Prospect tracker
1 Nick Gonzales, 2B, Class AA Altoona: A hot streak brought Gonzales’ batting stats up to a respectable level, and while he’s evened out around a .240-.250 batting average at the moment, that’s a better baseline than when he was hovering around the Mendoza line a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, another hot streak would bring expectations back to the previously lofty heights and set him up for a potential lateseason call-up.
2 Henry Davis, C, Class AA Altoona: Davis kept getting hit with pitches earlier this season, and as it turns out, that came back to bite him. The left wrist contusion that placed Davis on the injured list turned out to be a minor fracture, stemming from a pitch that him in High-A Greensboro. No surgery is required, and the Pirates don’t expect it to be a long-term issue, but it’s still a downer for Davis, who played just two games with Altoona before heading to the IL.
3 Oneil Cruz, SS, Class AAA Indianapolis: Pointing to Cruz’s seasonlong batting average is disingenuous at this point. Sure, he started slowly, and you would like him to be hitting higher than .199. But Cruz has hits in 13 of his last 17 games and four homers this month. In May, even with a .221 average, his OPS is .770. For context, that would rank eighth among all qualified MLB shortstops. Not even during the glory years from 2013-2015 did the Pirates get a .770 OPS from their shortstops.
4 Quinn Priester, RHP, Class AA Altoona: Priester still hasn’t pitched this season, but he threw another live batting practice session Wednesday, and Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said the team expects Priester to return to affiliated ball soon.
5 Liover Peguero, SS, Class AA Altoona: Got a status bump from MLB Pipeline. He’s now the Pirates’ No. 5 prospect and the No. 62-ranked prospect in baseball. It’s for good reason. He’s dominating in Altoona, slashing .324/.357/.534 through 36 games.
6 Roansy Contreras, RHP, Pirates: Is this the exciting young player you were looking for? He got back into the majors Tuesday and pitched five scoreless innings against the Colorado Rockies. If he’s taken out of the rotation the rest of the year, that would be a surprise. Contreras has all the goods to continue at this level, now with a 2.13 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 122⁄ innings in MLB, with opponents hitting just .156 against him.
7 Endy Rodriguez, C/OF, High-A Greensboro: Rodriguez still looks like a strong prospect with an .813 OPS so far this season. He has struck out in 26% of his plate appearances this season, a number to watch, but the extra-base power is still impressive, and Rodriguez remains on a good track.
8 Anthony Solometo, LHP, FCL Pirates: Solometo has yet to make his professional debut, though it’s likely to come in the near future once the FCL begins in June.
9 Bubba Chandler, RHP/SS, FCL Pirates: Chandler at least got to play 11 games in the Florida Complex League last year, hitting .167 with a homer in 11 games. As for now, Chandler is in a similar boat to Solometo, currently waiting to get into official game action.
10 Matt Fraizer, OF, Class AA Altoona: Better, but still a lot of room for improvement. Fraizer went 7-for-24 this past week with his second homer of the season, but still sits slashing .187/.231/.295. It’s a far cry from his .940-OPS season in 2021. At least his five stolen bases this season have Fraizer on pace to set a new career high in that department.