plenty for all teams. With the Grasshoppers down 4-2, Kellington threw two shutout innings. This allowed Greensboro to climb back and tie the game. They eventually lost after Kellington was removed from the game, in a week where Greensboro allowed 46 runs in six games.
Bradenton Batter: Bralyn Brazoban
Stats: 4-for-20, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB, 3 BB
Brazoban showed off his power with two big home runs last week. Those were his first home runs at the Low-A level, giving him four on the season. The Pirates’ top international signing in 2024 didn’t have a home run in either of his previous two years in pro ball. His power development has been an encouraging sign this year. This past week shows that development could be progressing to A-ball.
FCL Pirates Pitcher: Darwin Roa
Stats: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR
Roa was signed as an international free agent in 2025, and started this season in the DSL. He put up a 1.13 ERA in three starts, then was promoted to the FCL. This was his first appearance since the June 26th promotion, resulting in 2.2 shutout innings and five strikeouts.
FCL Pirates Batter: Hyun Seung Lee
Stats: 5-for-12, 3 R, 3B, HR, RBI, BB
Lee continued showing power in rookie ball, hitting a triple and a home run this past week. He’s got five home runs in the FCL this season, along with four triples. He’s batting .329/.417/.634 in rookie ball, though he didn’t fare as well in a brief appearance in Bradenton. Lee is in his age 18 season, so the rookie ball numbers are encouraging.
DSL Pirates Pitcher: Leudy Reyes
Stats: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 0 HR
Reyes made two relief appearances this past week in the DSL, combining for two runs allowed in 3.2 innings, with seven strikeouts. Signed in 2025, he’s mostly worked as a reliever, showing improvements this season from an 8.14 ERA last year to a 2.57 ERA this year.
DSL Pirates Batter: Hanley Ramirez
Stats: 6-for-13, 7 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB, 2 BB
Ramirez started looking like the other Hanley Ramirez this past week. He entered the week fresh off a home run on Sunday, then hit two more on Monday. He had three games in a row with multiple hits. In the last ten games, he has all four of his career home runs, along with a .357/.500/.821 line. Signed in 2025 for a six-figure bonus, this is the best stretch of play for Ramirez in his young career.
One More Report
Edward Florentino was named to the MLB Futures Game this past week, joining top prospect Seth Hernandez as the representatives from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Florentino responded to the selection with three home runs over his final three games of the week. That included two homers in the same game on Saturday.
Power is the standout tool for the 19-year-old outfielder. In 40 plate appearances with Bradenton to start the season, he had a 94.5 MPH average exit velocity, getting up to 107.6 MPH. Last year in the FCL, Florentino averaged 88.6 MPH with a max of 108.8.
That level of power from a young prospect is what had some ranking Florentino as a top 100 prospect heading into the season. He has struggled to hit with Greensboro, despite the hitter-friendly home park. His home runs this week did come at home, but his recent hitting has been split between home and away.
Over the last ten games, Florentino has a .317/.391/.659 line in 41 plate appearances. He’s already moved up once this season, so the only focus for him should be finishing strong in High-A. If he keeps hitting like he has been the last two weeks, he’ll vindicate those who bet on his power tool.
His power will be on display for all Pirates fans to watch during the All-Star Game weekend.
Until the next time I go live…
-Tim Williams