Four under-the-radar prospects to watch in Bradenton in 2022

This offseason, I have been able to make two trips to the Pirates’ Florida complexes in Bradenton to talk to a variety of prospects. That, paired with conversations with team and industry sources who evaluate prospects, has offered insight into the team’s minor leagues.

This is the second entry in a five part series where we will take a look at 20 under-the-radar players in the Pirates’ farm system that are not ranked on Baseball America or MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospect list, but could still make an impact in the future. They will be organized based on projecting what level they will likely play in during the 2022 season.

Class Low-A Bradenton could very well be the only affiliate without a top 100 prospect next year, but there’s still a ton of talent set to make the jump to full season ball. There are plenty of top 30 players coming to Florida next year, but which ones could make a difference as the Marauders try to defend their championship?

INF Tsung-Che Cheng 

In Cheng’s first plate appearance at the Pirates’ complex last year, he was hit in the eye with a pitch, sidelining him for a bit. In his first official at-bat at the complex, he went deep. A heck of a way to be introduced to stateside ball.

The Pirates signed Cheng as a 17-year-old out of Taiwan in 2019, making him one of their largest signings of the year at $380,000. Like a lot of that year’s international signees, the COVID-19 pandemic and minor-league shutdown came at a bad time in his development cycle, meaning it was almost two years after signing that he finally was able to come stateside. 

When he did arrive, he showed more raw power that you would expect from your typical middle infielder – even if it is more gap-to-gap rather than true home run power – while improving his mechanics.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot about how to use my body to hit,” Cheng said through team translator Charles Chiang during the “Get Better at Baseball” camp last month.

Cheng had a nice showing at the Complex League and has continued to hit well in the Colombian Winter Leagues, slashing .312/.402/.430 with four triples thus far. 

The Pirates’ system is obviously overloaded with middle infield prospects – Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, Tucupita Marcano, Maikol Escotto, Ji-Hwan Bae and Rodolfo Castro, to name a few – and I wouldn’t put Cheng near their level quite yet. But he has the tools you look for in a shortstop and could play all around the infield to get more at-bats. A full year of pro ball is going to be very telling for what his ceiling is.

3B Jackson Glenn

After making three consecutive big bonus picks in the second and third rounds in last year’s draft, the Pirates knew they had to go under-slot with at least a couple picks in order to sign everyone without going over their draft pool. Glenn was one of them, signing for just $12,500, over $400,000 less than his fifth-round pick was valued at.

That doesn’t mean this was a throwaway pick, though. Glenn may not have the loudest tools of his draft class – though he did hit 21 homers for Dallas Baptist in 2021, so there’s some pop there – but he’s a well-rounded player with some savvy on the diamond.

He’s also one of the few players the Pirates drafted last year to make the jump into full-season ball, slashing .337/.452/.475 with more walks than strikeouts over 28 games with Bradenton.

Part of the reason why there wasn’t much buzz around Glenn was because he was drafted at 23, making him one of the older players in last year’s draft. It’s fair to speculate about how much of that success in college and Bradenton last year was due to him just being older than his competition. It surely played some factor, but not to the point that it invalidates those accomplishments.

“I'm obviously more experienced than your average draft pick,” Glenn said at the "Get Better" camp. “Being a fifth-year [player] at college, the draft for me wasn't guaranteed,. I knew that I had to have a good year. It's honestly cool being here. I think the Pirates expect me to be that guy who leads by example. So that's something I have to think about every day when I come to work. I want my work to show that I’m experienced and I do belong here."

Glenn’s best pathway to the majors would probably be as a Jose Osuna, Hunter Owen-type. Learn to play the corner outfield/second/first base, continue to hit and hope there’s an opportunity at the major-league level in a few years. He won’t be the best player in his draft class, but he could be someone who rises through the system relatively quickly.

RHP Jack Hartman

Looking at the Pirates’ 2020 draft class, first-rounders Gonzales and Carmen Mlodzinski had big years for Class High-A Greensboro last year, while right-handers Jared Jones, Nick Garcia and Logan Hofmann made up about half of Bradenton’s rotation. Then there was Hartman, who ended up needing Tommy John surgery last fall. He’s currently still in the rehab process, but should be throwing off a mound in February. 

Hartman is an interesting case, making the transition to a pitcher unexpectedly while doing a college workout. You can read his story in his own words here. Because of his late start as a pitcher, he was much more open to experimenting than many other players.

The result was an analytically-charged development process that resulted in some of the best spin in his draft class.

"Just being a new pitcher, I was open to anything,” Hartman said at the pitching development camp earlier this month. “... The coaching staff was all about trying new things to me. I was just an open project, and it worked out pretty well I think."

Pre-surgery, Hartman’s fastball was in the 94-97 mph range with natural cut to boost the spin up to about 2,500 RPM. He also has a slider-cutter hybrid plus a spiking curveball that could occasionally ramp up to about 2,900 RPM. He had some control issues in college, but for a new pitcher with that much movement, that’s understandable.

Hartman is strictly a reliever, but he has the potential to be a late-inning one. After not appearing in a minor-league game his first two seasons, this is going to be an important year for his development. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see him make a jump to Greensboro by the end of the year.

RHP Owen Kellington

We close by going from 2020’s fourth-round pick to 2021’s fourth-round pick.

Kellington may not have been as highly-touted a prospect as the players the Pirates selected before him, but he’s a projectable righty. His fastball sits in the low-90s, but there’s potential for some extra speed as he gets older, and his curveball flirts with 3,000 RPMs already, which is borderline-elite by major-league standards. 

While a lot of high school pitchers are introduced to analytics and plyo balls when they make the jump to the pros, Kellington sought that stuff out while in high school, making his transition to the Pirate seasier.

“I’m a junkie for that kind of stuff,” Kellington said. “I love doing research and watching mechanical stuff. Being able to have those meetings that we have about mechanical analysis and that kind of thing, I love that.”

Normally, a projectable pitcher like this would go a couple rounds earlier, but Kellington was from Vermont and didn’t get to face the toughest of competition while in high school. There’s a bit of an unknown factor with him. 

“Baseball in Vermont is not super high-level,” he said. “Coming down here and being around tons of guys who are high-level, it’s really cool. I’ve got to talk to some of the older guys and get their perspectives on a lot of things. I’m interested to see this next season how I stack up against some of the guys that I’ll be facing.”

This is the first time Kellington has thrown all year, so there will be the traditional monitoring for any new high schooler making the jump to pro ball. The changeup needs to develop and some extra velocity would go a long way, but one analyst I talked to raved about him. A middle of the rotation ceiling seems possible.

Other players to watch: The obvious candidates are the over-slot high schoole picks from last year’s draft: lefty Anthony Solometo, outfielders Lonnie White Jr. and Braylon Bishop, and two-way player Bubba Chandler. Brennan Malone, a 2019 first-rounder who came over in the Starling Marte trade, had a rough, injury-filled 2021 season and will be looking to rebound. Juan Jerez is a well-rounded infielder. 19-year-old corner infielder Alexander Mojica may have the most raw power out of any right-handed hitter in the system, but may not be ready to make the jump to Greensboro yet. Outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco is an analytical darling. Bethel Park native Justin Meis had a good first showing in Bradenton last year and could be a sleeper middle-relief prospect if his fastball can more consistently sit in the mid-90s.

Part 1: Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League
Part 3: Greensboro